My cover of “City of New Orleans” by Steve Goodman is influenced by Willie Nelson’s version of the song. The rhythm fittingly drives on like the wheels on a locomotive, and it has a fun chord progression.
** EDITOR’S NOTE **
This is one of those songs I feel like I’ve known forever. The more likely time frame is since I was about ten or twelve, listening to my father’s seventies music cassette tapes. Of course, I know the 1972 Arlo Guthrie version from his album, Hobo’s Lullaby. It turns out Steve Goodman played it for Guthrie at a bar called the Quiet Knight in Chicago, after which Guthrie recorded his cover.
If the quality of a song can be judged by the caliber of people who have recorded it, then this is an outstanding tune. It has been recorded by Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, John Denver, Judy Collins, and Jerry Reed, and has been performed most recently by Jimmy Buffett in 2005 and former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante in 2006.
And now I’m thrilled to add Jeremy Hammond’s name to that long and prestigious list of cover song artists. Jeremy’s music video performance is an excellent, entertaining, faithful rendition that anyone who knows this song will enjoy. If this is your first time hearing the song, perhaps you’ll go out to a CD store (or at least YouTube) and check out the other versions. Jeremy continues to select songs that fit perfectly into the acoustic cover song format, so hurry back soon for another installment of the Guest Sessions at the Laptop Sessions music video blog!
Hello and welcome to the final Monday edition of the Laptop Sessions before Christmas Day! There’s been a lot of Christmas music being posted this month, and it’s hard to believe that this season is almost coming to a close.
Regardless, it’s an honor to kick off Christmas week here at the best cover song music video blog in the universe.
(And the most modest, too…)
“Here Comes Santa Claus” is a track from MoU’s expanded Christmas chord book. It fits all the criteria for an enjoyable live song — easy to play, upbeat, instantly recognizable, and just plain fun. There have been so many versions of this song recorded since Gene Autry’s original. He himself re-recorded it not once, but twice. In addition, Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, and Bob Dylan have all recorded their own versions over the years.
In fact, in my favorite music/TV crossover this year, Dylan’s version was used as the opening song in the first few minutes of a Bones episode a couple weeks ago. Of course, it faded out just as a bank robbery and a bombing were about to occur, but somehow I think Dylan must have enjoyed this macabre twist on the season for peace on earth and good will toward men.
That is, if he watches television. I’m not entirely convinced he’s moved on from the radio…
It’s not only difficult to believe that Christmas will be this Friday, but that the new year is also just around the corner. You should know that you have a special Guest Session to look forward to this Friday, with new sessions regular Jeremy Hammond bringing yet another all-new artist’s material to the blog. It’ll be one of those “how have we not included a song from this guy” moments, I promise. Being that it’s the end of the decade as well, there’s a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks. To celebrate the decade’s best albums, The Weekend Review is in the middle of a Top Five Albums of the Decade, 2000-2009 countdown, with number 3 having been revealed yesterday in Ben Folds’ 2001 release Rockin’ the Suburbs.
On a side note, yesterday’s review brings me within one review of my twenty-six review commitment for the year, as suggested by Jim back in February of this year. I hope he’ll be happy to hear that, in the spirit of continual progress, I’ll be committing to one review a week this year for a grand total of fifty-two! Because I’ll be reviewing albums on a very regular basis, I’ll be able to really vary the type of reviews that I do. For instance, I tend to review the albums I like most because I’ve always figured, why waste my time on the music I’m not crazy about?
Well, no more.
This will be a year of exercising my critical abilities as I review new 2010 releases, revisit the classic hits and infamous misses of the past, as well as continue my Deep Racks Report series (for which I already have five albums lined up — I’ve featured albums that begin with A, B, and C, so you maybe you can imagine where I’m going with this…). And I’ll be continuing the five star rating system I introduced a couple of weeks ago. While I’m still hesitant to comfortably box an album into a fraction like that, I really like the feel of the five star rating system.
In other end-of-the-year highlights, the Laptop Sessions will be featuring some great lists, including the Weekend Review’s take on the following:
“The Top Thirty Rock Albums of the Decade”
“The Top Ten Rock Albums of 2009”
“Yes, No, or Maybe So: One Sentence Reviews of 2009 Albums”
“The Top Ten Rock Songs of 2009”
“The Best Packaging of the Year”
“The Best Deluxe Edition Features of the Year”
As a final note, I would like to call on Jim and Jeff to share their thoughts for the best music of the decade. We all have our overlapping areas of mutual appreciation, but we certainly have room for debate. Considerable room, at times.
I know what my picks are for the best albums and songs of the decade, but I would love to be reminded or learn of Jim and Jeff’s picks.
With that, I’m done for tonight. As I sign off, I wish a merry Christmas to all those out there eagerly awaiting a Christmas Eve service or the pitter-patter of eight tiny reindeer overhead. As for me, I’m going back to the MoU 2006 Christmas Concert CD for a stroll down memory — and also Santa Claus — lane.
Okay, so they might not be household names, but Jim Fusco’s acoustic cover song music videos have gotten some pretty interesting comments over the years. Here’s an ever-growing list of notable people that have become fans of Jim’s videos:
Geoffrey Cushing-Murray: This late-70’s Beach Boys lyricist wrote “Goin’ South” with Carl Wilson and even “Love Surrounds Me” with Dennis Wilson, which appeared on “L.A. (Light Album)”.
I enjoyed seeing this very much. It’s gratifying to know this song still has a life. Carl and I were very proud of it and hoped it would find an audience over time. Thanks again and good job. Geoffrey Cushing-Murray
Greg Douglass: He wrote the music to the #26 hit “Jungle Love”, made famous by Steve Miller in the late 70’s.
Wow. I co-wrote this tune, and this is impressive. Works well unplugged! Good work, dude…Wrote the music & played guitar on the track, as well as touring with Steve for a few years. Again, cool job. Always fun to see something I’m involved with re-interpreted.
D G
Who says I can’t get stoned,
Em A
Turn off the lights and the telephone?
Bm E
Me in my house alone —
G A D
Who says I can’t get stoned?
Who says I can’t be free
From all of the things that I used to be?
Rewrite my history —
Who says I can’t be free?
D G D A
It’s been a long night in New York City;
A G D A
It’s been a long night in Baton Rouge.
G D F#m Bm
I don’t remember you looking any better,
Bm E A
But then again I don’t remember you…
Who says I can’t get stoned,
Call up a girl that I used to know?
Fake love for an hour or so —
Who says I can’t get stoned?
Who says I can’t take time,
Meet all the girls in the county line?
Wait on fate to send a sign —
Who says I can’t take time?
It’s been a long night in New York City;
It’s been a long night in Austin too.
I don’t remember you looking any better,
But then again I don’t remember you…
INSTRUMENTAL
Who says I can’t get stoned,
Plan a trip to Japan alone?
Doesn’t matter if I even go —
Who says I can’t get stoned?
It’s been a long night in New York City;
It’s been a long time since twenty-two.
I don’t remember you looking any better,
But then again I don’t remember, don’t remember you…
Outro: D
** These chords and lyrics are interpretations and transcriptions, respectively, and are the sole property of the copyright holder(s). They are posted on this website free of charge for no profit for the purpose of study and commentary, as allowed for under the “fair use” provision of U.S. copyright law, and should only be used for such personal and/or academic work. **
