And now back to the Wallflowers – again, one of my favorite bands.
This song is off of their latest album “Rebel, Sweetheart” and is probably in my top 3 favorite Wallflowers songs of all time. It is a terrific song to sing and play on acoustic, and I am proud to enter it into the Laptop Sessions.
On this version, I went with a light strumming method, despite the recording using a more fingered and arpeggiated guitar pattern.
The middle part I tried to do the arpeggiated guitar pattern, but you can see just how difficult it is to sing over something like this. I think I did a decent job of it.
Don’t forget – tomorrow is “Original Wednesday”, as Jim and I will be doing one of each other’s original songs for the Laptop Sessions. Stay tuned for that!
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!
Hello and welcome to the final Laptop Session of November! Today, I bring you an all-new cover (that’s right, ALL new) from a new songwriter to the blog, Leonard Cohen. In fact, I had so much fun learning this song today that I’ll be posting another Cohen song — perhaps his most well-known song — “Suzanne.”
You may be wondering, why bring in a Leonard Cohen song now, after all this time? Well, there are a couple of answers to that question.
First, I have recently been listening to The Essential Leonard Cohen, after my friend from work, Larry, suggested that Cohen and Bob Dylan are on the same level as songwriters. Now, for those of you who don’t know me, this was quite a compelling assertion indeed. Thus, I picked up the CD when I saw the special 3-disc edition on sale at Wal-Mart, and I’ve been listening to the first disc for the past week and a half. This song, “No Way to Say Goodbye,” is on that disc and has quickly become one of those songs that I find repeatedly stuck in my head during the day.
Then, I was reminded of Cohen yesterday when Alberto picked a cover of his “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley to play on our WCJM “Tenth Anniversary Show.” This was interesting for me, as it got me wondering if Cohen is one of those artists whose songs are more well-known when done by other performers. That’s the only song I know of, but I’ll have to do some research to find out…
Speaking of the WCJM show, we had a blast yesterday as we met to record a new installment of Moore Hits in the Morning in the… believe it or not… morning! The music was as diverse as ever, coming on the heels of Jim’s idea for each of the seven cast members to contribute two of their favorite songs. This inspired such disparate responses as Jim’s new music choices — BnL’s “Wind it Up” from ’06 and Brian Wilson’s “Live Let Live” from this year — to Dave’s classic music choices — WCJM favorites “All the Things” by the Byrds and “A Simple Game” by the Moody Blues. I chose one of each — the classic Moody Blues song “Question” and the contemporary “Living Well is the Best Revenge” by R.E.M.
Aside from the music, we had skits, skits, skits! We had an impeccably delivered segment of Matt’s standup. We had new skits by classic characters — Ronco, the Food Critic, Dr. Keck, Stuffy D. Bear, and more. We had brand-new skits, including my Scam Wow parody.
In short, it was fun!
And it was really great to see all the guys in one place one more time. We had a touch of nostalgia unlike any other on the previous shows, and for good reason — it was our tenth anniversary, for crying out loud! Seriously though, I was proud to sit there for almost three hours and share in this crazy, creative experience we call WCJM! Stay tuned to WCJM.com, as the show will be posted soon…
Well, that’s enough for me for one post. Thanks for stopping by for your daily fix of acoustic rock cover songs; I hope you enjoy my music video. I’ll be back on Original Wednesday, but until then, don’t miss Jeff’s Monday post and Jim’s Tuesday video.
If it was an honor to bring you “Getcha Back” three days ago, it is even more of a pleasure (it that’s possible!) to welcome you to the best cover song video blog in the universe tonight with Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”! This cover song video has the added bonus of my collaboration with not only fellow songwriter Jim Fusco but also his girlfriend (fiancee to be more precise!) Becky Daly.
Several years ago, before the band Masters of the Universe was even an idea, we toured and recorded briefly as “Chris, Jim, and Becky.” This was probably my happiest musical collaboration, my first recording that I was really proud to be a part of (Click here to listen to Live in the Studio), and if we could have devoted more time and energy to the act or even just found a venue that appreciated what we were doing, I would have wanted Chris, Jim, and Becky to go on for a good long time!
But, alas, all good things come to an end. Now, years later, “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” is such a comfortable classic to us that we sat down and tore through it in one full take. I think it comes across on the video just how comfortable we are and I can at least speak for myself when I say this acoustic cover was a ton of fun to record. I hope it is the first of many collaborations to come, and although I’m out of them for a while, I know Jim still has some from that night’s recording session in his back pocket. Now, that’s something to look forward to…
I have one more major announcement before I rush off to my favorite weekly television event — TNA Impact!, my favorite and simply the best wrestling program out there. I’ll be going to the Bob Dylan concert tomorrow night, and as with the Brian Wilson concert last month, I’ll be posting the set list online immediately after the show, if not actually updating it DURING the show! I don’t know if it will be that cool, but it will be up immediately with a review shortly after and I hope all you Bob Dylan fans will hurry back for both the set list and the review!
You can also look forward to an all-new acoustic cover song from Jeff tomorrow…
And finally, a song from a band I’ve liked since I first heard their single “Plush” on the radio – Stone Temple Pilots.
There are a lot of songs from them I’d like to do for The Laptop Sessions, and among that long list is this classic from their album “Purple”.
This is also the first video I’ve done since acquiring a Canon Powershot digital camera, which considerably improves the video quality from one of the possibly worst uses of $20 (other than having someone light you on fire – never quite understood that one).
I hope you enjoy this. Also, I’ll take this time to comment – I’VE BEEN COMPARED TO BRIAN WILSON!
Well, indirectly, but it was on YouTube, so that counts in my mind!
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s Laptop Session installment!
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!
