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“Odds and Ends” (Bob Dylan Cover)

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For Bob Dylan chords / tabs / lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Well, it may not have been recorded in my basement with an as-yet-unknown Canadian rock band, but this is the best version of “Odds and Ends” you’re going to get out of me!  I’ve always loved this song.  It sets the tone nicely for the 23 songs that follow.  Indeed, “Odds and Ends” encapsulates the spirit of The Basement Tapes: often absurd lyrics sung over raw yet warm instrumental tracks.  For Dylan, this set of songs signified his retreat from the “wild, mercury sound” of Blonde on Blonde and the wild world tour of 1966.  At the same time, you can listen as the Band begins to really gel and find their collective voice.

The primary reason I chose this song tonight — one of two that I will post tonight — is in honor of Dylan’s brand-new album being released tomorrow.  It is titled Together Through Life, and I’ve already recorded a Laptop Session of the lead track, “Beyond Here Lies Nothin.'”  There is at least one other song that’s been leaked online, but I’d rather save the other nine tracks for my first listen to the album as a whole.

Instead, I’ve gone back to this 1975 release of these 1968 recordings.

Why choose The Basement Tapes to cover now?

The answer, quite simply, is that I was too busy with other videos and writing to be able to record these songs a couple weeks ago when several Dylan albums — The Basement Tapes, New Morning, Dylan and the Dead — were reissued in digipack format.  I saw them in the stores, and although I really don’t see why anyone who already owns these albums would want to buy the updated versions (aside from sound quality, of course), I can’t help but feel it necessary to celebrate any and all attention that Dylan’s back catalog is given.

It hasn’t been all that long since I would scan the CD racks at stores like Sam Goody, FYE, Best Buy, Borders, and a host of others, looking for Dylan albums to complete my collection.  For a while, I would buy two at a time in an attempt to satiate my thirst for new Dylan material.  Although I don’t feel that same urgency for Dylan’s releases when I walk into a CD store, I have lost none of my passion and respect for his music.

As Jim knows and is probably already thinking (and he’s right), I’ll jump at any excuse to record a Dylan song!!

Okay, that’s it for the first post.  I need to save something to write about in my second post of the night, coming very shortly…

See you next session!

“Good Night Now” (Original Music from Indie Music Songwriter Chris Moore)

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By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of “Original Wednesday,” our absolute favorite day of the week here at the music blog that brings you a new music video EACH and EVERY day! Original Wednesday is our favorite day because it gives us an opportunity to show off our own songwriting. The whole reason why we do these acoustic cover songs in the first place is to hopefully interest people who like to listen to new music to come and listen to our original music. Jim, Jeff, and I have been producing music for Fusco-Moore Productions for almost a decade now, and we couldn’t be more thrilled when Wednesday rolls around and we can record our own original music!

That being said, I dug into my catalog this week for an original song that I haven’t recorded yet. Over the past several months, I have recorded every original song that I have contributed to my band’s past two releases (the self-titled Masters of the Universe in 2006 and Homestead’s Revenge in 2008). I figured that these are the songs of mine that have seen the most circulation. Well, now that I have finished those, I am beginning to look back at my solo releases. Some of the MoU songs were previously recorded on solo releases, so those are out. However, my 2006 EP, Love Out of Fashion, is a work unto itself — none of the tracks on that album have been recorded or released in any other form.

For tonight’s session, I chose “Good Night Now,” the second track on the album. I hope you’ll take the time to listen to the studio version as well (CLICK HERE to listen!) because it has some of the most experimental guitar effects I had used up to that point. I wrote this song about two female co-workers who I felt very strongly about; these were relationships I established in high school and which lasted up until they left the Staples (where I worked at the time) several years later. I think that the realization that people you think you know in one environment (work, for instance) are really quite different elsewhere is a common one, and it hit me hard when I finally realized. Thus, this song…

So, without further ado, I bring you the free music video for tonight. Don’t miss a brand-new music blog entry from Jeff tomorrow — same Laptop-time, same Laptop-channel…

See you next session!



