They said it wouldn’t happen. There’s no way the album would ever be released. It was even written about in the newspapers. But, these words of discouragement are what seem to drive Masters of the Universe.
Fast-forward two years to the day since MoU’s first (self-titled) album release.
“Homestead’s Revenge” combines the songwriting skills of all five members along with expert harmonies and instrumentation. The album is nothing less than a polished work of art.
The album is available in two forms: Digital download and physical CD, both for only $9.99!
We know you’ll enjoy the album and guarantee it’s the best you’ll hear in 2008! We’d love to hear all comments and if you have any questions, we’ll be happy to answer.
Welcome everyone to another edition of the Laptop Sessions! Glad to be here today, as I’m happy to present a great song from Rick Nelson, “Garden Party”.
I’ve been a fan of this song for a long time and I love the beat it has. It was a lot of fun to play on acoustic and it just has that “down-home” type of feel to it.
I’ll be going back to Rick’s more classic numbers in the future, but this song really makes me want to learn more about his work as a country-rock songwriter in the mid-70s.
I hope you enjoy today’s Session and make sure to come back tomorrow for another Session by Chris!
Well, “New Bands Week” is over, but I have a hard time letting go…so I bring you yet another new band to the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!
Tonight I give you a band fronted by a great producer, songwriter, and singer: Jeff Lynne. The band is Electric Light Orchestra (E.L.O.) and the song is “Evil Woman”, a favorite of mine for a long time.
This song is originally done on piano, but I’ve adapted it for acoustic guitar. It’s got great vocals and a great chord progression. I love the way the drums come in- it’s what I miss the most when I play it solo. Many say that Jeff Lynne, as a producer, kind of “over-produces” his music. I actually kind of like it. I love a large chorus of vocals, plus Lynne always throws in some interesting instruments (like a violin) into his songs. And, sure, when he was with the Traveling Wilburys, he had all five members play acoustic guitar. But, to me, that just showed how everyone was participating.
Jeff Lynne not only had a ton of hits with E.L.O., he produced many hit albums. Roy Orbison’s “Mystery Girl” is a stand-out and brought the Lynne co-written song “You Got It” to the world. He even produced the mega-smash album “Full Moon Fever” for Tom Petty, which had classic songs like “Running Down A Dream”, “Free Fallin'”, and “Won’t Back Down”. I think I like Jeff Lynne’s producing style because it’s the style of music I grew up with. I mean, both of the albums I mentioned were from the late 80s. And one of my other favorite albums, “Cloud 9” by George Harrion, is also produced by Jeff Lynne…and also from the late 80s! You can’t go wrong with any of these albums and I have to give a little credit to Jeff Lynne on that.
I hope tonight’s Electric Light Orchestra cover song will be the start of many other E.L.O. songs for the Laptop Sessions music blog. I can’t wait to do “Sweet Talkin’ Woman”, too. That’s another one that’s a bit over-produced, but when it was recorded in the 70s, people were pushing the envelope with the sounds they could create. In the 60s, you only had four or eight tracks to work with. And in the 70s, the technology leaped forward, allowing many more tracks to be used without a reduction in sound quality. Jeff Lynne has always struck me as a technical musician of sorts- he knows the craft of recording a song and applies it to the music he makes and the music he produces for other bands.
“Evil Woman” is also a fun song to do a cover of because of the cool falsetto parts in the chorus. It’s that kind of range that made E.L.O. stand out to me and I’m happy to present my stripped-down version here on the music video blog!
Enjoy tonight’s acoustic cover song music video, and make sure to come back on Wednesday to see my Original Wednesday cover song tribute to Jeff Copperthite’s great new album, “Greenlight”. Aw, heck, why don’t you just come back on Monday and Tuesday, too?
Welcome to Original Wednesday! How exciting for me, because it only comes once every three weeks.I can’t wait until my new music officially comes out so I can do Sessions of those songs, but for now, I’ll settle for my last album, “What About Today?”
This song is called “Don’t Be That Way” and it kicks off the album. There’s some references to my past songs in here, so if you know any of my older music, you’ll get the “inside lines”. This song goes along those lines of someone taking and not reciprocating as much as I’d like them to. Must be a pretty strong topic with me! 🙂
Well, I recorded this just last night, so you see I’m back to health again. I actually recorded 8 total songs last night! Hey, if you’re on a roll, don’t stop it.
If you really like this song, and I think you will, you can download the original version on iTunes! That’s right- just search my name, the name of the album (What About Today?), or the name of the song and you can get it for only 99 cents!
