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Ranking every Beach Boys song/album: “Little Deuce Coupe” album (by Songwriter Jim Fusco)

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By Jim Fusco:

ALBUM – LITTLE DEUCE COUPE

A Young Man is Gone – 6 (very beautiful sounding, but I was always a bit bored by it- don’t kill me, Mike!)
Little Deuce Coupe – 8
Be True to Your School (single version) – 4 (the only Beach Boys song I consistently skip past- I just never liked school enough to be “true” to it)
Be True to Your School (album cut) – (3)
No Go Showboat – 7 (love Brian’s great high voice here and the humor in Al’s lines)
Custom Machine – 7 (love the chorus and especially Mike’s bass singing!!)
Car Crazy Cutie – 6 (enjoyable)
Cherry, Cherry Coupe – 7 (I really like those chords and I love Dennis’ harmony part)
409 – 3 (never been a big fan of this song)
Our Car Club – 7 (I love the drums and vocal breaks! Also, really cool sounding)
Shut Down – 7
Spirit of America – 3 (not a big fan)
Ballad of Ole Betsy – 7 (great harmonies- the stereo separated vocals really show off the quality here)

*I love this album. To me, this is the happiest the Boys sounded on record. They are just so youthful and this album always reminds me of summer. The songs are great and the production, as minimalist as it is, just fits for these lighthearted songs about, well, cars! Plus, I always tell everyone it was the first “concept” album! Well, not really, I guess. Now, I was born in 1984, so any visions I have of the 60s come from the music I love. So, this album has always served as a window into that early 60s cars, girls, and teenage fun lifestyle that I never really got to replicate growing up in the 90s and 2000s. This album makes me reminiscent of a time that I wasn’t even alive! That’s pretty powerful stuff.*

“Dark of My Moon” (Gene Clark Cover)

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Welcome to your Super Bowl Sunday edition of The Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog! As a quick note on the Super Bowl, I’m a Jets “fan”, so even though this concerns two northeast teams, I really don’t care who wins. On top of that, I’m a baseball fan, so hearing that the Mets signed Johan Santana, it already feels like a win.

On to today’s acoustic cover song:

I’ve said it before, but Gene Clark is in the running for best songwriter of all time. Those know know Gene’s music share my admiration of it, and even though finding someone who’s even HEARD of him is few and far between, I know this acoustic cover version of “Dark of My Moon” will make a lot of fans very happy.

“Dark of My Moon” and is an “unreleased” song that was formally released only as an acoustic demo a few years ago (long after Gene passed away). This has been a favorite of everyone in my family since we first heard it and I’m proud to bring it to the Laptop Sessions music blog.

This literally took me 30 takes to do. This is a very powerful song and I needed to do it right. I found that the more I played it, the harder it became to sing. But, after plenty of loud obscenities, I finally got the perfect take, which I present to you today.

Listen to the words of this song and listen to how the music rises and falls with the emotions. Not all of Gene Clark’s songs were this slow and sad-sounding, but most of them had this hint of melancholy to them.  Even in a fast-paced song like “Feel A Whole Lot Better”, Gene would put this sad tinge on the lyrics.  But, what’s interesting about “Feel A Whole Lot Better” is how he says, “I’ll probably feel a whole lot better when you’re gone.”  He doesn’t even know for sure!  I think that extra dimension to Gene Clark’s lyrics is what made him so great.  He had a way with words and you could tell he looked up to guys like Bob Dylan.  For “Dark of My Moon”, you can tell it’s a very personal song.  Lines like, “That’s the tenth time that you went and then came back,” make the listener realize that he’s talking about something (and someone) very specific.  On songs like that, I usually choose not to do a cover version.  But, “Dark of My Moon” is such a great song, I just couldn’t help it.  The way Gene Clark sings in the rough demo version is just perfectly suited to the content of the song.  This is only the first of many solo Gene Clark cover songs to come here on the video blog (not to mention those he did with the Byrds), so I hope everyone enjoys it!

Stay tuned as the Laptop Session a day in 2008 “keeps burnin'”! (to quote another great Gene Clark song)

“Young Boy” (Paul McCartney Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Hello everyone and welcome to your Thursday fix of the Laptop Sessions music blog!

