Hey there! First self-written blog on the laptopsessions site, and I’m excited to be learning all the ins-and-outs of the process. (Not really EXCITED, cuz it’s lots of work, but the end result is exciting!) So I was in kind of a bind because 3 days comes and goes so fast, and suddenly I was left to do another cover. And anyone who knows me knows I used to HATE doing cover songs, so I have zero in my prelearned catalogue. However, I figured out this Beatles cover song, my second favorite Beatles tune of all time (The first being “Something”, which I hoped to do in a future session on the Uke in tribute to George Harrison!) I’ve always loved “In My Life”, Ringo’s drums are great… they sound like feet shuffling during a slow dance, and I think anyone who gives this song a good listen will have a slide-show of their whole life playing in their head.
As I sing it to myself pictures of faces I dont speak to anymore still pop up, (“some are dead and some are living”- it’s true!), and loves that have come and gone. I dont know exactly what this song means to me, I guess just because there’s no current love to sing it to makes me believe it’s sung to my soul… and whoever out there shares it with me, and the Big Man upstairs who is responsible for it all. (No, not my father upstairs! haha!) Not bad for a 4 am recording on a binge of candy and diet Dr. Thunder. Enjoy!
~mikey
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and welcome to this special holiday edition of the Laptop Sessions music blog with me, Jim Fusco! Tonight, I bring you a great Beatles cover song in “I Need You”, written by George Harrison.
I’ve always been a huge fan of George Harrison’s songs, as I’m sure you know by now. To me, he helped make Paul McCartney and John Lennon better as songwriters. Why? Because they were given a different perspective on each album. I honestly wish the songwriting was more balanced throughout the Beatles recordings.
Tonight’s Beatles cover song is the first of a “Twin Spin” of sorts. Two weeks from now, I’ll be debuting another song with the same name: “I Need You” by the bad America. Gerry Beckley, the writer of that song, is a huge Beatles fan, and I think there are some definite similarities between the two songs. The endings of both songs sound very similar to me, and I think it was done purposefully by America.
“I Need You” is one of the earlier songs George Harrison wrote for the Beatles. In the beginning, you could tell that George really was the “quiet Beatle”. He wrote songs with a self-lamenting tone to them. Another example is “Don’t Bother Me”.
This acoustic cover song music video took me only one take. That happens when I both love the song…and know all the lyrics. 🙂
I’m not going to get all gushy and emotional about Thanksgiving here on the music blog, but I will say that I hope you have a great day. It’s honestly my favorite day of the year- you have everything to look forward to!
And, I hope you enjoy tonight’s acoustic Beatles cover song music video. Oh, and as a quick update regarding my re album, “Those Around Us”, I have the final album art and it looks AMAZING! I can’t wait to debut it to the world. I hope to see you for part two of my “I Need You” cover song video mini-series!
Welcome, everyone, to another new edition of the Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco! I’m sorry the post is a bit later today- I was busy yesterday training for an upcoming 5k race with my Traveling Acai Berries member, Steve. It’s tough motivating myself to run every other day, but I know it’s healthy for me to do so, and I’m using that as extra motivation.
The other day, I was searching online for Beatles covers and Beatles cover songs, but The Laptop Sessions page didn’t come up in my searches! Well, that has to change. I’m going to make it a personal goal of mine to get the Beatles category page up in the search engine rankings!
Tonight, I bring you a Beatles song that Ringo got to sing. All the members of the Beatles (especially George and Ringo) were big Carl Perkins fans. So, they took this song, “Honey Don’t”, and gave it the Beatles treatment. I’m glad they let Ringo sing it, as his voice is perfectly suited for it. Something about the chords on the verses gets me every time. This song is pretty easy to play, but it’s got such a great tune. And hearing Ringo sing it in a way only Ringo Starr can, it makes for a great combination.
