Welcome to another edition of the Laptop Sessions!
Tonight, I give you one of the Beach Boys’ greatest and most famous songs, “Surfer Girl”!
Of course, the Boys’ version has those great harmonies, but imagine this version as if Brian Wilson was the only one singing. Plus, it’s fun to sing the harmony parts while listening back to it.
I love the chords- those old-fashioned chords that rock music just doesn’t have anymore. It was fun to learn and Chris and I have been playing this for months.
Actually, I love playing this on Chris’ Fender electric, but I think it translates well on the nylon strings.
Hopefully I do this song justice because playing a huge hit like this always means there’s pretty big expectations. Enjoy and stay tuned as the “Laptop Session a day” in 2008 rolls on!
Here’s one plenty of people should know: the classic and beautiful “Warmth of the Sun” by the Beach Boys, written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love. The story goes that both Brian and Mike were together the night that President John F. Kennedy passed away. It must’ve been quite a night in America- I can only imagine it. But, in songwriters’ darkest hours come some great material. Most of the great songs you hear are a result of heartache- it’s usually due to losing a loved one. But, Brian Wilson and Mike Love of the Beach Boys were creative in their songwriting and made their feellings for the passing of their President known in song. Sure, they tailored it into a love-lost song (“The love of my life, she left me one day…”), but you can tell the sentiment in the song, especially considering the night they wrote it.
“The Warmth of the Sun” is a beautiful song in all ways- the chord changes are just great. Brian Wilson always had a knack at creating chord progressions that were familiar, but had a great twist. The bass line always moves in the opposite direction of where you expect it to go. In addition to great music (and the instrumental track, which I’m pretty sure was played by the Beach Boys band members themselves), this song has AMAZING harmonies. Brian Wilson’s voice simply soars in this song. With the addition of the dead-on background vocals, you’ve got a pretty perfect song. I’m just glad I found a way to put a solo acoustic performance together and record it with just an acoustic guitar for a cover song music video.
This video is fulfilling a request I received in my first week of doing the Laptop Sessions. I waited until now because I knew I had to get this one right. I had to practice the chords (not too easy, and this is my own interpretation- I didn’t even use a book), plus get the intricate tune correct. There’s so many subtleties to this tune and NO ONE was writing pop music like this in 1963. Talk about ahead of their time.
Please visit my website at http://jimfusco.com for more great music–original songs! One of the main ideas behind doing all of these cover songs for the Laptop Sessions is that if you like the style of music that I do live performances of, you’ll also love my original music, too! I really think that’s true- my original songs aren’t just throwbacks or anything like that. They’re unique songs that put a modern twist on my favorite influences, including The Beach Boys, the Byrds, the Beatles, and the Moody Blues. I hope you enjoy tonight’s Beach Boys cover song and I hope you’ll stay tuned for more. Make sure to follow me on Twitter @jimfuscomusic so you always know the latest on my songwriting endeavors, too!
Okay, request time here at The Laptop Sessions! This one’s going out to Peter (aka thebeachboys on YouTube).
This is one of my favorites and I thought no one else really ever paid any attention to it. “Somewhere Near Japan”, written by Mike Love and Terry Melcher, is one of the only saving graces on the 1988 EP/album “Still Cruisin”. Actually, I like the album a lot, but it’s not really a full album. There are a few old Beach Boys songs tacked onto the end of the album because they were “featured” in movies out at the time. And, you can pretty much throw away the Fat Boys’ version of “Wipeout” which featured Brian Wilson singing the backing vocals. It’s nice to hear Brian in there, but honestly, why did that song end up on a Beach Boys album anyway? You’ve also got “Kokomo”. Love it or hate it, it’s one of the biggest songs they ever did. So, the album had some notoriety behind it. Songs like “Still Cruisin'” are just fun songs to me, and the Beach Boys even played that song during their 2012 tour! Personally, I really like the songs “Make It Big” and “Island Girl”, especially because they feature Carl Wilson and Al Jardine, respectively.
Carl Wilson, Al Jardine, Mike Love, and Bruce Johnston are all featured on lead at some point on “Somewhere Near Japan” (ala “Add Some Music” from the Beach Boys’ 1970 classic album, Sunflower) and I think that always added to my enjoyment of the song. I’ll admit it- when Terry Melcher and Mike Love wanted to write a good song, they really hit it on the nose. Think of the classic song “Gethca Back” from the Beach Boys 1985 album. Even a couple years after the Still Cruisin’ album on 1992’s “Summer In Paradise”, Melcher and Love wrote a few great songs. Now THAT is an album that doesn’t get any respect. I think songs like “Island Fever”, “Lahaina Aloha”, and “Strange Things Happen” are really great songs.
Tonight’s acoustic cover song music video is one of those “let’s hear how it sounds stripped-down” versions. The late-80s production might have turned some people off to this Beach Boys song, but I think the song stands up great on it own! So, these 80s/90s Beach Boys songs may have cheesy lyrics now and again (and that 1992 drum machine is pretty bad). But, that’s one of the reasons why I record cover song videos here on the music blog. I’d like to think that I’m pretty good at spotting a good song, even if it’s hidden underneath terrible production and synth instruments. And, with that ability, I strip all of that stuff away to give you an acoustic-guitar-driven version. I hope these videos open people to songs they otherwise wouldn’t listen to.
I hope you enjoy tonight’s cover video, and keep those requests coming! I’m doing a new music video every two days this year. If you request something, please be patient, but we’re always here to please at The Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!