I’ve been sick with a cold these past couple of days- good thing I had a couple of cover song videos in reserve! I should be back to my healthy self again over the weekend, and I have a list of literally 40 different songs to record cover song music videos for the Sessions…hopefully not all in one day…

This tune is a great one from Paul McCartney’s late 90’s album, “Flaming Pie”. That album stands as one of my all-time favorites because it came out right when I was really getting into music seriously. My family listened to it constantly. I plan on doing most of the songs off this album eventually because of it.  “Flaming Pie”, for me, will always be the “vacation” album.  I remember the summer that this album came out.  My family went on vacation- a road trip to one of the New England states.  We listened to this album constantly while on the trip.  It was so exciting to go into a music store and see this album being promoted.  I remember listening to the album on headphones in one of these stores (remember those kiosks?).  But the weird thing was- we were listening to it in the car!  I guess I was just excited to see an album I liked getting some popularity for once.

Paul McCartney’s songs, dare I say, are much better when he’s in a bad mood.  Unfortunately, his wife was suffering from cancer at the time he wrote and recorded “Flaming Pie”.  The emotions Paul put into this album range from sweet (“Little Willow”) to edgy (“Really Love You”).  I think “Flaming Pie” features some of the best songs he’s ever written.  “Heaven On A Sunday” is one of my absolute favorites- it’s just got that perfect peaceful sound.  And “The World Tonight” is just a great rock’n’roll song- the perfect single.  Paul even makes mention of his old friend John Lennon.  You remember John’s story of how the Beatles got their name, right?  “A man on a flaming pie came down and told me to spell “Beetles” with an “a”.”  Yeah, right.  Anyway, it made for a great song (and album) many, many years later.

This tune is a great one on acoustic guitar and was one of the first songs I leaned to play on guitar. It’s fun to sing and has a great melody, but most of all, I love the message in the song. “He’s gotta do it for himself.” How many times have I tried to steer someone in the “right” direction, only to learn that the person needed to learn on his own. I love when people learn from others’ mistakes, but I also accept the fact that it doesn’t happen that often.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s Paul McCartney cover song.  “Young Boy” is a great one for you to learn, too.  Just start with C – Am – Em – F – G.  There- you’ve got the verse and you’ve mastered five different chords!  Stay tuned for many more Paul McCartney songs here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!

“Brian Wilson” (Barenaked Ladies cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to your Friday edition of The Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog! After two strong Sessions from Chris and Jeff, I’m glad I can follow up with a song that I’ve been playing for a long time now, Barenaked Ladies’ “Brian Wilson”.

This song is very important to me, as it was the song that initially got me into BNL because a friend played it for me thinking I would like the Brian Wilson references. Of course, I did. But, I loved the song, too.

I now own all of BNL’s albums, have met them and got them to sign their latest (and greatest) album, and they are now my second favorite band of all time behind the Beach Boys at a permanent #1 spot.

I love the way Masters of the Universe did this song- I had the privilege of singing lead on their version. We did five part harmonies on the chorus. There’s a live version of it here on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0rBfLk70vU

So, you have a song by my second favorite band ABOUT my favorite ever songwriter! Doesn’t get much better than that.

So, here’s my solo acoustic version- I could play this one with my eyes closed, so the performance is very smooth and comfortable, if I do say so myself! 😉

Let me tell you why I love Barenaked Ladies (the band, of course), the Beach Boys, the Moody Blues, the Byrds, and bands like that so much more than I like the Wallflowers, Ben Folds, and Dylan. I love all of their music, but I gravitate towards the first set of bands. You see, I love bands where every band member gets a chance to contribute.  Many bands only have one front man and the rest are just background guys.  Take “Matchbox Twenty” for example.  Rob Thomas is the lead.  Now, someone name another band member.  That’s right- Thomas IS the band!  Sure, there are other guys that play his music, but he’s the guy who writes the songs and sings them, too.  If you take a band like the Beach Boys, you might think the same thing: “Oh yeah, it’s just Brian Wilson and a bunch of other guys.”  Sure, that was kind of true before 1967.  But after that, Brian faded into the background and the other band members (his brothers, his cousin, and a friend) had to take over.  They all began writing songs.  The best example was the album “Sunflower”.  Every member had a hand in writing and singing on that album- it’s one of my favorites as a result.  That way, you get such a great variety.

Enjoy “Brian Wilson” by Barenaked Ladies.  It’s such a great song.  And even though I couldn’t get the Jim Creegan bass solo in there, I still think this live acoustic version does the song justice.  Stay tuned for more great acoustic cover songs from the Laptop Sessions music blog!