Tag Archives: John Lennon Songs

Music Review: The Beatles’ “Let It Be… Naked” (2003 Remix)

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By Chris Moore:

The chart-topping success of Let It Be is truly a testament to both the heights of Beatlemania and also to the abilities of the four Beatles to consistently top themselves in their songwriting and musicianship.  Even by 1970, amid tensions that caused all four to at least threaten to quit the band, they managed to come together (no pun intended) to finish the principal tracks for a new album.

This was made easier, of course, by the fact that this new album was based primarily on material that had been written and recorded before their previous record, Abbey Road, was released.

The true complication in this process arose when Phil Spector was somehow given the “okay” to add his signature studio treatment to the tracks.  Perhaps with the disagreements between the Fab Four obscuring their collective vision, Spector was allowed to turn these songs — many of them little gems — into overblown, overproduced testaments to the capabilities of a mixing board.  Orchestras aside, the original concept of this album (at least, when it was begun in January 1969) was that there would be no overdubs of any kind.  How the leap was taken from “no overdubs” to “here’s Phil Spector” is a subject of some debate.  The result?  An album that made many fans and sources close to the band wonder what it would have been like without all the accessorizing.

Let It Be… Naked puts an end to that inquiry.

The cover of the 2003 remix of "Let It Be"

The cover of the 2003 remix of “Let It Be”

As the title implies, Naked is a stripped-down, bare bones version of Let It Be that highlights the instruments and original vocals of the four Beatles which, not surprisingly, is more than enough to excite and entertain.  Ringo once pointed out that, despite all their issues and arguments, when the count began and a song was performed live, they transformed back into those four boys from Liverpool who just loved to play music together.  For anyone who thought that may have been an overstatement, this new take on their final album is the proof of its veracity.

Throughout Let It Be… Naked, the Beatles’ harmonies are tight and their instrumentation is simple yet impressive.  The drums and bass are particularly fun to focus on, perhaps imagining Ringo and Paul falling perfectly into the rhythm and putting all their combined experience, personal talent, and emotion into what would be these final released tracks.  Of course, John and George are just as much fun to listen to.  George’s guitar work, for instance, clearly never needed to be and never should have been buried beneath layers of production and overdubs.

Even the track listing is rearranged on this 2003 remix of the album, tossing out “Dig It” and “Maggie Mae,” as well as adding “Don’t Let Me Down,” a track that had made the cut on the earlier Glyn Johns mix of the album, before the project was shelved.  This is hardly a revelation — I don’t imagine many will miss the two deleted tracks and the album is certainly much better for the inclusion of the latter.

In every conceivable way, Let It Be… Naked is a success and finally presents the album as originally intended, making it a must-listen for any Beatles fan as well as any fan of rock music who is interested in hearing the real story of the final album of this legendary band.

COMING LATER THIS WEEK:  In addition to our regular Beatles cover songs, a review of the new Let It Be 2009 remaster.  How does it compare?…

Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.

“Real Love” (Beatles Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Well, then- welcome to the first Jim Fusco Thursday here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog! 🙂  I’m happy tonight, as it was a day of getting things done.  Actually, the past two days were all about getting things done and that always gives me a good feeling.  I need to cover a few topics before I get started tonight:

  1. My album, “Halfway There” is now on iTunes and available for download!!  I’m very excited about this.  I just signed up for some promotion.  If I get any kind of response, I’ll gladly do a bigger campaign.  Go check it out: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/halfway-there/id361828586 Please, it would mean so much to me if you would sign-in to iTunes, rate, and comment on the album.  The more popularity it gets from the loyal music blog followers, the better chance it has at succeeding!
  2. Next up, I’m going to be releasing the classic second (and last) album by MoU, “Homestead’s Revenge”.  And, just like everything else in that band, I’ll be covering the cost of this submission myself…
  3. I recorded three “episodes” of the Laptop Sessions tonight, so that ensures three weeks of all-new videos coming up!
  4. Speaking of “episodes”, I had a thought tonight.  I’m afraid that there’s so many Laptop Sessions videos that they’re becoming meaningless.  Honestly- I don’t even remember some of the songs I’ve done!  So, I’ll continue for a while on the once-a-week plan, but I really think I should do a “season” of them, much like a TV show.  I think once every two weeks, or 26 “episodes” would be good for the year.  That way, each music video would be a special event.  And it would probably give me more time to promote the site.  I used to worry that there wasn’t enough content to promote, but now I know that there’s SO much content that too much work went into it all with little return.  I’ll keep you posted on my thoughts.
  5. Finally, I want to mention the passing of rock legend Johnny Maestro of the Brooklyn Bridge.  I was going to record “The Worst That Could Happen”, but I realize that, other than the chorus, it’s not one I know too well.  I’ll keep listening and maybe I’ll bust it out someday.  R.I.P., Johnny.

