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“‘Til I Die” (Beach Boys Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Hello everyone and welcome to another Beach Boys edition of the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog! Tonight’s song, “Till I Die” by the Beach Boys, goes out to everyone on the Brian Wilson message board, especially those who contributed to that great post about the Laptop Sessions.

Tonight’s song is ‘Til I Die, one of Brian Wilson’s most introspective and personal songs. I love the harmonies (Bruce Johnston once said that he believes it’s the last true Beach Boys song, with all the counter-harmonizing), but I think this paired-down version translates well. This performance shows how singularly personal this song can be.

If you’re a big fan like me, then I’m sure you’ve heard the alternate version of “Till I Die” that a producer made while mixing and mastering the “Surf’s Up” album.  That version of this great Beach Boys song is very unique.  It features almost the whole song with just the instruments playing.  It’s pretty spooky to hear the cool vibes that Brian Wilson put into the original song.  But, the most fascinating part of the instrumental section is how few instruments are used.  The Beach Boys’ harmonies in “Till I Die” are wonderful and they fill up the whole song.  It’s incredible to hear how Brian Wilson put it all together.

Of course, when you start listening to the lyrics, you realize how alone Brian felt while writing this song.  As a songwriter, Brian Wilson usually had other people write the lyrics for him.  But, I’m sure he contributed to the meaning of the song and knew the sentiment he wanted to get across.  As you can tell, Brian was feeling lonely and realized that his life wasn’t going to change.  And, yes, that was true for quite some time.  Even when his other band members/family finally got him out of bed a few years later, it was embarrassing (remember the “Brian Is Back” campaign?) and short-lived.  Instead of being the songwriter he was for the Beach Boys back in the early-mid sixties, he only wanted to play old songs he loved.  Thus, the cover songs you hear on “15 Big Ones”.  And when he actually went back to writing again, he was writing about pedestrian things like watching TV (“Johnny Carson”) and his family (“I Wanna Pick You Up”).  I guess the good part was that Brian was finally living his life again, but somehow I doubt the PR image we’ve all been given really reflects his life at the time.  He was neglecting his family members and I think there are some clues to that in songs from “Love You”.  For instance, in “I Wanna Pick You Up” is about how he still thinks his children were “babies”, even though he had essentially missed those important years of their lives.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s music video and thanks for watching this Beach Boys cover song here on the music blog!

Some photographs from our new music performance at Testa’s!

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By Jeff Copperthite:

Hello to everyone out there! I just got finished recording some more future laptop sessions (and re-recording a couple while I was at it), and wanted to share with you some of the images from our first ever performance, aptly labeled “The Laptop Sessions Live Tour”, which was at Testa’s in Southington on April 12, 2008.

If I may be allowed to toot our own horn a bit, we sounded great! Our format was enjoyed by all in attendance, and we left after 4 straight hours of non-stop performing with a lot of compliments, happy patrons, and a little cash. It’s true – getting paid to do something you really enjoy doing is something else.

We structured the show so that we’d play 5 songs together, then do a series of solo performances, where Jim performs 2 sessions, Chris performs 2, and I perform 2. Then we rinse and repeat. This allowed us to play a lot of the covers we know as a threesome, and allow us to play some of our more well-known sessions. I for one got to play some of my sessions in the past such as “If You Never Got Sick”, “Waste”, “Delirious Love”, “Spies”, and “Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town” to name a few. This allowed each band member a lot of break time to spend with fans, and drink some needed water.

I also got to sell a physical copy of my album “Greenlight”. Too bad she didn’t ask me for an autograph!

Jeff, Jim, and Chris performing!

Jeff performing “Waste”

The Laptop Sessions Live!

We loved performing together so much, that we’re doing it again! Tomorrow, April 17th at around 9:45 p.m. at George’s II restaurant we are going to perform a short set at Open Mic night. There could easily be a future, paid show on the horizon at the same venue, so stay tuned for that.

It’s funny we’re performing there because it is the same restaurant I worked at in High School. I’m not even sure if the owner knows that i’m going to be in one of the acts. He’ll find out in less than 24 hours if not.

I also wanted to mention I am SO excited about the good things that are happening here at guitarbucketlist.com, because all of us are beginning to become known on some message boards, our local fan base is increasing, and now we are starting to make a little money on the side as well. It really is a great time to be a part of this.

So if you’re in the Wallingford area tomorrow night, come on down to George’s II restaurant located off exit 65 on Route 15, and we’ll be on in the area of 9:45 p.m. We’re quite possibly playing for 30+ minutes too, so the trip will be worth it!

Songwriters on Vacation – Our trip to TNA Lockdown 2008 Pay-Per View!

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By Jim Fusco:

On Sunday, my brother Mike, my father, and Chris Moore took a trip up to Lowell, MA for Total Nonstop Action’s (TNA) “Lockdown” Pay-Per-View event. We LOVE wrestling and have loved watching it for all our lives (except for Chris, who started watching a couple years ago) and this was our first time seeing TNA live.

