Tag Archives: Jim Fusco Songs

Christmas Albums and Songs Are Almost Here- A Complete Rundown of My Favorites

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By Jim Fusco:

I love traditions.  If there’s one thing you must learn about me, it’s that.  I get unreasonably upset when someone tries to break my time-honored traditions.  So, every year, I painfully wait until the day after Thanksgiving to listen to Christmas music.  And, if you must learn a second thing about me, it’s that I LOVE Christmas music.  Christmas songs are synonymous with family traditions.  And here, I will give you a good rundown of all my favorite Christmas albums and songs, plus a little section on why I love Christmas music so much.

How Can Someone Love Christmas Music So Much?

Many people I talk to really don’t like Christmas music all that much, especially around December 26th.  But, I have a few reasons why I love it so much.  First, I make sure that I do not listen to any Christmas songs at all before the day after Thanksgiving.  Why?  Because it’s more special that way.  I don’t get sick of Christmas music because I refuse to get into the spirit too early (like in October, as you see in all the malls).  So, when the day after Thanksgiving comes and I get up super-early for those amazing sales, I’m all too giddy to play my first Christmas song of the season.  And by January 1st, I’m usually pretty bummed about the fact that I have to wait another 11 months to hear my favorite tunes again.

Another thing I love about Christmas music: for the most part, they’re all happy!  And even if they’re not happy (like Nat King Cole’s “The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot”), they have hope.  After listing to that song, I can only imagine that the “little boy”‘s mother re-marries and that boy has some happy Christmases ahead.  I really don’t like sad songs.  I mean, when I listen to music, I want to feel good.  Give me a song about keeping the summer alive and a good guitar solo and I’m a happy person.  And the innocence that you hear when the Beach Boys sing on their Christmas album- no drugs, no craziness, just kids singing and playing some really joyful tunes.  You can’t listen to “The Beach Boys Christmas Album” without a smile on your face.

Christmas music is also timeless.  It’s the one genre of music that crosses all style and age boundaries.  You’ll hear teenagers singing to Elvis’ “Blue Christmas” and you’ll hear my parents rocking-out to “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band-Aid.  What a season…

So, now you have some insight as to why I love Christmas music so much.  But, you may be wondering- with all the Christmas albums and songs out there, what’s any good?  Well, I’m taking a big leap here and making a Top 10 list of each of my favorite Christmas songs and Christmas-themed albums.  It’s going to be tough, but here it goes:

Jim Fusco’s Top 10 Christmas Songs:

  1. The Little Saint Nick- The Beach Boys: Even though I love the song at #2, this classic Beach Boys tune gets the top prize.  It even won “Best Original Christmas Song” on our radio station, WCJM.  The tune to this song is great, the harmonies are tight, and Mike Love’s vocals are spot-on.  The instrumentation is sparse (it’s actually the Beach Boys playing the instruments), but that makes me love it more- it’s truly a band effort.  And, I have inside information proving that Brian actually wrote the lyrics!
  2. Santa Claus Is Back In Town- Elvis Presley: Hands-down, this is the coolest Christmas song ever.  Over 50 years later, and this song still rocks.  The groove, Elvis’ lead, the Jordanaires backing vocals, and that amazing piano solo prove that this song was ahead of its time.  This is not only one of my favorite Christmas songs, but one of my favorite all-around songs, as well.
  3. Baby Please Come Home- Darlene Love: The Phil Spector Christmas Album (“A Christmas Gift For You”) is an amazing album, as you’ll see it in my Top 10 list of best Christmas albums below.  I love many of the songs on that record, but the final song, “Baby Please Come Home”, just wraps it all up (no pun intended).  Darlene’s soaring vocals and that classic Spector production give me chills every time I hear it.
  4. Don’t Need A Reindeer- The Moody Blues: I know, you’ve never heard of this song.  But, trust me- you’re missing out.  Off of their Christmas album from just a few years ago, this song has everything I love: a great tune, a good beat, great vocals, and a happy message.  Please, do yourself a favor and buy a copy of this song!
  5. Merry Christmas Darling- The Carpenters: Most people who know my musical tastes know that I’m not the biggest fan of female singers.  But, you’ll notice that there are three songs sung by women on this list!  And, again, that’s what makes Christmas music so amazing- it crosses all boundaries of musical styles.  In this case, I LOVE Karen Carpenter’s voice.  She doesn’t do too much.  The chords are great in this song, too.  Why isn’t it #1?  One word: “Christmas-ing”.
  6. Elf’s Lament- Barenaked Ladies: Okay, I’ll admit that I wanted to put “Footprints” here, but that’s a sad song, albeit great.  Anyway, “Elf’s Lament” is such a fun song and gets you in the spirit very quickly.
  7. On Christmas Day- Brian Wilson: I can’t tell you why I love this song so much.  But, it’s just got a great tune, great vocals, and interesting chord changes.  Brian sounds so young in this recording, even though he was in his mid-sixties.  I wonder if anyone else notices the striking similarities between this song and “Bells of Paris” from M.I.U.?
  8. Winter Holidays- America: Dewey Bunnell has such a gift of combining crazy inversions of chords and coming up with some off-beat songs.  This Christmas tune is a not only a nice song, but gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling at the same time.
  9. Hey Santa!- Carnie & Wendy Wilson: Why is this song on the list?  Well, the late-80’s cameo by Carl Wilson was certainly a factor.  The ending of this song is so great.  This is another example of women who don’t do too much with their vocals- they just sing the song.  And even though this song gets a bad rep, you still gotta admit it’s a catchy tune.
  10. Run Rudolph Run- Chuck Berry: I don’t so much love this recording (Chuck sounds like he’s really phoning-it-in on this record), but I love the song.  It’s classic Chuck Berry style and has some pretty nifty guitar work going on.  I really started loving this song once we played it in concert and I got to do the nifty guitar work!

