Originally done in four parts, this remastered video (originally recorded in 2007 and remastered in 2020) is about the triumphs and pitfalls of recording a song in my home studio. You’ll see techniques, advice, and most of all, a bunch of bad luck. The song I’m recording is called “Go Back To Him,” written by Jim Fusco and Alberto Distefano. The song was featured on my album “Halfway There”, available at http://jimfusco.com and on iTunes! Make sure to stick around for the end of the video and check out the music video for “Go Back To Him”, complete with remastered stereo audio for the first time! For those who saw the original video, you’ll recall how dark the video looked, as the overhead lighting in my home studio at the time was not conducive to great video quality. Thankfully, through the magic of Final Cut Pro X, I’m able to breathe new life into this documentary, which captures what it was like to record a song at 4am (which was easily done at 23 years of age…).
Those of you who regularly check the Laptop Sessions homepage for fresh material may have noticed that I have been writing a music review once a week, posting it on either Saturday or Sunday. Since we shifted away from the “session-a-day” format, these two days have generally been a dry spot for new material on the website.
And why shouldn’t there be something new to look forward to as you’re kicking back on the weekend and wishing you had something new to read or watch?
Starting now, the Laptop Sessions will be posting a music review once every week on either Saturday or Sunday. This segment, titled “The Weekend Review,” will focus on new albums that have just been released, classic albums that transcend time, “deep racks reports” on albums that have been underrated and/or forgotten about, and live acoustic and rock music in the tri-state area.
As a special treat for all you Fusco-Moore music blog faithfuls, this post is in honor of Laptop Sessions founder Jim Fusco’s wedding to Becky Daly over the weekend. That’s right; as of July 25th, 2009, Jim is no longer a single man.
Sorry, ladies…
As part of my wedding gift to them, I sifted through the 10,000 plus songs on my iTunes and created a playlist to commemorate their marriage. As you skim through the bands and titles below, you’ll find that the theme is pretty obvious — two people getting together in a relationship (1, 2), getting married (5, 7, 11), and the new life that follows (8, 10, 12, 14). Of course, there’s some mention of Saturday night (4) and the bonus tracks are all about the honeymoon — can you guess where that’s going to be taking place?
I hope you enjoy the playlist rundown, and I encourage you to leave comments for the newlyweds here on this post!
TRACK LISTING:
1 ) “Got to Get You Into My Life” – The Beatles
2 ) “Better Together” – Jack Johnson
3 ) “Hope You Love Me Like You Say You Do” – Huey Lewis & The News
4 ) “Almost Saturday Night” – Gene Clark & Carla Olson
5 ) “Chapel of Love” – The Beach Boys
6 ) “I’ll Always Love You (Day After Day)” – Dean Martin
7 ) “Wear My Ring Around Your Neck” – Elvis Presley
8 ) “What Love Has Joined Together” – The Temptations
9 ) “Really Love You” – Paul McCartney
10) “Ideal Woman” – William Shatner
11) “Wedding Song” – Bob Dylan
12) “A New Life For Us” – The Now People
13) “Satisfied” – Ringo Starr
14) “Believe In Life” – Eric Clapton
15) “This is Love” – George Harrison
16) “One True Vine” – Wilco
BONUS TRACKS:
17) “The Honeymoon Song” – The Beatles
18) “The Hula Hula Boys” – Warren Zevon
19) “Rocking Chair in Hawaii” – George Harrison
20) “Rock-A-Hula Baby” – Elvis Presley
21) “Hawaii” – The Beach Boys
Yes, the dream is still alive with me here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog. I’ve said it a thousand times- we are simply the best music video blog ever created and I intend to keep it that way. That’s why, tonight, I bring to you yet another new artist to the blog.
I can’t believe it’s taken this long to get to an amazing and popular acoustic act in Crosby, Stills, Nash, and (sometimes) Young. Talk about a supergroup- not only did they amass a ton of hit singles and albums over the years, but they are comprised of some of rock music’s most popular and influential singers and songwriters: David Crosby (formerly of the Byrds), Stephen Stills (formerly of Manassas), Graham Nash, and Neil Young.
This band is credited with some of the most innovative and great songs of the seventies- they were keeping rock alive and doing it while playing their own instruments and singing in great, tight harmonies. I don’t know why I don’t love this band more than I have in the past- think about it- they have four songwriting members, sing harmonies, and play their own instruments. Those are all qualities of my favorite bands! I have to get my hands on a “Best of” to get me started.
Truthfully, though, I remember not getting into their albums too much because of the extended jams and such. I’m more of a 3-minute catchy song kinda guy. But, when learning tonight’s song on acoustic guitar, I realized that it’s really three separate songs wrapped-up into one neat 4-minute masterpiece.
“Carry On” kicks off an amazing album in “Deja Vu”, which some consider to be one of (if not THE) best albums of all time. Personally, I don’t think so, but I see where they’re coming from. You have this supergroup of stars and they come out with fresh new music that rocks and they start this whole revolution of Seventies acoustic rock that some of my favorite acts, like America, modeled themselves after. As recently as 2003, you had the Thorns, a “supergroup” of sorts in itself (with 90s acts Shawn Mullins, Matthew Sweet, and Pete Droge), who sounded EXACTLY like CSNY.
Of course the chords for “Carry On” that you find online are correct…to a certain degree. I had to work some magic to find out that it’s actually on a first fret capo. Also, on the bridge during the first three verses, they had the chords wrong, mostly because the bass guitar in the recording is playing a different note than what matches the chord the acoustic guitars are doing. So, I improvised and came up with an interesting chord progression for that part that I thought both fit and sounded cool. It may not be exactly correct, but it’s my little interpretation.
On a personal note, every day seems to get shorter and shorter. I have so much to do on a daily basis, between working on four websites, work, and (helping to) plan a wedding. I found out that I’m going to get my discs for “Halfway There” during the first week of April, so I’m aiming for an April 7th release date. I need to do many updates to our site here and add pages to my site, too. What a project- that’s why I only do one once every two…three…four…years.
Have a great night, and I’ll catch you tomorrow to re-attempt posting my Original Wednesday from last week that was inadvertently erased!
