Tag Archives: song

“The Wrestler” (Bruce Springsteen Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

(For the chords to “The Wrestler,” go here: The Wrestler Chords)

Hello and welcome to a brand-new week of cover song music videos here at your source for the best of the best — the Laptop Sessions!

But, as much as we like to brag, we really are trying every day to fill this site with a ridiculous number of cover song material — our daily video posts, chords/tabs to your favorite songs, and much more.  We even sneak in a Fusco, Moore, and/or Copperthite original every Wednesday or so…

For today, I’m skimming off the top of the new music / new album current events pool.  Tomorrow is the official US release date of Bruce Springsteen’s 16th studio album.  It’s been less than two years since number 15, so this is exciting news!  I think his previous album, Magic, was one of the best albums of 2007 and certainly my favorite Springsteen album to date.  Now, to be fair, I’ve only listened to his more recent albums, so I reserve my right to change my mind sometime down the line…

But, back to the present.  His new album, Working on a Dream, is coming out amidst a whole lot of Springsteen mania.  For one, there’s his upcoming appearance during the half time show of Super Bowl XLIII on February 1, 2009.  Following in the footsteps of such classic acts as Tom Petty and the Rolling Stones (who were also called out ostensibly to prevent any potential wardrobe malfunctions that may befall a younger, female act!), Springsteen’s album sales are expected to rise directly following the show.  This is opportune timing, then.  Also, two months ago, he released a greatest hits album exclusively at Wal-Mart.  Now, I must admit that I was aggravated when I heard this in the news.  After all, Springsteen is famous and much-respected for his disavowal of corporate sponsorships or endorsements.

Then, as I read some more of the article about this, I realized that it makes perfect sense.  First of all, there’s the statistic that (reportedly) 15% of his recent CD sales have come from Wal-Mart.  Also, there’s the whole Super Bowl business.  I have to admit I can’t blame him and/or his people for pushing a greatest hits out now.  I’m typically disgusted by these sorts of 12-track, almost-all-repeat-tracks-from-his-previous-greatest-hits sorts of releases.  And yet, this is what people will be looking for!  So, as Ben Folds might sing — “You’ve got to give the people what they want!”

Also, the disc is only $9.99, and it’s a limited release item (not part of his official catalog).

I find this stuff fascinating…

But, to come back to tonight’s video, let me explain why I’ve recorded “The Wrestler.”  This is the title track to the film starring Mickey Rourke that has gained the spotlight during various recent award shows.  I have yet to see the film, but I had heard that this track would be a bonus song on the new album.  Thus, I set out to learn it, loved it, and had to record it.  For those of you listening to this song now for the first time, I hope you’ll like my version and want to hear the real one.

I can’t actually vouch for the new album, as I have yet to hear anything other than the song titles from the track listing.  However, I am ecstatic for this, the first new music release of 2009 that I’m really excited for.  I’ll be out during lunchtime tomorrow or as soon as I get out of work to get it.  And, who knows, I may just push myself to write a review tomorrow night.

Crazy?  I know, but that’s what this whole Laptop Sessions thang is all about!

Oh, and before I forget, don’t miss the chords that I just posted a few hours ago here on the site.  Now you can listen AND learn to play the song yourself!

Okay, I’m off to snuggle up with a couple of my dearest friends — one, the Fusco-Moore Experience copy of the latest Rolling Stone (complete with Bruce Springsteen, aka The Boss, on the cover — predictable?  I know, but I couldn’t care less!) and my stack of midterm exams that are ripe for the grading…

See you next session!

“Turn To Stone” (Electric Light Orchestra – ELO Cover)

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The Guest Sessions tonight comes at you with a great ELO tune written by the one and only Jeff Lynne.  “Turn To Stone” is an ambitious tune and definitely one that’s hard to capture just using an acoustic guitar.  But, my friends, Mr. Les Groby has done it here with this acoustic cover song music video.  His sweet singing voice and solid playing have made this just the second ever Guest Session here on the Laptop Sessions music video blog!

Here’s what Les had to say about his submission:

“I love finding good songs hiding under complex arrangement and production. Solo performers rarely cover ELO, but under their lavish recordings are some good, simple songs that work well solo.”

