Tag Archives: George Harrison Songs

“Honey Don’t” (Beatles and Carl Perkins Cover)

Posted on by
2

By Jim Fusco:

Welcome, everyone, to another new edition of the Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!  I’m sorry the post is a bit later today- I was busy yesterday training for an upcoming 5k race with my Traveling Acai Berries member, Steve.  It’s tough motivating myself to run every other day, but I know it’s healthy for me to do so, and I’m using that as extra motivation.

The other day, I was searching online for Beatles covers and Beatles cover songs, but The Laptop Sessions page didn’t come up in my searches!  Well, that has to change.  I’m going to make it a personal goal of mine to get the Beatles category page up in the search engine rankings!

Tonight, I bring you a Beatles song that Ringo got to sing.  All the members of the Beatles (especially George and Ringo) were big Carl Perkins fans.  So, they took this song, “Honey Don’t”, and gave it the Beatles treatment.  I’m glad they let Ringo sing it, as his voice is perfectly suited for it.  Something about the chords on the verses gets me every time.  This song is pretty easy to play, but it’s got such a great tune.  And hearing Ringo sing it in a way only Ringo Starr can, it makes for a great combination.

Apparently, Carl Perkin’s brother even initially refused to play the song, citing its odd chord progression (for a blues song) in the verses.  I’m glad he finally came around!  The song has such a driving beat, too- I’d love to play this live with a band someday.  One of my favorite parts is the guitar solo.  I actually got to play it pretty spot-on even though it’s a solo acoustic version.  The guitar solo in the Beatles version is basically the E and C chords played as barre chords higher on the neck.  I never get to solo during these videos- it was fun!

I’ve wanted to play this song for the Laptop Sessions ever since I heard Ringo singing the song during his concert at the Mohegan Sun this past June.  He sounds exactly the same and they do such a good job of reproducing the energy and the sound of the recording live.  Actually, if I had my way about it, this would be “The Ringo Sessions with Jim Fusco”- I can’t exactly explain it, but I LOVE Ringo’s music.  I especially like his solo albums starting with 1992’s “Time Takes Time”, but there’s something about Ringo’s songs in general that really resonate with me.  Heck, he even makes “Honey Don’t”, a sad song when you think about it, into a jolly good time. 🙂

I hope you enjoy tonight’s video and stay-tuned next week for a very, very special Jim Fusco announcement!  I think you’re going to love it, but you’ll have to keep checking back to see what it is.  See you then!

“Crackerbox Palace” (George Harrison Cover)

Posted on by
Reply

By Jim Fusco:

So, can you tell I’m on a George Harrison kick? 🙂  It’s another edition of the Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!

One small piece of business before we get started: From now on, I’m going to try to post my videos at midnight on Thursday morning so you can wake up on Thursdays and see a new cover song music video or read an article.  Lately, I’ve been staying up late on Thursdays and posting at like 1 am on Friday…that’s not really what I was going for with Jim Fusco Thursdays!  So, make sure to grab a cup of coffee every Thursday morning and head on over to the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog for a great post each week.  Now, onto tonight’s video!

On my way back from the Mets game I went to two Fridays ago, my friend John was flipping around to different radio stations in the car.  He came across one station and I said, “Wow, I really think that’s George Harrison singing, but I’ve never heard this song before!”  So, I whipped-out the Shazam app on my iPhone and it found the song: “It’s What You Value” from George Harrison’s solo album, 33 1/3.  The song sounded great, so I decided to listen to the album.  Well, I loved it and now I’m going to listen to all of his solo albums!  I’m onto “George Harrison” (self-titled) now and I’m enjoying that one very much, as well.

“33 1/3” is not only an interesting title because of the RPMs of a vinyl LP on the turntable, but (as my father informed me) is also how old George was when he released the album!  How cool!  I guess I’ll have to come out with a vinyl single when I turn 45… 🙂

I’ve known “Crackerbox Palace’ since I was little.  Back in the early 90s, I believe, they came out with George Harrison’s “Best of the Dark Horse Years” CD, which chronicled his greatest solo hits while on the Dark Horse label he created.  So my father played it in the car all the time.  That’s probably why I love George’s “Cloud 9” album more than any person should love an album: it’s embedded in my mind from when I was four!  Getting back to the “Best Of” album, songs like “Crackerbox Palace” have been with me for a long time and it feels great to finally perform it.