I love TNA wrestling- it reminds me of the old WCW days that I loved so dearly. I just can’t do WWE- the matches are slow, they’re so vulgar sometimes, and I just plain cannot stand Vince McMahon.

So, this was a very exciting event for us. We took the 2-plus hour drive to Lowell and got ready for the event. Right when we walked in, there were wrestlers Black Machismo Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt (along with SoCal Val) out there taking photos and signing autographs. It was so cool- you’d NEVER see something like that at a big WWE event. At least not in such a low-key manner.

Then, wrestlers Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin (of the Motor City Machineguns) and Roxxi Laveaux came out to do a photo shoot/autograph session for charity.

The venue wasn’t huge, but they filled up over 90% of it. They announced a new attendance record for TNA, too! I estimate there were about between 6,500 and 7,000 people and it was a crazy crowd. I couldn’t talk for a whole day afterwards due to all the screaming.

My brother Mike and I got a chance to get our photo taken with one of the REAL TNA Tag Team Championship belts! We were SO excited- not gonna get THAT at a WWE show! Here’s the photo:

Mike and Jim Fusco holding one of the TNA Tag Team Championship belts.

Then the action started with the TNA X-Division X-cape match for the X-Division Championship. The participants were Jay Lethal [c] vs. Curry Man vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Johnny Devine vs. Shark Boy vs. Consequences Creed. We were pulling for Shark Boy all the way (who got the loudest fan reaction), but Black Machismo ended up winning in the only “cheap” win of the night. And, even though it was kinda cheap, we were all still happy Johnny Devine didn’t win, so it was okay.

Actually, the matches were of a caliber I’ve never seen on a TNA Pay Per View. I constantly frequent websites like TNA Wrestling News and read reviews of TNA Pay Per views. They ALWAYS get terrible reviews, telling people not to waste their money. But this one was exactly the opposite for a few reasons:

1. No ridiculous finishes or anyone coming in to interfere! NONE!

2. All the matches, with the exception of maybe the first half of the Queen of the Cage match, were simply great.

3. EVERY SINGLE HERO WON! Without exception- Jay Lethal, Roxxi Laveaux, Booker T., B.G. James, Team Cage (Sting, Christian Cage, Rhino, Matt Morgan, Kevin Nash), Samoa Joe, Gail Kim and O.D.B.- EVERYONE!

We got to see our favorite all-time wrestler, Sting. We got to see a new World Heavyweight Champion in Samoa Joe, and we didn’t have to see any cheap stuff like we’re used to seeing in many high-profile matches.

It was the experience of a lifetime and I can’t wait until they come back our way! I hope TNA lasts forever, because I love every minute of it!

“Cowgirl in the Sand” (Neil Young & the Byrds Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Thanks for stopping by for your Tuesday edition of the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!

Today, I bring you a song written by Neil Young, “Cowgirl in the Sand”. Not only is this song one of his most famous, but it’s also generally well-known among country-rock music fans.

The version I’m doing is derivative of the version the Byrds did on their reunion album from 1975. That album isn’t wonderful by any means, but Gene Clark’s contributions are, of course, superb. He sings a great lead on this song, too.  Gene Clark just had a great timbre to his voice.  He could sing rock’n’roll music and country/western music with the best of them.  Of course, Gene Clark was a great songwriter, too, both with the Byrds and on his own solo recordings.  While searching around here on the music blog, be sure to click on Gene Clark’s category to see the other cover songs I’ve done written by him.  If you’re not a fan now (or haven’t heard of him), I guarantee his original songs will get your attention.

This is one song that I never planned on doing, but came into my head one night, so I just sat down and did it! I think some people were a bit surprised that I busted this one out at our first live show as a trio the other day.  My favorite aspect of the Byrds’ version of “Cowgirl In The Sand” is the harmonies on the chorus.  I really hope that we can get those harmonies right in future performances, as I think that’s the flare the Byrds added to make the version their own.

Considering how the Byrds first started, it’s a bit surprising that they gravitated over to country rock like they did.  They were initially marketed as a folk group, electrifying Bob Dylan songs like “Chimes of Freedom” and “Mr. Tambourine Man”.  But, the band members of the Byrds, especially Chris Hillman, started out loving folk music in a different way- the classic, down-home country style.  Chris Hillman is actually an accomplished mandolin player, and there is no better country guitarist than Roger McGuinn.  Basically, they just threw an electric bass in Hillman’s hands and a 12-string electric Rickenbacker guitar in McGuinn’s hands, and they had a big hit band.  In later albums, the band members of the Byrds would write original songs that had a country flare to them, including Chris Hillman’s “The Girl With No Name”, which I’ve also done a cover song music video of here on the music blog.

You may also notice the “incredible fluctuating hairdo” of myself- I recorded this song before getting a haircut, as you saw in the “Aware” cover video (of an original song) from last week.

I hope to do more Neil Young songs in the future and I hope this cover song video attracts some new viewers and music lovers to the Laptop Sessions live acoustic music video series!