Okay, request time here at the Laptop Sessions. This one’s going out to my longtime friend Drew Kingsley.
“Question” is a great tune by the Moody Blues off of their (you guessed it) “Question Of Balance” album.
I hope you’ll all like my acoustic-ized version of the song. Of course the strumming isn’t as insane as Justin Hayward’s is- I can actually play it at that speed, but have a bit of trouble keeping time when I do. So, I chose the safe route for this version. I think the effect is still there because of the dynamics used.
There will be many more Moodies songs to come, as well as many request fulfillments in the coming weeks- I’m loving this every third day schedule, as it really allows me to pick some tougher songs and practice them until they’re perfect for internet posting!
Hello everyone- tonight’s session is a Moody Blues song that’s always been a favorite of mine. I’ll be the first to admit that most of the Moodies songs aren’t exactly “rockers”, but when they do come out with one, it’s AWESOME. “Story In Your Eyes”, “Ride My Seesaw”, and “I’m Just A Singer in a Rock’n’Roll Band” come to mind as great songs with a rock sound and some amazing lead guitar playing by Justin Hayward. I honestly believe that Justin Hayward is one of the most underrated rock guitarists out there. The man can absolutely shred on the guitar and he plays it perfectly every time- even in concert. Have you heard the beginning to “Question” on 12-string acoustic guitar? Even playing that half-speed on acoustic guitar is difficult. Hayward is the man, and that’s all there is to it.
The Moody Blues song I’ve chosen for tonight’s cover song music video, “It’s Up To You”, has a great guitar riff, classic Justin Hayward introspective lyrics, and just a great melody. “It’s Up To You” my favorite song off of the “Question of Balance” album. That album, to me, is a bit faster paced than any of the other “first seven” albums they did. But, I think the songs aren’t nearly as good (as a whole) as the songs on albums like “Every Good Boy Deserves Favour” and “To Our Children’s Children’s Children”.
One thing about Justin Hayward’s lead guitar playing I love is his double or even triple-tracking of the lead guitar. It’s so unique. George Harrison used to do it with his famous slide guitar solos. But, Justin Hayward is a fan of more distortion on his guitar solos and riffs. So, it’s a different sound. Hayward triple-tracks the lead guitar for two reasons, in my opinion. First, he wants to make the part sound more powerful. You have to imagine that little thin high E string on a guitar. Now, strum it with a piece of plastic. It’s going to need a lot of power to cut through drums, bass, and a synthesizer. So, triple-tracking the lead guitar (that’s recording it three times) is a great way to make it stand out from the rest of the sounds in the band. Another reason why Hayward did it is the reason why I think it’s so cool: harmony! He would take the lead guitar part and then play it three times. Except, each time he’d play a different note of a chord. Played all together, you get a great sound that’s full and unique. I did that on some of my songs, too. For instance, on “Give and Take” from my album “What About Today?”, I did a three-part lead solo. Listen to that song online on my website at http://jimfusco.com.
I hoe you enjoy tonight’s Moody Blues cover song! Keep checking back for more music videos because we are determined not to miss a day in 2008! We’ll see how long it lasts, but let’s just say I’ve already got enough cover song videos for the next couple weeks!
Back again with another edition of the Laptop Sessions!
This time I finally get to do a Moody Blues song. I just got the urge to do this one yesterday, so it gets first billing. It’s not my favorite of theirs, but it does remind me of listening to it while riding in the car when I was little.
I think it’s got a great beat and a cool chorus (especially how they do the drums in concert), but my father thinks it sounds a bit too much like “Dragging the Line” by Tommy James. I have to agree.
Anyway, this is the first of MANY Moodies songs to come, so stay tuned!
Hi folks! I’ve been pretty down lately about my computer. As I mentioned earlier, my hard drive just died out of nowhere and I’m left with a bare computer that I’m kind of avoiding right now. I haven’t put all the software back on, plus I can’t get the files off of my old hard drive. It’s SOOO frustrating. Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to:
Chris and I put up all of the Christmas decorations in the house a couple days ago. We’re hoping to get the tree tomorrow (but since I’m still awake at almost 4 am and we have a party to go to at noon…), and that will complete our decorating. The place looks GREAT! We took video, and I’ll be posting it HOPEFULLY tomorrow with some Christmas music in the background.
I had the day alone today. I spent it working on something (see point #3), but I was also hoping to start working on the MoU Holiday Party 2006 DVD, since I found the master tapes just today. Problem is that I don’t have my video editing program, so I can’t even start putting the tapes into the computer yet! 🙁
Today, I spent most of the day cooking for myself and working on a cover of one of my favorite songs of all time: the Moody Blues’ “The Voice”. I’ve always loved that song, and I just finished making a completely produced version of it, complete with synthesizers. I can’t believe how great it sounds and I’ll hopefully be mixing it tomorrow and putting it online as a FREE download at the Fusco-Moore Store!
New Laptop Sessions will be coming soon. I just have been so upset about losing all the sessions I had done just before it crashed, I haven’t really gotten up the gaul to just do them again. I hope I get my stuff back…
We’re planning the Fusco-Moore Christmas Party (search in the side bar to the right for the old post with the info.) and we hope it’ll be a success. Let us know (by leaving a comment) if you can make it!
I hope everyone’s having a great Christmastime and I promise we’ll be back to 100% soon! ~Jim
