Tag Archives: Rock

“Last Kiss” (Wayne Cochran Cover)

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By Jeff Copperthite:

Welcome to Tremendous Tuesday!  It’s so good, it’s “like a potential delay or closing tomorrow because of inclement weather” good.

Today I continue my romp of classic songs that have been covered more recently.  Chances are you’ll think that Pearl Jam is the composer of the song “Last Kiss”, but if you do your research you’ll know it is a cover of a song that’s over 40 years old!  It was actually written by Wayne Cochran, but he didn’t get a lot of publicity for the song.  It took his song being covered a few times for the song to be successful.

This is among the easiest songs one can learn to play.  I remember teaching this to one of my friends’ cousins at a guitar lesson.  If you can play a G, Em, C, D progression, then congratulations you can wham out this song!

I had an incredibly busy day today, so i’m going to keep this brief.  But short posts doesn’t mean a subpar video!  The video itself came out well, and my voice “naturally” scratched during the higher notes, and it is really effective for this song that it happened.  I think it is still an after effect of my voice still recovering from last week.

But Jim “Like an entire Christmas Village playing the same thing at once in their minature houses so it comes out peaceful and awesome” Fusco will be supplying us with an original tune tomorrow.  I have a hunch at what it could be (if he hasn’t played it already), but chances are it will be a song I haven’t heard yet.

See you then!

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!

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 origianal 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!

“Thank You Girl” (Beatles Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!  I hope you had a joyous Turkey Day, “stuffing” yourself in the company of friends and “spuds” — I mean, buds.  If you have tomorrow off, then that’s just “gravy”…

Okay, that’s enough of that.

Seriously, I hope you had a positive day, filled with family members and friends, enjoying a day off from work.  As for me, I woke up late (almost afternoon) to a phone call from my sister.  Knowing me all too well, my mother asked her to call me and tell me that dinner would take place a half hour before it would actually start.

At least I got there on time!

My day essentially started as soon as I got out of bed (at the early hour of noon) and went to my parents’ house.  I had a nice, relaxing time talking with my parents and grandparents, as well as hanging out with my sister and talking about music.  I brought my laptop over so I could finally finish the “2008 Essentials” mix CD I’ve been wanting to make for weeks.  Some highlights were…

– “Living Well is the Best Revenge” (REM)

– “Valley of the Low Sun” (Jakob Dylan)

– “7 8 9” (Barenaked Ladies)

– “Cowboys” (Counting Crows)

and, of course,

– “These Streets” (MoU)

I’m not biased about that last one, I swear!  🙂

After dinner, I spent a long time talking with my parents and grandparents. Then, once the company had gone, my father and I watched the Tom Selleck movie The Shadow Riders.  It was based on a Louis L’Amour novel, so it was pretty cheesy at times, but overall, it was a fun film.  Once the movie ended, the day was still long from over.  I went over Jim’s parents’ house to watch this week’s special Turkey Bowl edition of TNA Impact! (the highlight of which was, without a doubt, Mick Foley “dealing with” Alex Shelley of the Motor City Machine Guns).

A half hour after TNA was over, Jim and I were back home recording this great Beatles cover song, “Thank You Girl.”  Why did I pick this song, you ask?  Is it a favorite?  Well, no.  In fact, I didn’t even know it until yesterday.  The reason is that it goes along with the theme of today — giving thanks!

I actually posted this video late because Jim and I ended up playing great Beatles and Christmas songs for another hour and a half before going downstairs to snack, watch a Jack Johnson DVD, and do research for our Black Friday adventure.

And, yeah, I’m going to bed at 4am, prepared to wake up at 5am…

May the Christmas shopping season begin!!

See you next session!

“My First Song” (Chris Moore Original Acoustic Song)

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By Chris Moore:

Well, never let it be said that I was entirely original when I first started writing songs.  This song is proof positive that I had a lot of emotions that needed to be expressed, but that I had a long way to go before I could release songs and not be embarrassed of them.  For instance, take the title of tonight’s original contribution, “My First Song.”

Anyone willing to guess when I wrote this song?

As you may have guessed, this is the first song I ever wrote.  Now, I had written poems and stories, and I had even written lyrics for which I had tunes in my head.  Some of those I would even go back to later on and add music.  But, at the time, this was the first song I wrote as a complete piece.

