Time for another new artist here on The Laptop Sessions, and even though Jim & Chris may dissent about the artist and perhaps the song that i’ve chosen, I have decided to perform it anyway.
The song is “3×5” by John Mayer from his album “Room for Squares”. Although I really love the version he plays on his live album “Any given Thursday”, the recorded version is also upbeat and catchy.
I improvised a bit at the end, and despite a few minor lyrical glitches, this video came out great. I hope you like it as much.
Stay tuned for more Laptop Sessions from Chris, Jim, and myself – Jeff.
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!
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 another all-new Laptop Session! Today is a special treat for me, as I’ve finally summoned up the courage to sing one of my favorite Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers songs. Is it a classic like “Free Fallin'”? Well, maybe not. Is it a great album cut like “A Woman in Love (It’s Not Me)”? Um, no, but I’ll probably cover that one in the future.
This is my version of “Rhino Skin” off of the 1999 Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers album Echo. I’ve covered the title track previously (click here to listen!), and I had so much fun doing it (and such a response — it’s my #3 most viewed video!!) that I had to record another one from this album.
As a final note, I’m eagerly awaiting the April 29th release of Mudcrutch, the self-titled debut from Tom Petty’s recently-reformed high school band. I can’t wait!!
For now, though, I’ll look forward to the more instant gratification of the “session-a-day” project at www.guitarbucketlist.com … Be sure to check back tomorrow for a brand new video from Jeff!
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.