Apparently, Carl Perkin’s brother even initially refused to play the song, citing its odd chord progression (for a blues song) in the verses. I’m glad he finally came around! The song has such a driving beat, too- I’d love to play this live with a band someday. One of my favorite parts is the guitar solo. I actually got to play it pretty spot-on even though it’s a solo acoustic version. The guitar solo in the Beatles version is basically the E and C chords played as barre chords higher on the neck. I never get to solo during these videos- it was fun!
I’ve wanted to play this song for the Laptop Sessions ever since I heard Ringo singing the song during his concert at the Mohegan Sun this past June. He sounds exactly the same and they do such a good job of reproducing the energy and the sound of the recording live. Actually, if I had my way about it, this would be “The Ringo Sessions with Jim Fusco”- I can’t exactly explain it, but I LOVE Ringo’s music. I especially like his solo albums starting with 1992’s “Time Takes Time”, but there’s something about Ringo’s songs in general that really resonate with me. Heck, he even makes “Honey Don’t”, a sad song when you think about it, into a jolly good time. 🙂
Welcome to another episode of The Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco! I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since my last video- the time is flying lately. Now that things are coming along nicely with the new house (driveway is in and the grass is looking better), I hope to start enjoying everything a bit more soon.
Today is a record-breaking day here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog. Today, the site got it’s highest view count EVER: over 5,600 hits and still counting! Yes, most of these hits were to the homepage, which is great. But, the part I’m very excited about is the fact that close to 200 of those hits have been to “deep” pages on the site (past posts, etc.)! That’s a pretty big deal, especially considering that just a couple months ago, the site was getting only about 200 views a day- total! So, the promotion I’ve been doing seems to be working nicely.
Now, you would think that, after last week’s article, I would be playing on my new Martin MMV guitar tonight. But, some sad circumstances lead me to this new video- the first in a long time on the piano.
“The Long and Winding Road” is a song by the Beatles that everyone knows. It’s one of those songs that you hear in a restaurant, a department store, and the radio from time to time. It’s a great Paul McCartney song that appeared on the “Let It Be” LP, but I personally like the one on “Let It Be…Naked” better. Even though I found the chords with the words “Capo on 1st fret” above them, I transposed the chords to piano on the fly and let this one rip. As with most Laptop Sessions cover songs I do, it’s SO much easier when I already know the words by heart. Chords are easy to remember because they’re logical- for instance, if the sound goes up (in pitch), then chances are the chord goes up (in pitch). So, I almost always instantly remember the chords. But, when you have to think about lyrics, things get difficult.
Tonight, I dedicate this cover song music video to my good friend and colleague, Diane. For the past year and a half, she’s been my SAVIOR at work. She works down at the warehouse our company uses and is always so helpful. She’ll get anything done instantly- she’s truly the best. She’s made my life so much easier over the time I’ve been with the company. Plus, we’ve come to have countless conversations over the phone and we’ve always had a great relationship. It’s even possible that we’re distantly related! We’ve been out for drinks after work on a few occasions, as well, and we always have a great time.
But, unfortunately, the higher-ups at my company decided to move to a different warehouse. I understand- business is business. But, I know I’m not the only one that’s going to miss Diane terribly- she’s that valuable to my working life. Hey, maybe she’ll want to move to Florida and work at the new place! 🙂
Anyway, months ago, she requested “The Long and Winding Road” by the Beatles as a Laptop Session after she began watching my videos. She waited patiently for a long time. But, Steve (of the Traveling Acai Berries) was very, very busy and we couldn’t find the time to get-together and play this song on camera. The goal was to bring Steve’s electric piano in, too.
So, when I heard the news about Diane no longer working with me, I knew I had to record “The Long and Winding Road” for her. Now that I have Becky’s piano in the house, it was easy to set everything up and record one of my more unique videos. I think it came out great (especially the way I got the audio to record) and I hope it will make Diane realize how much I’ll miss her. Plus, what a perfect song (subject matter) for the occasion.
Thanks for stopping-by for this edition of the Laptop Sessions in HD with Jim Fusco. Have a great week and enjoy “The Long and Winding Road”, one of our many Beatles cover songs!
