A great man named Michael F. Becher on Brian Wilson’s message board started a project where he’s ranking every single Beach Boys album and song on a scale from 1-10. I love the idea and am participating in the project. But, I thought I would extend it to this forum with my picks posted here! So, without further ado, I give you the Beach Boys’ first album: Surfin’ Safari.
ALBUM – SURFIN’ SAFARI
Little Miss America – 4 (they sound lackluster, but Dennis singing brings it up a bit) Surfin’ Safari – 6 409 – 3 The Shift – 3 (waaaaay before my time!) *Land Ahoy – 5 (enjoyable) *Lavender – 4 Chug-A-Lug – 4 Heads You Win – Tails I Lose – 4 Surfin’ – 4 Summertime Blues – 2 (not a huge fan of the covers- funny, ’cause that’s what I do!) Moon Dawg – 4 (Not a big fan of the instrumentals- kinda boring, especially because they’re really known for vocals. This one isn’t bad because of the harmonies and the cool guitar playing.) Cuckoo Clock – 4 (I like Brian’s cute high voice) Ten Little Indians – 3 *Luau – 3 *Karate – 2 County Fair – 5 (funny and catchy) *Judy – 3 *Barbie – 5 (a rare early gem) *What is a Young Girl Made Of – 3 (yuck- foreign background singers!) *Cindy, Oh Cindy – 4 (good vocal)
** It’s funny, I like this album much more than the ratings give it credit for. The songs on their own are too weak to stand up to the other BB classics, but I think the album is so enjoyable and I love hearing the boys when they’re so young and, quite frankly, full of life. **
Welcome to another week of the Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco! Tonight, I bring you the week’s first video in the Beach Boys’ classic song, “The Trader”.
First, let me say that tonight’s video is potentially the last that I’ll record here in the condo, as we’re hoping everything is still on track for moving in to the new house next Friday. You’ll notice that this is the first video I’ve done since the studio was painted back to white- it’s sad, but I hope to rebuild bigger and better (and smarter) someday!
Onto tonight’s video: Carl Wilson wrote, in my opinion, one of the greatest songs of all time in “The Trader” for the Beach Boys’ 1973 album, Holland. I love the album, too- they were just so cool in 1973. Dennis’ contributions to the album were great and Mike Love gave his best song of all time in “Big Sur”.
But, Carl really stole the show with “The Trader”, a two-part masterpiece about an explorer finding a new land and claiming it for “velvet robes” (royalty). In the process, he kicks-out the natives from the land and builds shops, roads, etc. through their beautiful countryside. So many times things like this have happened through history, just because (as the song says) someone comes in, sees someone else already there, and is threatened because they say, “They’re not like me.”
The second part of the song, in my opinion, is supposed to be from the point of view of the natives. How they see the world is so much different from the imperialistic visions of the “Trader” and, honestly, I always lose myself in the second part of this song. The imagery that Carl and co-writer Jack Rieley put into their lyrics make me feel so bad for these people that were driven out of their homes and native land. It’s such an odd idea that the evening breeze, the merging streams, etc. can all be valid “reasons to live” as we all (myself included) rely on such materialistic things.
Obviously, Carl lends an amazing vocal to this track, as he pretty much always did with his songs and others. I tried to replicate it best I could here and believe I got the vocals down pretty good! The second part of the song is sung much softer than I had anticipated, but I decided to keep it because it allowed me to sing a bit “sweeter” without having to project my voice. Believe it or not, after just two false-starts, I was able to record this take. I guess it helps when you’ve heard a song about 200 times over a span of fifteen years.
I’m currently racking my brain for some ideas on how to increase traffic to the site. Our numbers are still up over last year’s numbers, but I fear for next year’s numbers. It’s going to be tough to get back up there again without my ability to bug the other guys to step-it-up (which, in turn, makes me step-it-up). So much has changed since I started this blog. It’s hard to believe what’s gone on in the past two years. Looking through our Original Wednesday posts, it was so interesting to get a once-a-week view of the three of our lives. One minute, you’re best friends with someone, the next you barely know them. And one week someone is missing someone, and a few weeks later, they’re not anymore. So, if you’ve been visiting the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog recently, maybe you should take a look back through the archives and see where we were all at during the past couple of years. You’ll learn a lot about us and learn how much things can change in such a short period of time.
Until next week, I hope you have a much less stressful week than I’m going to have! 🙂
Hello everyone!! I’m back from obscurity to bring you another obscure Beach Boys song!
I’ve been on my honeymoon for the past two weeks. You’ll notice a certain new accessory on my left hand in the video- I actually notice the difference when playing. To sum up the trip and the wedding- everything went great. Great weather, had a good time at the reception, wasn’t nervous at all, heard good music, went great places, hotels were nice, and just got to live the Hawaiian experience for two weeks!