I was surprised to learn that “Crackerbox Palace” is one of my brother Mike’s favorite George Harrison songs, as well.  Plus, Becky seems to really love it, too.  If you haven’t seen the original music video (that he did with the help of the folks from Monty Python), then you should really check it out.  I think that’s why Becky likes the song so much now- it’s so lighthearted and fun.

On that note, I always look so serious when recording these songs- I just want them to sound right, so I forget to smile a lot of the time.  On a lighthearted song like this, I hope it doesn’t detract from the general mood.

Okay, that’s all for me this week- make sure to stop back next Thursday for a great Moody Blues “Best Albums Ranked In Order” list my father came up with.  Which album is the best?  Or, maybe even more importantly, which album is the WORST?  Find out next Thursday here on the music blog.  Have a great week and see you then!

“I’d Have You Anytime” (George Harrison cover)

Posted on by
Reply

By Jim Fusco:

Welcome, everyone, to another Thursday edition of the Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!  I’m back for my bi-weekly video and I’m in a great mood tonight.  I have tomorrow off (going to a Mets game with my good friend, John) and tonight, I had a great dinner over the in-laws house, where I was fed all of my favorite dishes!  I also got a cool new gadget for the guitar called the Voice Capo and basically, it allows you to pick any chord and then all you need to do is strum.  At that point, you can experiment with other notes and “voicings” that let you expand on your guitar playing!  Pair that with my new Martin guitar and you’ve got some major creativity happening over here!

Speaking of creativity, this past weekend, I had my first writing session with a new collaborator.  He helped me try some new things and we worked on two songs.  One of them, I’m still working out, but the first one we did is AWESOME!  If I finish the lyrics to it, I’ll make sure to do an Original Wednesday Laptop Session for you!

Regarding the Laptop Sessions, I’m sure by now that you’ve noticed some changes.  Well, I got to thinking- why did I do over 200 cover song music videos here on the blog just to have them get “old” and fall off the face of the Earth?  So, I found a great way to refresh the old posts and bring them back to the front page again.  The best part is that, according to the search engines, these posts seem “new” and thus get back in the search engine results!  I have to say- this site has more traffic than New York City on a weekday morning now!  Honestly, on my birthday, April 29th, the Laptop Sessions music video blog had close to 10,000 views!  Now that’s what I call progress!

And, speaking of my birthday, boy, did I make out good.  I got more than I could’ve hoped for, mostly due to my father’s incredible bargain-hunting skills.  I’m now enjoying a new TV for our kitchen, a surround-sound bar for the living room, and even a new lawnmower!  Now, all I need is the lawn…  Anyway, my brother Mike got me Hulk Hogan’s autograph and MLB 2010 for PS3, which I’m really enjoying playing online with my new friend Mike from work.  Add to that the gifts that my wife got me (Dumb and Dumber on Blu-Ray, a George Harrison record set- see below), my new extended family (on Becky’s side), and my cousin, I’d say it was a great 26th!  We also went out to two great dinners- one on my actual birthday with my family, and the other the next night to my favorite restaurant, Jimmie’s in West Haven with my friends from college.

Now, back to that George Harrison album…  Well, as you might have read previously here on the music blog, I’ve been buying record albums (LPs) lately.  I love them- they’re collectible and are fun to find in stores and flea markets.  I just completed my Moody Blues collection last weekend!  Anyway, Becky went on eBay and got me an original copy of George Harrison’s 3-record set of his first solo album, “All Things Must Pass”.  It’s such a cool collector’s item and I’m proud to own a copy.  Becky’s always very perceptive on stuff like that.  She saw me drooling over a new vinyl copy of the remastered version and thought it would be cool to get a vintage one for me.  What a girl! 🙂

So, I decided to record my first Laptop Session acoustic cover song music video using my new Martin MMV acoustic guitar tonight!  The vocals are a bit muted in this version, but that’s because I wanted to focus on the sound of this new guitar.  The harmonics are just great- they sing themselves!  The guitar is bright and loud, but maintains such a clear bass that I can’t stop playing once I pick it up!  It just looks like a normal guitar, but you can see the logo on the headstock- it’s a Martin for sure.  I’d love to hear what you think of the new sound!