I clearly recall that afternoon, sitting in front of my sister’s keyboard and awkwardly positioning my fingers on the keyboard, playing with chord progressions and lyrical possibilities.  On this particular afternoon, I was particularly consumed with conflicting feelings of obsession and revulsion for a girl who I spent the better part of four years idolizing.  Now, the lyrics may be simple and the words may be even simpler, but it was true.  It was from the heart.  And, for better or worse, it was probably the most openly honest I have ever been — or ever will be — in a song.

If you pay attention, the lyrics are subtle but have interesting aspects.  For instance, the first verse ends, “I know that you want-“.  This abrupt ending is deliberate; I meant to give the feeling of being cut off, perhaps to invite the girl who is the subject of the song to be curious.  To want to find out what I know and if what I know is indeed what she wants.

The second verse is somewhat enigmatic.  From where I sit, pushing seven years after I wrote this song, I’m not sure if I meant what I think this line means:  “I feel that you want something that will get you there.”  My question now is, where is “there”?  For that matter, what did I mean by “something” rather than “someone”?

Regardless, I had a lot of fun dusting this classic off.  Thanks to the Chris Moore Songbook, I was able to recall the chords and lyrics to this song, as well as several others that I played as part of a “tour down memory lane.”  I hope you enjoy this brief and simple, but landmark (for me!) tune.

As a final note, because I’m posting today, Jeff will be taking my place on Friday.  I know you’ll enjoy Jim and Jeff’s work in the coming days (and I certainly will, as I now have the weekend off!), so I’ll see you all on Monday.

See you next session!

“The Times They Are A-Changin’” (Bob Dylan Acoustic Folk Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

Never in my life have I felt that this song was more relevant than it is tonight and–especially–tomorrow.  This is Bob Dylan’s classic protest song, “The Times They Are A-Changin.’”  I’ve always appreciated the song, but I don’t think I’ve ever related to it as much as I did tonight as I was recording this music video.  Personally, I have always been more interested in the other songs on Dylan’s album of the same name, such as “Only a Pawn in Their Game” and “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll.”  Yet, on the eve of the 2008 Presidential election, I could think of no song more fitting to record than this one.

And, God save me, I will be recording “With God On Their Side” for my Thursday video if McCain wins!  (Just search the lyrics to this song if you’ve missed the reference…).

I’ve tended to stay away from Dylan’s protest songs.  I have a great deal of respect for them, but as Dylan himself, I hate to see him labeled simply as “the voice of a generation.”  I am most interested in his more recent material — for instance, I’m still blown away by the new Bootleg Series release.

But tonight is a special occasion.  As I began practicing this song, I found that (although I haven’t heard or played this song for months and months) all the words came to me easily.  Line after line, verse after verse, this song rings so exceptionally true to me.  It doesn’t take a literary critic to connect lines like the following ones to contemporary society:

“Admit that the water around you has grown…”

“Don’t speak too soon, for the wheel’s still in spin…”

“Come senators, congressmen; please heed the call…”

“Don’t criticize what you can’t understand; your sons and your daughters are beyond your command.  Your old road is rapidly aging…”

“Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend a hand!”

There is indeed a reason why Dylan’s lyrics have been lauded for decades, and this song is one of the many that have stood the test of time.  I hope that you’ll listen to the words and consider their meaning, and then think about “the state of this great nation of ours” (to quote the great Ben Folds) — it’s interesting and not so much of a coincidence that Obama’s campaign calls not only for change, but for “Change we can believe in.”  I haven’t been this hopeful for real change for a good long time!

In fact, I was just flipping through a book I bought before the 2004 elections, as I decided who to vote for.  I did a lot of research, reading that book and deciding between Bush and Kerry.  Looking back, I can’t believe I even hesitated on that particular choice.

This year, I saved the ten bucks I would have spent on a new campaign book, as I didn’t need to do any further research beyond the Presidential debates and subsequent news reports and fact checks, not to mention the SNL skits.

Well, I’m just rambling now, as I’m tired and currently in bed, listening to acoustic Dylan and dreaming of… well, dreaming!  Sleep is good.  Change is also good.  As my super-cool sister reminded me today, how could Obama not win with a catch-phrase like “BA-ROCK the vote!”

Okay; that’s it for me for a few days, but please hurry back to read Jeff’s election night blog post and Jim’s post-election Original Wednesday (I’m anxious to see what appropriate song he’ll choose).  Then, I’ll be back on Thursday.

See you next session!