Originally done in four parts, this remastered video (originally recorded in 2007 and remastered in 2020) is about the triumphs and pitfalls of recording a song in my home studio. You’ll see techniques, advice, and most of all, a bunch of bad luck. The song I’m recording is called “Go Back To Him,” written by Jim Fusco and Alberto Distefano. The song was featured on my album “Halfway There”, available at http://jimfusco.com and on iTunes! Make sure to stick around for the end of the video and check out the music video for “Go Back To Him”, complete with remastered stereo audio for the first time! For those who saw the original video, you’ll recall how dark the video looked, as the overhead lighting in my home studio at the time was not conducive to great video quality. Thankfully, through the magic of Final Cut Pro X, I’m able to breathe new life into this documentary, which captures what it was like to record a song at 4am (which was easily done at 23 years of age…).
Welcome to your wonderful Monday edition of The Laptop Sessions!
Wait, did I use the words “wonderful” and “Monday” in the same sentence? Why, yes I did!
I woke up this morning to the awesome news of there being a 90 minute delay to the start of my school day. Always good news to wake up too. Then, all I had to do today was finish one lesson I started Thursday, and give a quiz to two classes (one of which was very adamant in not taking the quiz today, despite the multiple times I mentioned to them Thursday that the quiz would take place on the next school day).
Well, despite that, I close out today with a great new band to add to our session library. It’s a band that has been around for almost 20 years now. The band is Oasis, and today’s song is possibly their most popular song called “Wonderwall”.
Here’s a song that i’ve known how to play for some time. One thing that always bugged me is a person I used to know (was a boyfriend of a family member) who also played a cover of this song, but repeated the verse chords throughout the whole song, and couldn’t realize the fact he was doing it wrong! Ugh, it was hard sitting through that.
So i’m glad I can provide you with a solid version of the song tonight. It’s one of my better videos, despite my forgetting the 4th and 5th words of the final chorus. Oops.
But regardless, it’s here for you and I hope you enjoy it. I’ll be back for your holiday edition of The Laptop Sessions (my first one of the year ironically) on Thursday. Each of us has 3 videos to go for the year!
Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Jeff’s acoustic cover song music videos are no longer on YouTube, but we decided to keep his cover song blog posts up. We figured these music blog entries would be good for posterity’s sake and because Jeff always gave such insightful posts each Session. We hope to see Jeff’s impressive catalog of acoustic rock songs here on the Laptop Sessions cover songs and origianal music blog again in the future. But, for now, please make sure to check-out hundreds of other acoustic cover songs from all of your favorite bands here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!
Wow, how long has it been?!?! I’ve been so incredibly busy that I keep looking back and saying to myself, “Hey, hasn’t Thursday just passed?” Between work, refinancing a mortgage, ditching cable for DirecTV, working on the house and lawn, and much more, I can’t believe it’s already almost Christmas time! I’m really excited about it and hope to have some more free time to do videos and just enjoy life, you know? I’m most excited about writing and recording my new set of songs- I’m already up to 13! Plus, we’re hoping to get our basement finished soon, and that means I’ll have a brand-new “studio” of sorts to record my videos in! I’ll have more room, be able to use instruments I haven’t touched since I moved-in over a year ago, and will have much better lighting. Plus, who wants to see a printer in the background, anyway? 🙂
Onto tonight’s video!
I have such a long list of videos to record now, but I’m starting here with a song I’m sure you’ve never heard of. Normally, I like to take songs that weren’t originally “acoustic” and turn them into the classic Laptop Sessions “a man and his guitar” format. But this is just a great song and shows that a true simple acoustic guitar tune can be just as good as a fully produced song. Sure, the Thorns (a band formed by three mid-90s solo acts to form a sort of “supergroup”) sing in great three-part harmony on the song. But, I’ve never been able to find other people to sing in that range with me on a consistent basis. So, I’m going it alone on this one!
Doesn’t the guitar part just sparkle on my new Martin? I truly love playing this guitar and it makes all of my videos sound that much better. Now, I’m not knocking the nylon string guitar. That guitar is so easy to play and I love its mellow sound. It’s great to sing with because you don’t have to fight with the loudness of a steel-string guitar.
On a side note about “I Told You”, I believe I read that Van Dyke Parks (of Beach Boys ‘SMiLE” fame) plays the accordion on the original recording. The Thorns used a lot of older musicians and collaborators on their only album from 2002. Jim Keltner, the drummer for the Traveling Wilbruys, plays the drums on the whole album! Now that’s pretty cool. One of the songs even features a bass harmonica, which is used on the Beach Boys track “I Know There’s an Answer” from “Pet Sounds”. So, this album was an instant winner with me. If you haven’t heard the Thorns self-titled album, please do yourself a favor and get it. You won’t be disappointed.
One final personal aside for a moment- I’ve been going-through the audio versions of every single Laptop Sessions acoustic cover and original song I’ve ever recorded. I’m up to 221 videos now. That’s GOTTA be a record! I wanted to do a project where I chose my favorite videos and recordings. But, I’m over 150 songs into the list now and am no closer to compiling a list. I hope I get popular enough to have my own historian someday. That way, I won’t have to keep track of all this myself. 🙂
It’s good to be back here on the site. I sincerely hope that I’ll be posting regularly from now on, but who knows. Something always manages to come up. Have a great couple of weeks and I hope to see you again in early December!
NOTE: This video was remastered in 2020 for improved picture and sound.
My 2nd installment for fusco-moore.com’s “Laptop Sessions”. This time we’ll get a bit more obscure.
This song is from Ben Folds Five, and was a song that was intended for their album “Whatever and Ever Amen” – a great album – but Ben Folds decided to not put this song on because it had guitar, and would take away from the piano-rock theme they were trying to promote.
This is such a great song, and I love hearing it at his shows. I hope you enjoy it as well.
Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Jeff’s acoustic cover song music videos are no longer on YouTube, but we decided to keep his cover song blog posts up. We figured these music blog entries would be good for posterity’s sake and because Jeff always gave such insightful posts each Session. We hope to see Jeff’s impressive catalog of acoustic rock songs here on the Laptop Sessions cover songs and origianal music blog again in the future. But, for now, please make sure to check-out hundreds of other acoustic cover songs from all of your favorite bands here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!