Jim Fusco’s Top 10 Christmas Albums of All Time:

  1. Elvis Presley’s Christmas Album (1957- recorded in two days and only 6 songs, but man, this album rules)
  2. The Beach Boys Christmas Album (everything from Al’s first lead vocal to Brian’s first solo performance)
  3. A Christmas Gift For You from Phil Spector
  4. Holiday Harmony- America
  5. Barenaked For the Holidays- Barenaked Ladies
  6. December- The Moody Blues
  7. What I Really Want for Christmas- Brian Wilson
  8. Our Christmas Gift To You- Chris, Jim, and Mike (that’s US!)
  9. What’s It Gonna Be, Santa?- Chicago
  10. I Wanna Be Santa Claus- Ringo Starr

I hope you’ve enjoyed my commentary and my lists.  I hope to edit these as the holiday season goes on- remember, I’m doing this from memory, as I haven’t listened to any Christmas music yet this year!  So, I’ll update the post as I see fit.  Who knows, maybe Dylan’s new Christmas album will make the list!  Yeah, and I hear Elvis is coming back to life this year, too… 🙂

Ibanez ARX300 Electric Guitar – Jim Fusco’s Guitar Collection

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to another edition of “Jim Fusco’s Guitar Collection” here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!  The Ibanez ARX300 electric guitar, the subject of today’s post, is one that I loved at first sight.

Ibanez ARX300 Electric Guitar with EMG 60 and 81 pickups

I remember the moment quite well- looking through a Musician’s Friend catalog and seeing  its wonderful double cutaway body and flamed maple top.  I noticed that it was from Ibanez, my favorite guitar company at the time.  Then, I only had two real guitars- my Ibanez Artcore acoustic and my Ibanez AM73T electric guitar.  So, I knew it would be another Ibanez in my collection after seeing this ARX300!  The funny thing is that I only just now learned that this has a CARVED maple top!  That’s the kind of top you only see on much higher-end guitars, like American-made Gibsons.  Most guitars in this price range (I think it was about $300 to $350 at the time) have laminated or veneered tops.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but a carved quilted maple top is oh-so wonderful.

I was also interested to learn today that this is the ARX300 and not the ARX320 like I’ve been calling it for so long.  I guess the ARX320 came out a bit later.  It looks essentially the same, except mine (the ARX300) has a black painted faded edge and the 320 doesn’t.  The 320 also has silver-looking rings around the pickups where the 300 has cream-colored rings.  Personally, I think I like the cream color better- I guess more “shredders” (who this guitar was made for in the first place) like the more “metal” look.

Of course, anyone that knows the style of music I play here on the music video blog knows that I don’t “shred”.  But, I wanted this guitar for the look alone.  I was getting tired of everyone pigeon-holing my musical style because of the look of my AM73T guitar.  That looks like an old-fashioned electric guitar from the 1950s.  I wanted to be known as a more modern rock’n’roller while I was in the band Masters of the Universe, or MoU.  So, the Ibanez ARX300 would be my “harder rock” guitar.

So, I played it for a few years before I got another electric guitar.  I actually didn’t even have another 6-string electric until I bought my Fender Deluxe Player’s Stratocaster many years later.  So, this was my only alternate to my semi-hollow electric I love so dearly.

When I realized I had too many electric guitars (that was before I got the newest two, mind you), I decided that the best way to quench my thirst for new stuff was to upgrade the guitars I already have.  So, I started thinking of ways to give each guitar its own identity.  I already had the semi-hollow guitar with the Gibson Burstbucker Pro pickups in it, the Strat with single-coils, the Epiphone with hand-wound PAF pickups, the Gretsch with its own signature sound, the P90s with their own type of biting sound, etc.  So, what would the identity of the beautiful Ibanez ARX300 be?

