Familial (Philip Selway, 2010)
There is a great deal of potential in these ten hauntingly emotive debut tracks, but Selway simply doesn’t make good on the promise their beautiful sublety suggests.
Top Two Tracks:
“By Some Miracle” & “Falling”
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
By Jeff Copperthite:
Good evening, and welcome toThumpin’ Thursday! I’ve got a brand new band to bring to the blog tonight!
The band is somewhat well-known, called “Better Than Ezra”. They released an album that I have somewhere in my library called “Deluxe”. On it was a song called “Good”, which is tonight’s cover. It’s a very cool song that I actually never really understood the meaning of.
You know how there are songs that you really don’t “listen” to the lyrics? This is one of them. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’ve long knew the words, but I never really bothered to figure out what the song means. It wasn’t until I was reviewing the lyrics for the session that I realized it’s a “damn she left and wrote a note about it”.
This song is still a solid one from what I call “My Alternative Library”. It was drawn from throughout the year — plenty to look forward to.
I’m watching a really cool special right now on TV. Apparently George Carlin has been posthumously awarded the “Mark Twain” award. It’s a commercial free 90 minute special where multiple comedians are paying tribute and they are showing various clips from his television career – all the way from his very early Tonight Show appearances, Smothers Brothers set, HBO specials, and other things I haven’t seen. It was on a channel called WLIW21, so if you get it (or have heard of it before), you will have to watch it.
George has always been a favorite of mine. Sorry for the diversion from tonight’s session. I hoped you’d enjoy it — the next Thursday session was the first cover of a great song!
Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Jeff’s acoustic cover song music videos are no longer on YouTube, but we decided to keep his cover song blog posts up. We figured these music blog entries would be good for posterity’s sake and because Jeff always gave such insightful posts each Session. We hope to see Jeff’s impressive catalog of acoustic rock songs here on the Laptop Sessions cover songs and original music blog again in the future. But, for now, please make sure to check-out hundreds of other acoustic cover songs from all of your favorite bands here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Jeff’s acoustic cover song music videos are no longer on YouTube, but we decided to keep his cover song blog posts up. We figured these music blog entries would be good for posterity’s sake and because Jeff always gave such insightful posts each Session. We hope to see Jeff’s impressive catalog of acoustic rock songs here on the Laptop Sessions cover songs and origianal music blog again in the future. But, for now, please make sure to check-out hundreds of other acoustic cover songs from all of your favorite bands here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!
By Dave Patten:
Acoustic cover of “Sunday Morning” played outside on a porch filmed in HD. Follow Dave’s musical career (he’s hit #1 on MTV.com): http://www.davepatten.typepad.com/
** EDITOR’S NOTE: **
For the second Guest Session in a row, we’re happy to introduce a new performer to the blog: Dave Patten.
His song today is a cover of “Sunday Morning” from Maroon 5’s 2002 debut release Songs About Jane. This is a band that has yet to be seen on the blog, so it’s always good to include new selections like this.
Dave’s video may be a bit more meticulously filmed than our average session, but it is a live acoustic performance, and so it meets the core Laptop Sessions format requirements. We hope that this production only serves to add to your enjoyment of his take on this hit song.
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
By Jeremy Hammond:
My cover of “City of New Orleans” by Steve Goodman is influenced by Willie Nelson’s version of the song. The rhythm fittingly drives on like the wheels on a locomotive, and it has a fun chord progression.
** EDITOR’S NOTE **
This is one of those songs I feel like I’ve known forever. The more likely time frame is since I was about ten or twelve, listening to my father’s seventies music cassette tapes. Of course, I know the 1972 Arlo Guthrie version from his album, Hobo’s Lullaby. It turns out Steve Goodman played it for Guthrie at a bar called the Quiet Knight in Chicago, after which Guthrie recorded his cover.
If the quality of a song can be judged by the caliber of people who have recorded it, then this is an outstanding tune. It has been recorded by Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, John Denver, Judy Collins, and Jerry Reed, and has been performed most recently by Jimmy Buffett in 2005 and former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante in 2006.
And now I’m thrilled to add Jeremy Hammond’s name to that long and prestigious list of cover song artists. Jeremy’s music video performance is an excellent, entertaining, faithful rendition that anyone who knows this song will enjoy. If this is your first time hearing the song, perhaps you’ll go out to a CD store (or at least YouTube) and check out the other versions. Jeremy continues to select songs that fit perfectly into the acoustic cover song format, so hurry back soon for another installment of the Guest Sessions at the Laptop Sessions music video blog!
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.