“Piles of Love Letters” (Chris Moore Original Acoustic Song)

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By Chris Moore:

Hi there.  This is Chris, bringing you my “Original Wednesday” contribution for this week.  And I’m really trying here, but you’re going to have to cut me a break on the post length.  But I have a reason for the brevity of tonight’s post, I swear!

Whether you think it’s a valid reason, well, that might be another issue altogether…

Anyway, this original song, “Piles of Love Letters,” is potentially slotted for track four of my soon-to-be-recorded album, a debut offering me and a producer officially overseeing things, namely Jim Fusco.  In fact, Jim just made a HUGE contribution to the album tonight by suggesting what I have decided is an excellent idea for an album title.  He thinks the title should be based on the line in this song that states, “At least it’s tried and true.”

I can see this — the new album as Tried and True.  Or Untried and True.  Or Tried and Untrue.  Great idea, Jim!  Now, all I have to do is think a bit about the album and decide which version fits the most strongly with the dominant themes, etc.

Unfortunately, while I was recording this, I missed a performance by the Foo Fighters on the Grammy Nominations Concert Show.  I initially scoffed at the idea of a nominations show, but the concert idea was pretty cool.  Taylor Swift is a modern pop country singer, and yet I must say that her voice is amazing and she is beautiful and seems very sweet.  I wonder, of course, how she is as a normal person, away from the cameras.  (I don’t know if she can quite top my love for Katie Lloyd on Boston Legal (see previous post), but still…

Well, one thing led to another and before I know it, Jim and I are locked in a contest for who can stop watching television and return to working first.  You see, the Victoria’s Secret show came on in HD.  To look away would be to deny both one’s heterosexuality and love of HD television, so you can see why this was an unproductive stretch for us…  Nevertheless, after being told neither the true identity of Victoria nor what her secret is, I returned to my work.

Now, all distractions have dispersed and I am in bed listening to the Uncle Tupelo track “Outdone,” a demo from 1989 that is on their 89/93: An Anthology disc.  This is a fitting end to the day, as it’s been a wild musical ride — the past few days, in fact.  I have heard everything from Brian Wilson to Leonard Cohen to lots of Ringo Starr to What About Today? recently.  On the way home from work, I popped in Wilco’s AM before giving Paul McCartney’s (The Fireman’s) Electrical Arguments another set of rotations.  That led me to this essentials disc — I’ll definitely be recording one from them in the future, though possibly not until the new year.

And with that, I’m off to sleep.  Thanks for checking in for your daily dose of acoustic rock music, today in original form!  Come back tomorrow for a surprise visit and video from our very own Jim Fusco!!

See you next session!

“Essential Question” (Original Music by Indie Songwriter Chris Moore)

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By Chris Moore:

Well, it’s the best time of the week. It’s the time when we songwriters — Jim Fusco, Jeff Copperthite, and myself — get to really believe what we boast: that this is the best acoustic cover songs music blog on the web. And we get to do that…

…by not recording an acoustic cover song!

We still record and post a music video of an acoustic song, but it is not a cover. On Original Wednesday, we bring you an original song for your enjoyment that you most likely have never heard before. Today, I bring you a song that I have had kicking around for a few years called “Essential Question.” It never quite made the cut for Love Out of Fashion, either because I hadn’t finished writing it or because I didn’t feel it was up to par. It finally saw the light of day as a track on Weekend Demos… but only on the bonus disc. I don’t really know why it never made the cut, even on a demos album. Overall, I’ve always felt that the song was a bit simplistic, particularly in the verse and bridge. I do like the chorus a lot, though, and that’s one of the reasons that I wanted to break it out for an original Wednesday.

I have been working on some new songs, and I hope to bring an all-new one to the music blog very soon! For now, just be sure to hurry back for another great, all-new acoustic cover song (business as usual!) by Jeff tomorrow…

See you next session!