By Jim Fusco:
Hello again, everyone! Back with another announcement.
For all my Laptop Sessions viewers, I present an extra-special treat this year for the holidays. It’s Jim Fusco’s 14 Days of Rock’n’Roll Christmas!
Starting on Sunday, December 7th, I’ll post a new recording every day for 14 days. I’ve recorded all of my favorite Christmas songs and I’d love if everyone would download them. And, they’ll all be FREE!
All 14 free downloads are in the archive — enjoy!
By Jim Fusco:
THE BEACH BOYS TODAY!
Dance, Dance, Dance – 8
Kiss Me, Baby – 9.5
Please Let Me Wonder – 9 (I actually like the arrangement on the “Live at the Roxy” CD better- which really doesn’t fit with my stance on live versions…)
She Knows Me Too Well – 8 (What an ending! Probably one of the best endings ever)
When I Grow Up – 7 (This song is great, don’t get me wrong, but when I first learned it, I always found it to be a bit boring. But, the subject matter is amazing.)
Help Me, Ronda – 6 (I love this song, but sadly, not this version.)
Do You Wanna Dance? – 7 (Great Denny vocal here and I consider this the “standard” version of the song)
Good to My Baby – 7.5 (I love the style of this song, the great guitar riff, and the a capella vocals in the beginning)
*Dance, Dance, Dance (alternate) – 6 (Why do the unreleased alternate takes always sound so tinny?)
Don’t Hurt My Little Sister – 5 (Funny story about this song- my friends and I talk in the tune of this song! I know it sounds weird, and that’s because it is. We’ll say any line with seven syllables to the tune of this song, for instance, “Did you go buy the hot dogs?” Sing it- it fits!)
I’m So Young – 6 (This has some interesting sounds to it. Even though I like Dennis’ part at the end, it’s a bit out of his range)
*Graduation Day – 5 (Great harmonies, just not exactly “engaging”)
In the Back of My Mind – 6.5 (This is a great song with a personal message from Brian Wilson shroud in the vocals of Dennis Wilson. He really nails this and the tune is so unique that I have to give it a good rating)
*I’m So Young (alternate) – 5
Bull Session with the “Big Daddy” – 1
** This is clearly one of the Boys’ best albums of all-time. The production quality, although mixed in mono (which I’m not a fan of, growing up in the surround-sound age), is great. I do miss the Boys playing their own instruments, as they did on the Christmas album’s first side, but the song quality is so good here, that I can look far past it.
I think, without using composite song scores, but ranking albums as “albums”, that this would probably end up in the Top 5 for me. With it would be “Holland”, “Sunflower”, “Pet Sounds”, and the fifth spot is up for grabs. Of course, everyone knows by now my affinity for the ’85 album, but I do value my life, here! 🙂
As a bit of genealogy to my Beach Boys past, we actually started with Pet Sounds (after the Greatest Hits, of course), which we got in 1992. I was 8. Talk about starting with some heavy stuff! But, we hear it over and over and over and over again. My father couldn’t get enough. We listened to “God Only Knows” about three times a day for a year- I’m not exaggerating. It was like Brian Wilson listening to “Be My Baby”. We then moved on (because many of the Beach Boys albums weren’t so easy to find) to the Box Set that just came out in 1992. Now, you have an 8 year old kid listening to Smile!! But, I do think that listening to, and really getting into, such deep and complex music at the age of 8 helped me to grow into a musician and songwriter at an early age. And, thus, is the reason why Brian Wilson will always be my musical idol.
Well, enough about me- this album’s great, and it’s only gonna get better for me, as I’m such a fan of the other band members’ compositions that I can’t wait for the “Sunflower” days! **
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Guest Sessions here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog! The Guest Sessions is a chance for our loyal viewers to try their hand at an acoustic cover song music video. If we like it, we post it here on the music blog for all to see!
Tonight’s entry comes from Mustomix on YouTube. He wrote to me a few months ago (sorry, I’ve been a bit slow on the uptake here) and sent me his channel of Beach Boys cover songs. I’m very impressed with his selection of Beach Boys cover videos, but I’m most impressed with his incredible guitar selection! He’s got some great stuff going on there! I chose “Airplane” because it’s a unique song off of the Beach Boys “love it or hate it” 1977 album “Love You” and because he uses a great 12-string acoustic guitar, which is perfect for this song. He does a great job playing it, as well.
I hope you enjoy tonight’s Guest Sessions entry and congrats to Mustomix for getting on the music blog! Enjoy “Airplane” by the Beach Boys- a really cool tune!
By Jim Fusco:
Ladies and gentlemen- I give you a brand-new recording!!
This is a cover of the Beach Boys’ classic song “She Knows Me Too Well” off of the “Today!” album from 1965.
I got some new equipment, so I wanted to try to match the original recording the best I could (with a little more flair on the drums, no disrespect to Dennis Wilson). I used my new Shure SM57 mic, Epiphone Les Paul Special II with P-90 pickups, and my Samson 7-piece drum mic set. I rounded-it out with my Fender Stratocaster, Fender Jazz Bass, electric piano, and ten vocal tracks, recorded with my Shure SM27 condenser mic.
I really hope you enjoy all the hard work I put into this and hope you’ll share it with all of your friends, too!
http://jimfusco.com/audio/sheknowsmetoowell.mp3
And here’s a special “vocals-only” version for you super-fans:
http://jimfusco.com/audio/sheknowsme-vocals.mp3
Stay tuned for even more Beach Boys cover songs coming your way on the Laptop Sessions cover songs music blog!