Well, I decided to go back to its “metal” roots and make it my hard rock/soloing guitar.  I did a ton of research and eventually decided on something completely different- new active (battery-powered) pickups from EMG!  I chose the same pickup combination that James Hetfield from Metallica uses.  I didn’t do that on purpose- just turned out that way.  After removing my old pickups and doing an intricate splicing job (as the Ibanez was wired much differently than a normal guitar- just my luck), I was greeting with a great new look on my guitar (as these are “blackout” pickups that have just a matte-finished black covering on them) and an axe that was ready to rock.

Ibanez ARX300 Electric Guitar with EMG 60 and 81 pickups

To be honest, I’m not in love with the bridge pickup.  I think it’s the EMG-81.  It’s too tinny for my tastes- sounds like a fly buzzing when you play it.  I’m sure it’s great for certain types of music, but for my style, I just don’t hear it fitting-in.  But, the true magic of this set is the EMG-60 pickup in the neck position.  Good God.  The thing has this full sounding overdrive without even turning it up- it’s so “fluid” sounding.  I just love the way it makes you instantly feel like a better player.  I can’t wait to bust this out on a future recording- I’m telling you, my guitar solos are going to sound so much better than ever before.  I hope that these new EMG pickups will make my solos stand-out better in the mix, as well!

So, that’s it- I now have an upgraded electric guitar for soloing that looks the part, as well- I’m so glad I was able to breathe new life into my Ibanez ARX300 guitar because I think I’ll always be in love with its amazing looks.  Listen for it on my future original songs!

“Good Enough” (Original song by Jim Fusco) – The Open Mic Sessions

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By Jim Fusco:

And now, another edition of The Open Mic Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!

Today is “Good Enough”, a rockin’ track from my 2012 album, “Those Around Us”.  The recording of this original song has some pretty tight harmonies on the bridge- I’ve always been proud of those.  Plus, I got to add in some clever electric piano to fill-out the sound.  Bet a lot of people didn’t even know there was an electric piano in there!  Though I’m sure my good buddy (and Laptop Sessions songwriter) Jeff Copperthite would notice- that’s kind of his thing. 🙂

I recorded this at Sam Ash music store in New Haven, CT in September, 2013.  There’s never many people at the store during open mic night (it’s just a nice place to get some practice in, really), but the staff really seemed to like this song.  It’s always fun paying attention to their reactions to see what songs they like.  I keep that in the back of my mind and use it to make setlists for other gigs in the future.

I came up with the line, “I’ve never been good enough to be your man, I’ve always been better than that,” and the song just kind of followed.  I like that idea- saying that you’re “good enough” for someone kind of says that your ONLY “good enough”.  I never wanted to feel like the things I’ve done are just “good enough”, though maybe in some of my older albums, I didn’t strive for total perfection.  At some point, you have to say, “Yes, this is good enough and I won’t really get it much better,” or you’ll never get anything done.  It’s been a life learning experience to balance “good enough” and “the best it can be”.

On that note, I’ll leave you with this performance of “Good Enough”, which, ironically, is not my best performance of the song.  But it’s a new take on this original song and I hope you enjoy it!  Stay tuned for more original music here on the Open Mic Sessions!



“When I Go” (Original song performed by Jim Fusco) – The Open Mic Sessions

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to another edition of “The Open Mic Sessions” with Jim Fusco!  Today, I reach back into the archives for a song off of the EP “Meaningless: Echoes of Dreams”.  You see, back when these tracks were recorded, the idea was to take an entire week’s vacation from school and record an album.  Our idea was to basically lock ourselves in and to write and record the whole thing.  It’s still an idea I’d like to try someday, but back then, it just didn’t turn out that way.

First, I had a bad cold so I couldn’t really sing.  Second, my brother and I are, well, brothers.  You can’t lock us in a room for a week (figuratively speaking, that is) and expect good results.  So, after some fights and even less work getting done (mostly because of arguments over how each song should’ve sounded), we ended up with nothing more than a few backing tracks at the end of the week.  Oh yeah, and a vow to never work together again…which we ditched in 2006 when we started MoU.  And now we’re still in the throes of the newest vow never to work together again. 🙂  Time heals all wounds, but some wounds take a bit longer to heal!  I guess that’s why certain bands that have stayed together longer aren’t really friends- they work together and go their separate ways.  It’s tough to think of playing music that way because of how social it is.  But, there’s so much passion involved.  And the addition of one vocal part one band member doesn’t think should be there seems like a life-or-death decision.  I kind of liken it to a marriage, except it’s even more stressful because there’s someone messing with something you’ve created!

That’s a long-winded way of saying that, even though we didn’t accomplish too much, what we did accomplish was really good.  Those tunes are some of the most enduring ones I can remember writing and participating in.  “When I Go” is played by my brother and me every time we jam together.  It’s just this great tune that has a great beat.  What more could you want?  So, when I went to play an open mic performance at The Space in Hamden, CT, I wanted to bust-out this song.  I never got to perform it there while in MoU, so it was my chance to resurrect it.

I hope you enjoy the performance- everyone there certainly seemed to!  Stay tuned for more from The Open Mic Sessions, as my solo acoustic and electric performances of original songs continues here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs and original music video blog!