Tag Archives: Piano

“Follow You Home” original song by Jim Fusco from “Those Around Us”

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By Jim Fusco:

A little late with the post this week- I think I just decided that I write much better during the day and not at 2 am.  🙂  I’m still on a “Those Around Us” kick and I’m pretty sure those that have purchased the album are, too!  Remember, the CD version of my latest album is available on my website at http://jimfusco.com/albums/those-around-us.html.  And, it’s also available on iTunes HERE!

Today’s video is an original song that I wrote on piano- I haven’t had a piano-driven song like that since “What About Today?”, as all of the songs on “Halfway There” were piano-based.  I wanted to get back into using the piano again, but only got one song out of it.  It’s a pretty serious song, too.  I had this idea of someone that got in a car crash and lost their memory.  At that point, all of his friends and family would try to make him remember his life.  And, he didn’t remember where he lived, so he had to “follow you home”.  Most of the songs on “Those Around Us”, as I’ve mentioned here on the music blog in the past, don’t deal with actual things or people in my life.  The songs’ subject matter is derived from ideas I’ve had and conversations I’ve had with the people closest to me.  I think somewhere along the line I realized, “Hey, I’ve surrounded myself with good, level-headed people.  There’s not enough to write about!”  So, I took a new direction and thought of some other topics.  Then, I applied my feelings about the matter- almost an exercise in how I would react to a situation.  I like that concept- it makes me think outside the box a little.

I really like the production on the recorded version of “Follow You Home”.  I got to use a great new Native Instruments sampled acoustic piano that I bought, so it sounds really great.  Plus, I didn’t have to mic the real piano we have upstairs- that’s always more trouble than it’s worth.  Also, I got to use the 12-string electric guitar to great effect in this song- I really like the idea of using the 12-string as a sort of second bass line- kind of like a riff that runs through the whole chorus.  The harmonies on the chorus took some time to get right.  On the second time around the chorus, I go to a minor chord (I love that change).  But, it’s such a slight difference in the vocal note- it definitely took a few takes to nail it.

On a personal note, I cannot tell you how happy I am that the Beach Boys are reuniting this year.  This Sunday, they’ll be playing at the Grammy Awards- I can’t wait!  Also, I just bought the tickets to see them live at Mohegan Sun arena.  I know it’ll be a great show and I hope they throw in a few surprises for us hardcore fans.  I’ll definitely be hitting up the merchandise table that night!

I’m always looking for new avenues to distribute my album and for some places to play live.  If any of the loyal readers of my Laptop Sessions music video posts have any suggestions, I’ll be happy to hear them.  I’ll be back with a cover song music video in a couple weeks, so to tide you over until then, order yourself a copy of “Those Around Us”!



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“I Need You” (America Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome everyone to another edition of the Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!  It feels like these two-week spans between my acoustic cover song music videos fly-by each time.  It’s already the second week of December and Christmastime is going by like a shot.  This year, I’ll be bringing you one Christmas song music video that I recorded on piano.  But, that will have to wait until next time.

Tonight, I bring you the second in my two-part series of songs titled, “I Need You”. 🙂  The first was the cover video I did two weeks ago, “I Need You” by the Beatles.  I’ve always loved that George Harrison song and it’s about time I got to make an acoustic video version of it here for the music blog.  As I mentioned on that post, I think the band America, and specifically Gerry Beckley- the writer of today’s song- were heavily influenced by the Beatles.  In fact, in each concert performance (and I’ve seen them about 15 times now) they play a Beatles song.  They say that it was the music that made them want to become rock musicians and songwriters.

Now, I’ve also hypothesized that Gerry Beckley made a nod to George Harrison’s “I Need You” in his song by the same title.  I can hear a similarity in the chord progression, especially at the end of the song when it goes to that minor chord.  It’s such an interesting change and both songs feature it (though Harrison’s goes to an F#m and Beckley’s goes to an Em7).  It would be such an honor if Gerry Beckley himself ever read this blog post and commented on my theory.

America’s “I Need You”, off of their first (self-titled) album, was one of the songs that got me into the group’s music.  Other Beckley songs like “To Each His Own” and “Only In Your Heart” are personal favorites, as well.  I always gravitated to Beckley’s songwriting, as I can tell the clear Beatles and Beach Boys influences.  After a show of theirs I attended, the band signed autographs.  I brought in my copy of Beckley, Lamm, and Wilson’s “Like A Brother” CD and Gerry was surprised that I had it.  I loved that album, especially because we got to hear some great Carl Wilson songs.  He told me that he spoke at Carl’s funeral and that he was a very, very close friend.  To me, that’s amazing- growing up and listening to your favorite group…and then becoming a musician and eventually friends with one of the members.  To me, this made sense, as Carl Wilson was the youngest Beach Boy, more Beckley’s age.

In the studio version of “I Need You”, you hear a great acoustic 12-string guitar over the piano.  For my Laptop Sessions cover version, I took a rare seat at the piano and stripped this song down to its basic elements.  And when you just sit back and listen to the words, you realize how great of a song it really is.  Beckley wrote this song right out of high school and you can tell- going away from all of your friends (like he talked about in “To Each His Own”) is really tough, and the emotions that you feel for people in high school feel like they’re SO important.  I remember feeling that I’d be alone forever if a relationship didn’t work out back in high school.  If only I could give myself some late-20s wisdom. 🙂

I hope you enjoy tonight’s “I Need You” piano cover song music video.  I hope you’ll stay tuned!  In the meantime, get that shopping done (without getting too stressed) and we’ll see you back here on the music blog!