Back to reality now, but there’s a lot to look forward to- a new house on the way and a new life as a married man. It’s both exciting and tiring and I think I need a couple more days to decompress after my vacation! You see, my wife (weird to say that) is the type that needs to see and do anything and everything while on a trip. So, there really wasn’t much relaxation. I need another vacation! 🙂
Anyway, Hawaii is an amazing place- from the weather to the people (who are very jolly, as the Beach Boys have said) to the scenery. One of our favorite places was Lahaina, which is a nice town along the coast that boasts many art galleries and the second largest banyan tree in the world! So, of course, this Beach Boys song was stuck in my head the entire time. Becky and I walked around the town that day and even though it was only in the mid 80s, that “near the equator” sun made it feel like it was 100 or more. But, the day was nice and I will remember Lahaina fondly.
I hope to have some time in the near future to post some photos, etc.- things I’ve been wanting to do, but haven’t gotten a chance to. I hope you all followed me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/jimfusco), as I chronicled all the great (and hilarious) things we saw and did on the honeymoon.
I know Jeff is a fan of tonight’s song, as I played it on one of our BSYNHO shows we did for our significant others. I hope my acoustic cover version does it justice. “Lahaina Aloha” comes from an album that didn’t sell well and is officially the last ever Beach Boys album, as I truly don’t think there will ever be another. “Summer in Paradise” isn’t all bad- just half. I actually really enjoy the other half of the album- Bruce’s “One Summer Night”, with great vocals from Al, and Mike’s “Strange Things Happen”, which is one of Becky’s favorites, as well.
But, “Lahaina Aloha” is the perfect song for the acoustic cover song music blog tonight, as the islands of Hawaii are still very fresh in my mind.
Just as a last funny note- while on the ship, we saw The Second City, which is a comedy troupe not unlike the cast of “Whose Line is it Anyway?”. They were very good and did a hilarious skit where they pointed out that the word “aloha” in Hawaiian can mean either, “Hello”, “Goodbye”, or even “I love you”! So, they would sing songs that fit with that. For instance, they did the Doors hit: “Aloha, aloha won’t you tell your name…” And, they ended the skit with the best one- the Beatles “Hello, Goodbye”, or in Hawaiian: “Aloha, aloha! I don’t know why you say Aloha, I say Aloha.”
Anyway, with that, I bid you the same- ALOHA! It’s great to be back to the best blog ever created!
Welcome to another Jim Fusco Tuesday here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog. I can’t believe it’s been another week- here I am again to send a new cover song music video your way.
I realized I’ve only done one Beach Boys song so far in 2009 (and a quite unknown one, at that), so I decided to please the Beach Boys faithful (who’d have to be REALLY faithful to wait three months for another video) by doing a song everybody knows in “Do You Wanna Dance?”!
Originally written and recorded by Bobby Freeman in the late 50’s, the Beach Boys version is very far removed from the original recording. Freeman’s version has a more bossonova feel to it and is a little slower-paced. Brian Wilson, clearly budding into an ambitious producer at the time, took the song and turned it pure mid-sixties rock and roll. It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart at Nubmer 12, and was the highest charting record with Dennis Wilson on lead vocals.
This was a great song for Denny to sing- I love the Beach Boys version so much more because Brian gave Dennis a chance to sing on it. The production on the Beach Boys version is very Phil Spector influenced, so my acoustic cover version of it married the Beach Boys verison (in terms of style) without all the guitars, tympanies, etc.
I had to fight siging this song like Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys, as in concert he’s the one who sings Dennis’ lead vocals. He sings much differently than Dennis normally would, so there’s different inflection to the words. I sing more like Bruce than Dennis, so I was inclined to sing the Bruce version- but stopped myself and tried to stay true to Denny’s original vocal style, raspy voice not included.
Right after “Do You Wanna Dance?” was released, the Beach Boys came out with one of their Number One singles in “Help Me Rhonda”, a great song. 1965 was an amazing year for music, but especially for groups like the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and Bob Dylan. It was also the break-out year for the Byrds. The Beach Boys’ “Today” album has to be one of the best recordings ever, especially because it combines the happiness of earlier Beach Boys albums and (some of) the production value of later recordings like “Pet Sounds”.
I hope you enjoy my version of “Do You Wanna Dance?”. On a personal note, I’m scheduled to receive my copies of my new album, “Halfway There”, tomorrow on CD, but the release date still stands for April 7th. I hope you’re as excited as I am! When I get the CDs, I’m sure I’ll get ambitious and do a ton of promotion, so stay tuned! Have a great week- I’ll try to post an original, but I’m pretty tired, so we’ll see. Talk to you again soon!