Onto tonight’s video!

This video, “Real Love” by the Beatles, came out so great that I wanted to push it ahead of my planned video for tonight, which will now air next week.  I love this song so much and even though it’s played on piano in the recorded version, it translated very well to my nylon stringed acoustic guitar.  And playing it on the 3rd fret capo really made it sound like the original.  Now, when I say “original”, I actually mean the version done by the remaining Beatles (over John’s home recording) in 1996.  John’s demo version does appear on one of his “Best Of” solo albums, but the lyrics are slightly different.  The Beatles version from the Anthology in 1996 is simply perfect.  The vocals are stunning (even though John’s voice sounds very ghostly and distant due to the original source tape they used, it works to a much better effect here than on “Free As A Bird”) and the guitar solo is so great.  It’s George at his rock best- a biting and wailing solo over such a great love song.

And last night, I arrived at a pretty big conclusion: In my opinion, John Lennon is the best songwriter of all time.  Yes, Brian Wilson is still (and will always be) my favorite songwriter, I have to admit that there was no one better than John Lennon.  He wrote some of the best songs of all time- and some earlier than all the other 60s bands!  He had a knack for the hooks (like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah”), but also wrote some of the best ballads ever.  “In My Life”, “Woman”, and “Real Love” are three amazing examples.  Okay, so Paul McCartney is a great songwriter, but his great songs are great and his less-than-great songs STINK!  Even John Lennon’s less-than-perfect songs are good.  He just had that gift.  He was a great lyricist and wrote some of the most unique melodies ever.

So, with that in mind, I went to record “Real Love”.  I remember when it came out- watching the Beatles Anthology on TV when it first aired in 1996.  It was awesome.  Especially because, at that point, I still thought I was the only Beatles fan in my generation.  So, having that kind of special on TV was pretty big for me.  And two new songs just made it a perfect situation.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s rendition of “Real Love” by the Beatles.  I know it’ll go down as one of my favorite videos simply because I realized that it’s one of my favorite songs.  It’ll always make me wonder, “What if the Beatles endured and somehow got to play into the 90s?”  I think we all know it would’ve been awesome, despite what critics might have said at the time.  It always bugged me that everyone expected bright, pop songs- but think about it: if the Beatles had continued playing from where they left off with “Abbey Road” (“Let It Be” was recorded earlier), the songs would’ve sounded very similar to “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love”.  And that’s just fine by me.  Until next Thursday, I hope you enjoy your weekend!  Make sure to check out all of our Beatles cover songs here on the music blog!

“Stand By Me” (Ben E. King and/or John Lennon Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome, welcome to another edition of the Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!  Tonight, I bring you the classic standard “Stand By Me”, made famous by Ben E. King and then covered by John Lennon years later.  And, no, I did not base my pick tonight on the cheesy movie we watched while growing up…

Tonight, as it has been in the past with a couple other songs, the version of “Stand By Me” that plays in my head is a combination of the John Lennon version and the Ben E. King version.  I hear the music to the Ben E. King version but John Lennon’s voice.  It’s probably because Lennon did such a spot-on cover.  Man, watching this video of John performing “Stand By Me” just makes me wish he were still alive to make music today.  I know he would’ve still been great today and that he would be coming out with the kind of music that Paul and Ringo are coming out with now (not to mention the great stuff George did before he passed-away).

Anyway, I’ve known this song for as long as I can remember- just listening to the radio growing up.  Then, while jamming with the Acai Berries a few weeks ago, we happened upon this tune and were going to do a cover video ourselves.  But, I figured I could just do it on my own because it doesn’t require another singer or really any other instrumentation (unless you want to be a purist and have someone play the riff constantly in the background).