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“The Long and Winding Road” (The Beatles piano cover song)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to another episode of The Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!  I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since my last video- the time is flying lately.  Now that things are coming along nicely with the new house (driveway is in and the grass is looking better), I hope to start enjoying everything a bit more soon.

Today is a record-breaking day here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog.  Today, the site got it’s highest view count EVER: over 5,600 hits and still counting!  Yes, most of these hits were to the homepage, which is great.  But, the part I’m very excited about is the fact that close to 200 of those hits have been to “deep” pages on the site (past posts, etc.)!  That’s a pretty big deal, especially considering that just a couple months ago, the site was getting only about 200 views a day- total!  So, the promotion I’ve been doing seems to be working nicely.

Now, you would think that, after last week’s article, I would be playing on my new Martin MMV guitar tonight.  But, some sad circumstances lead me to this new video- the first in a long time on the piano.

“The Long and Winding Road” is a song by the Beatles that everyone knows.  It’s one of those songs that you hear in a restaurant, a department store, and the radio from time to time.  It’s a great Paul McCartney song that appeared on the “Let It Be” LP, but I personally like the one on “Let It Be…Naked” better.  Even though I found the chords with the words “Capo on 1st fret” above them, I transposed the chords to piano on the fly and let this one rip.  As with most Laptop Sessions cover songs I do, it’s SO much easier when I already know the words by heart.  Chords are easy to remember because they’re logical- for instance, if the sound goes up (in pitch), then chances are the chord goes up (in pitch).  So, I almost always instantly remember the chords.  But, when you have to think about lyrics, things get difficult.

Tonight, I dedicate this cover song music video to my good friend and colleague, Diane.  For the past year and a half, she’s been my SAVIOR at work.  She works down at the warehouse our company uses and is always so helpful.  She’ll get anything done instantly- she’s truly the best.  She’s made my life so much easier over the time I’ve been with the company.  Plus, we’ve come to have countless conversations over the phone and we’ve always had a great relationship.  It’s even possible that we’re distantly related!  We’ve been out for drinks after work on a few occasions, as well, and we always have a great time.

But, unfortunately, the higher-ups at my company decided to move to a different warehouse.  I understand- business is business.  But, I know I’m not the only one that’s going to miss Diane terribly- she’s that valuable to my working life.  Hey, maybe she’ll want to move to Florida and work at the new place! 🙂

Anyway, months ago, she requested “The Long and Winding Road” by the Beatles as a Laptop Session after she began watching my videos.  She waited patiently for a long time.  But, Steve (of the Traveling Acai Berries) was very, very busy and we couldn’t find the time to get-together and play this song on camera.  The goal was to bring Steve’s electric piano in, too.

So, when I heard the news about Diane no longer working with me, I knew I had to record “The Long and Winding Road” for her.  Now that I have Becky’s piano in the house, it was easy to set everything up and record one of my more unique videos.  I think it came out great (especially the way I got the audio to record) and I hope it will make Diane realize how much I’ll miss her.  Plus, what a perfect song (subject matter) for the occasion.

Thanks for stopping-by for this edition of the Laptop Sessions in HD with Jim Fusco.  Have a great week and enjoy “The Long and Winding Road”, one of our many Beatles cover songs!

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“Time” (Ben Folds Cover- Jim’s 1st on Piano!)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to another edition of the Laptop Sessions on the best music video blog on the web.  Tonight, I bring you my first Laptop Session on the piano, which I actually learned to play before the guitar.  In fact, I taught myself piano- it’s actually very logical in the way it’s set up, so once you learn some of the chord patterns, you can just go from there.

Anyway, tonight’s video is a cover song of the piano master, Ben Folds, and probably my favorite all-time song from him: “Time” off “Songs for Silverman”.  Weird Al joins him on the choir-like backing vocals, which is one of the reasons that this track is my favorite.  I realized, though, that the song is great on its own, so that’s why I wanted to do a Laptop Session of it.

You may notice that the vocals are a bit “airy”.  Well, you see that microphone in front of me?  Perfect placement.  I even make sure to sing directly into it most of the time.  Well, I wanted to get the whole piano sound.  My ZOOM H2 microphone actually has 4 mics in it.  The two on the front are put in a 90 degree angle and the two on the back are placed at 120 degrees for a “wider” pickup range.  I wanted to use that 120 degrees to pick up the piano and my voice.

That only works if you turn the freakin’ microphone around!

So, you couldn’t hear my voice at all and the piano was very muffled.  But, through the magic of equalization, I managed to brighten the piano sound and bring my vocals out of the mix and salvage the video.  I had two others I recorded at this session (originals) on my fiancee’s piano, but those had to be scrapped.  I’ll go back again and re-record those, making sure this time to turn the microphone around…

I hope you enjoy tonight’s music video.  I guess I can’t plug the word “acoustic” tonight, but I guess it’s considered an “acoustic piano” as opposed to an electric piano.  Have a great Sunday and make sure to stop on back for another video the Laptop Sessions acoustic guitar AND piano music video blog!

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