Tag Archives: song

“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!
  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.  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.  Make sure to check out all of our Beatles cover songs here on the music blog!

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“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.

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“Heaven” (Brett Dennen Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Hi folks!  Welcome to another Jim Fusco Tuesday!  This was one of those weeks where, after such a great long weekend, I truly dreaded the four-day week ahead.  I have two immediate video programs to edit, a whole bunch of PSA’s, an audio mastering project, and multiple projects looming around the corner… And that’s all stuff I have to do AFTER a crazy day at work!  I feel myself getting a better handle on things at work, but it’s still a struggle on a daily basis, as I’m constantly trying to dig out of a growing hole.  It’ll get better, but it’s just these weeks when everything piles up that I get a bit nervous.  Becky’s been helping (bringing me coffee and snacks, plus trying to keep me to a schedule), so it’s definitely hurt less than it should’ve.

Anyway, onto tonight’s video:

I’ve been churning out the new artists to the blog lately (and ones you might even have heard of, by the way), but tonight I might break that mold a bit.  I had never heard of Brett Dennen before, but my boss kept telling me about him after he heard Dennen’s music on Last.fm, a music service on Xbox 360.  Anyway, he burned me a copy of Brett’s songs (don’t worry, Brett- I bought the LP version of “Hope for the Hopeless” afterward and so did my brother!).  But, even though he kept asking me about it, I didn’t put the CD in because I was still hooked on the Grateful Dead!  So, about four weeks ago now, I popped Brett’s “Hope for the Hopeless” album in and completely fell in love with the music.

The man is simply a good songwriter.  His songs are not overly complicated (which I LOVE)- he uses some pretty simple chords in some songs (and some cool inversions in others, too) and the songs are short and sweet.  The songs pretty much follow the verse-bridge-chorus model and there’s one or two guitar solos spattered throughout the album.  It’s a short one with only 11 songs, but I don’t care- the quality definitely makes up for the quantity.

Dennen’s two previous releases before “Hope for the Hopeless” had the feel of Jack Johnson’s first album- sparsely produced to its detriment.  Yes, there are good songs, but I need a little more than an acoustic guitar to make me love an album.  “Hope for the Hopeless” is different.  It’s almost like he got signed to a label that gave him some more money to produce an album.  The result is amazing- I just love the production on this disc.  You won’t find a lot of harmonies here and the instruments are no-frills.  Mostly, you have an acoustic, an electric, bass, piano/organ, and drums.  That’s a perfect mix for me.  What’s great about this album, and I plan on trying with my next album, is that there really is no rhythm guitar.  The guitar only plays what it needs to.  So, the music sounds open, but not lacking.  You’ll just have to listen to get what I’m saying.

I could’ve picked any of the 11 songs from “Hope for the Hopeless” to cover.  My favorites are “Who Do You Think You Are?” and “Make You Crazy”, but I chose “Heaven” because it’s just one of those “perfect” songs.  It has such a message- kind of like “Imagine” by John Lennon.  This song, according to Dennen fans, will stand as his masterpiece.  On the recording, I challenge you not to get chills once the band comes in at the start of the second chorus.  It’s AWESOME!

So, I decided to record my version of this song just acoustically, though I’ve been playing it on the piano recently, as well.  “Heaven” is a great song to sing by yourself, as it only has one vocal in the album version anyway (the single version suffers from a female lead vocal in the second verse- I much prefer the album version and I’m glad he did it that way).

One thing about Dennen- when you hear his songs, you’ll notice his…let’s say “accent”.  I’m not really sure what it is.  It sounds Louisianan to me.  At first, I really didn’t like it.  But, if you get past the way he says certain words (like instead of “trouble”, he says, “trugh-bowl”), you’ll really like these songs.  And now, I even like the way he says those words, because I can tell he’s not doing it on purpose (just to sound different)- it’s just the way he talks/sings.

On a side note, check out one of my new favorite tunes, “Make You Crazy”, on YouTube- the music video is pretty cool.

Now, I had a feeling I’d heard of Brett Dennen before.  I mean, that voice is so unmistakable.  Becky and I both agree that we’ve heard his most “famous” song, “Ain’t No Reason” (not one of my favorites and if you heard it and know my musical tastes, you’ll understand why).  We must’ve heard it in a TV show.  Then, my brother Mike ended up knowing (and loving) “Make You Crazy”, too, from his days working at Hollister, where they played the song on a daily basis.

Okay, enough talk- time to watch the LSHD version of “Heaven” performed by me, Jim Fusco!  I’d love to hear your thoughts about the song, my performance, and Brett Dennen.  I hope you have a great week and make sure to stop back next Tuesday for another acoustic cover song.  I plan on it being a classic early 60’s tune that Becky and I heard in the car while on our way to Albany, NY for our weekend trip.  We had a blast- check my Twitter (jimfusco) for all the updates and photos from the road!  Until next week!

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“Dream Lover” (Bobby Darin Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Hello everybody and welcome to your Tuesday night fix of Jim Fusco’s Cover Song Experience!  No, that’s not my new one-man band name- I’ve just been watching ‘Arrested Development” and was thinking of “Dr. Funke’s 100 Percent Natural Good Time Family Band Solution”, which I find incredibly funny.

Anyway, tonight I bring you a song that’s over 50 years old in Bobby Darin’s self-penned classic, “Dream Lover”.  And I can’t believe it’s our first Bobby Darin song on the music blog!

There’s this radio show I listen to on WHUS radio (at the UCONN campus in Storrs, CT).  It’s called “Rockin’ With Wayne” and I can’t get enough of it.  He just plays all these songs from the 50s and very early 60s.  So, I get to hear Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly, etc.  I just love those old songs.  They’re so simple and all kind of sound alike, but they’re happy and innocent.  Even the “downer” songs are just so lightweight that I can’t help but smile when I hear them.  So, I’m on a bit of an oldies cover song kick.

Next week’s post will also be a song that’s over 50 years old- it’s even older than “Dream Lover’!  After that, I have a lot of possibilities, including my new “deadly” musical interest that will appear on the blog soon…as soon as I can find someone who can sing and play guitar to help me out.

Getting back to tonight’s song, we’re talking about a fairly formulaic tune for the late 50s here, especially that middle section.  But, what always made me love this tune is the great start-stop beat in the chorus.  It’s so unique.  And even though it uses only C, G7, C, and F chords (in that order), something about the melody there and the beat always gets me.

In other news, I had a great day on Sunday- Dana came over for “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” and we had a good time, even though I’m not that great at it yet.  After that, my father came over and we all watched the Jets game.  It was amazing!  Mike came over, too, and we all had pizza and snacks.  After that, we ordered TNA’s “Genesis” Pay-Per-View.  And even though there were some startling moves like the new 4-sided ring, the new entrance ramp (which I saw in a WCW pay-per view back from 1991), the addition of Misterrrrrrrr…..Anderson, and a couple of title changes, it was a pretty good show.  The AJ Styles heel turn was very unexpected- he’s aligned with none other than the Nature Boy, Ric Flair!

Lots of work this week, both at home and at my day job, so I’ll keep this post a bit briefer than usual.  Is “briefer” a word?  Sounds like someone who makes underwear…

Anyway, I hope you have a good time watching “Dream Lover” and will come right back here next week for another “Roots of Rock’n’Roll” acoustic cover song music video.  Until then!

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