And isn’t that the the essence of the Laptop Sessions right there?  I tell you, Jim’s videos with the most views are the ones where he took a very lavish song and turned it into an acoustic solo performance.  And that’s what Les has done here with this fine cover song.  We hope that you’ll continue sending in your submissions, as a new video will be featured once a week here on the best music video blog ever created- the Laptop Sessions!  Congratulations Les!



“Real Love” (Beatles Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Well, then- welcome to the first Jim Fusco Thursday here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog! 🙂  I’m happy tonight, as it was a day of getting things done.  Actually, the past two days were all about getting things done and that always gives me a good feeling.  I need to cover a few topics before I get started tonight:

  1. My album, “Halfway There” is now on iTunes and available for download!!  I’m very excited about this.  I just signed up for some promotion.  If I get any kind of response, I’ll gladly do a bigger campaign.  Go check it out: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/halfway-there/id361828586 Please, it would mean so much to me if you would sign-in to iTunes, rate, and comment on the album.  The more popularity it gets from the loyal music blog followers, the better chance it has at succeeding!
  2. Next up, I’m going to be releasing the classic second (and last) album by MoU, “Homestead’s Revenge”.  And, just like everything else in that band, I’ll be covering the cost of this submission myself…
  3. I recorded three “episodes” of the Laptop Sessions tonight, so that ensures three weeks of all-new videos coming up!
  4. Speaking of “episodes”, I had a thought tonight.  I’m afraid that there’s so many Laptop Sessions videos that they’re becoming meaningless.  Honestly- I don’t even remember some of the songs I’ve done!  So, I’ll continue for a while on the once-a-week plan, but I really think I should do a “season” of them, much like a TV show.  I think once every two weeks, or 26 “episodes” would be good for the year.  That way, each music video would be a special event.  And it would probably give me more time to promote the site.  I used to worry that there wasn’t enough content to promote, but now I know that there’s SO much content that too much work went into it all with little return.  I’ll keep you posted on my thoughts.
  5. Finally, I want to mention the passing of rock legend Johnny Maestro of the Brooklyn Bridge.  I was going to record “The Worst That Could Happen”, but I realize that, other than the chorus, it’s not one I know too well.  I’ll keep listening and maybe I’ll bust it out someday.  R.I.P., Johnny.

Onto tonight’s video!

This video, “Real Love” by the Beatles, came out so great that I wanted to push it ahead of my planned video for tonight, which will now air next week.  I love this song so much and even though it’s played on piano in the recorded version, it translated very well to my nylon stringed acoustic guitar.  And playing it on the 3rd fret capo really made it sound like the original.  Now, when I say “original”, I actually mean the version done by the remaining Beatles (over John’s home recording) in 1996.  John’s demo version does appear on one of his “Best Of” solo albums, but the lyrics are slightly different.  The Beatles version from the Anthology in 1996 is simply perfect.  The vocals are stunning (even though John’s voice sounds very ghostly and distant due to the original source tape they used, it works to a much better effect here than on “Free As A Bird”) and the guitar solo is so great.  It’s George at his rock best- a biting and wailing solo over such a great love song.

And last night, I arrived at a pretty big conclusion: In my opinion, John Lennon is the best songwriter of all time.  Yes, Brian Wilson is still (and will always be) my favorite songwriter, I have to admit that there was no one better than John Lennon.  He wrote some of the best songs of all time- and some earlier than all the other 60s bands!  He had a knack for the hooks (like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah”), but also wrote some of the best ballads ever.  “In My Life”, “Woman”, and “Real Love” are three amazing examples.  Okay, so Paul McCartney is a great songwriter, but his great songs are great and his less-than-great songs STINK!  Even John Lennon’s less-than-perfect songs are good.  He just had that gift.  He was a great lyricist and wrote some of the most unique melodies ever.