George Harrison, like most famous guitar players, owned a Martin acoustic, and I wanted to play “I’d Have You Anytime”, which is the first cut off of “All Things Must Pass”.  He co-wrote “I’d Have You Anytime” with Bob Dylan, too.  It’s a short song, but has such a cool sound.  George was so laid-back and made everything sound effortless.  “I’d Have You Anytime” is a perfect example of a fairly simple song that’s stood the test of time because of its sound and its style.

Okay, that’s enough from me tonight- I hope you all have a great week and I’ll catch you next Thursday for another update.  Make sure to check back in two weeks for another cover song music video from yours-truly!

“Ding Dong Ding Dong” (George Harrison Cover) : Jim Fusco’s 200th Video!

Posted on by
2

By Jim Fusco:

And a Happy New Year to you- I’m Jim Fusco back for another year of the Laptop Sessions.  I’m also back with Number 200!  That’s right, tonight’s video is my 200th and it kicks off a brand new year of great acoustic cover song music videos here on the most popular music blog that isn’t corporately-owned…well, I can’t substantiate that claim… 🙂

Anyway, I figured I’d kick the New Year and new decade off right with a New Year’s song in “Ding Dong Ding Dong”, a hit single off of George Harrison’s Dark Horse album.  If you’ve heard the original version of this song, you probably wondered why George’s voice sounded so raw and raspy.  No, he wasn’t taking vocal cues from his pal (and future Traveling Wilburys member) Bob Dylan.  He was actually suffering from a terrible break-up when his wife ran off with his best friend, Eric Clapton.  It forced the two friends to not speak for a long time (yes, significant others can change people and break friends apart, that’s for sure), but eventually they reconciled…once she and Eric broke up, too!  That’s a fairytale friendship story if I ever heard one.

The title track from Dark Horse also features George’s gravelly vocals and it’s actually a nice tool he uses well on these somewhat bitter songs.  I mean, George was always one to write songs against the “establishment” (like “Taxman”, “Not Guilty”, and “Devil’s Radio”), but this time, it was a more personal fight.  One can only think that “ringing out the old and bringing in the new” has to be correlated to his estranged wife leaving the picture.

And, in the end, George ended up finding his real soulmate in Olivia Harrison, whom he was with until the end and continues to preserve George’s legacy to this day.  Now there’s a woman who really appreciated and “got” him.  So, it all worked out.  I guess sometimes a broken heart is just an opportunity to find something (or someone) better!

I’ve always considered this a Christmas song- remember my post from a few weeks ago about my father’s famed Christmas Compilation tapes?  Well, this song was on it.  And even though it’s loosely based on the New Year and it’s idea of “starting anew”, it’s really not a Christmas song at all.  But, you’ll still never find me listening to “Ding Dong Ding Dong” from January through October!

I’ve already recorded a video for next week- I was on a bit of a roll tonight.  I could’ve done more, but work is really driving me into the ground lately.  So, hopefully I’ll get more gusto in two weeks to record some more videos.  My list is ever-growing.  I have a great forgotten 60’s song lined-up, but next week’s video is a late-90’s Top 10 Billboard hit that is officially the song played most on the radio- it spent 18 weeks at Number One on the Billboard Airplay charts.  That’s the most for any song- ever!

And I can’t believe we haven’t covered it.  My only thought is that I’m the only one here that can sing the chorus, so I’m glad I finally got around to it.  Look for some new bands to come in the near future, as well- it’s going to be another productive year of great cover song music videos…if I can find the time and energy to keep up with it week after week.  Until next week, enjoy “Ding Dong Ding Dong” in LSHD (Laptop Sessions High Definition)!