As much as I don’t like the fact that my studio is gone, I’m really happy with the acoustics I’ve been getting!  You know, it’s terrible to have so much echo and reverb when recording a multi-track song, but it’s the greatest thing ever when recording a solo acoustic video like this.  On another note, I’m trying to justify purchasing an HDV video camera for two reasons: to play the high definition video tapes of our wedding into the computer for editing, and the prospect of having the Laptop Sessions in high definition!  How cool would that be?  We’re getting faster internet next week, too, so my uploads wouldn’t be too painful.  I’m watching an auction on eBay- let’s see what the Mrs. has to say…

We just found out this evening that we are CLEAR TO CLOSE on the house this Friday- right on schedule!  It was a rough ride getting to this point, but everything is finally ni place and we’re hoping that we’re all moved in and set up by end-of-day Saturday.  We bought all new furniture, hired movers, boxed everything up, got the condo rented- what a project.  The best part is that we’re doing it all at once and (hopefully) that’ll mean it will be DONE all at once, you know?  I hate stringing things out.  So, this weekend will be very busy.  But, hopefully things will be stable enough that I’ll be back with a fresh new video next Tuesday!  Then, the Acai Berries are getting back together to record some more tracks- we’ve got a TON of songs in mind, but we’re ready to do about four of them, so stay-tuned.

Have a great week (make sure to stop back on Thursday for Jeff’s post!) and please, please, please wish us luck with our crazy weekend ahead.  It promises to be one of the most important weekends of our lives!  Until Tuesday…

“The Fool on the Hill” (Beatles Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome, all, to a late edition of Jim Fusco Tuesdays here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!

I’m back with my friends Steve and Chris for another Beatles cover song video- tonight, we bring you ‘The Fool On the Hill”.  Chris C. brought this song to our attention because he has an incredible set of recorders (flute-like instruments) that he wanted to play at our practice sessions.  We were going to play “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away”, but it looks like Jeff and Chris M. have that market cornered already!

Anyway, when the Acai Berries’ Chris suggested “The Fool On the Hill”, I jumped at the idea- it would give me a chance to do some great Paul McCartney-like singing and Chris a chance to play his recorder in the style of the flutes on the song.  Let me tell you- he got it right on, didn’t he?

And how about the great 12-string guitar playing by Steve off-camera.  That picking style he’s doing on the D6 chord sounds a lot like “Dream On” from Aerosmith and it adds such a mystical feel to this song.  Paul McCartney said he wrote it about people like Maharishi, of whom people said was just a fool standing alone on a hill.  Those nay-sayers to the Maharishi’s principles would just discount his teachings and brush him to the side.

Come to think of it, this is a pretty universal theme.  I mean, I was just listening to my “old” album “My Other Half” from 2002.  I was a senior in high school when I recorded it and high-school “issues” (relationships, etc.) were very fresh on my mind.  I had just met Becky at the time, but we didn’t start officially dating until about two weeks before the album came out, so the songs on “My Other Half” reflect previous people I was (or even wasn’t) involved with.  There’s a song called “Never Taking Your Chances” (which is so weird, because that song was tuck in my head before I even starting thinking about writing this post) and I say, “Just because I’m not what you see, it doesn’t mean you can walk over me, and never taking your chances with me.”

I was complaining about someone who was a friend to someone I was interested in.  Well, looooong story short, she basically prevented me from ever having a chance with that person.  Why?  Who knows!  She knew nothing about me, but just like the “Fool on the Hill”, she assumed things about me and never gave me a chance.

That’s what Paul’s saying in this song: “They never listen to him, they can see what he wants to do.”  No they don’t!  They just think they see what he “wants to do” because of stereotypes, rumors, conjecture, etc.  I’m pretty happy that I made this connection tonight, as it gives “The Fool On the Hill” much greater meaning to me.

And I hope it gives meaning to you, too!  Anyway, I’m excited about an exciting weekend of TNA Wrestling ahead- three hours of iMPACT on Thursday (not to mention a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my main man Jeff Copperthite!!!) and then the biggest pay-per-view of the year on Sunday, Bound For Glory.  Of course, I’ll be pulling for Sting to beat AJ Styles all the way.  Only 15 days left until the house is done, but man, it’s going to be stressful two weeks.  I get sick to my stomach just thinking about it.

Well, have a great one and I promise that next week’s video will be on time!