So, with that in mind, I went to record “Real Love”.  I remember when it came out- watching the Beatles Anthology on TV when it first aired in 1996.  It was awesome.  Especially because, at that point, I still thought I was the only Beatles fan in my generation.  So, having that kind of special on TV was pretty big for me.  And two new songs just made it a perfect situation.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s rendition of “Real Love” by the Beatles.  I know it’ll go down as one of my favorite videos simply because I realized that it’s one of my favorite songs.  It’ll always make me wonder, “What if the Beatles endured and somehow got to play into the 90s?”  I think we all know it would’ve been awesome, despite what critics might have said at the time.  It always bugged me that everyone expected bright, pop songs- but think about it: if the Beatles had continued playing from where they left off with “Abbey Road” (“Let It Be” was recorded earlier), the songs would’ve sounded very similar to “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love”.  And that’s just fine by me.  Until next Thursday, I hope you enjoy your weekend!  Make sure to check out all of our Beatles cover songs here on the music blog!

“Private Eyes” (Darryl Hall and John Oates Cover)

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For public eyes tonight, I bring you the classic song “Private Eyes” from Hall and Oates!  I can’t believe this is the first Hall and Oates song here on the blog.  I think it’s a vocal range issue (I’m thinking of doing another band who stretches their vocal chords for a future Session), so I’m happy to be the one to bring this band officially onto the music blog.

My father bought a CD entitled “12 Great Artists, 12 Great Songs” a long time ago from BMG Music Service.  He listened to it a lot in the car and it had a bunch of big hits (including “Aimee” by the Pure Prairie League, which is now on the Cover Song List for me).  My brother Mike and I would always love singing to this CD, especially to Hall & Oates’ song, “Private Eyes”.  Something about it- I just love the vocals, the tune, and those crazy keyboard chords Darryl Hall plays.  I was able to replicate the all-important F chord with a G bass into the song to give it the proper sound.  See if you can spot it!  It’s the chord that makes you know it’s a Darryl Hall song.

Which brings me to my next point: what is the purpose of Oates?  He’s like the Garfunkel of the band.  He doesn’t appear to play any instruments or even write any songs.  He’s basically a backup singer that rode Hall’s coattails for the past 30 years.  Someone, please correct me if I’m wrong- I wanna like Oates, but I’m not really finding any reason to!

Back to my brother Mike, I ran my first 5k race with him this year (I stuck with it for three weeks, which breaks a record previously held back at the condo of one day…).  He helped me out and ran with me, took me to the gym, etc.  It was good to hang out with him more often.  I finished the race in about 36 minutes, which isn’t too bad.  But, don’t look at the standings- a bit more than a baker’s dozen finished the race ahead of me…

Also, as I’m sure you’ve been noticing, the promotion of my original music has been amped-up recently.  I’m submitting my music to radio stations, reviewers, and record labels now.  I’m getting “Halfway There” on iTunes, and I’m getting my songs some internet radio airtime.  It’s costing a bit of money, but it’s been long enough, don’t you think?  The store is back up and running, as you saw yesterday here on the music blog.  That was a big step for me, as it was one of those things where I worked so hard, just to see it break.  Then, I got so disgusted (and confused by the problem) that I didn’t want to fix it.  I’m glad it’s back up and running, but please drop me a line if you see anything malfunctioning.

Personally, I’ve been trying out this new Sleep Cycle program for the iPhone.  It’s pretty cool, as it monitors you sleep movements and detects the best time (within a half-hour window) to wake you up.  I think I’m getting low grades, though, as sleep has been a bit hard to come by lately.  I hope to start a more normal cycle tomorrow night.

Just a quick note on TNA Wrestling last night- what an interesting show.  Not sure what the Sting angle is yet, but it can’t be a straight heel turn, as he always has an explanation.  He wouldn’t just come out and beat down Hulk Hogan and Abyss without some previous vendetta.  So, we’ll see.  I just hope they can keep up the excitement on a weekly basis to compete with the WWE.

Finally, I’ll say that I really hope tonight’s video gets a bunch of views, because it took me about 15 takes to get it right.  It’s a TOUGH song to play and sing- a lot of chord changes and a very high range without much falsetto.  And when I would finally get a take right, it would be listless because I was trying so hard to play it correctly.  So, I’d try it again with more energy and then the cycle would start over.  Finally, I got a take I liked.

Oh, and that’s the t-shirt they gave out at the “WPLR Sham-Rock’N’Roll” 5k race, in case you were wondering about the leprechaun on it.  Not usually my style…

I hope you enjoy tonight’s Laptop Session acoustic cover song music video and hope you’ll stop back next Tuesday evening for another Laptop Session in HD!  Until then, I hope you have a relaxing week.