Tag Archives: unplugged

“Artificial Energy” (The Byrds Cover)

Posted on by
1

By Jeff Copperthite:

Oh yeah – I get to bring in my favorite day to one of the cooler songs I know.

That’s right, it’s Thumpin’ Thursday® – naturally trademarked by yours truly.  I’m dedicated to bringing you not only every TT that I have left in the year, but in 2009 I hope you can count on your Thursdays every week to always be a Thumpin’ one.

And to go right along to that theme, I have a great tune from The Byrds tonight.  From their album “The Notorious Byrd Brothers” is a song introduced to me by (who else) Jim Fusco.  It’s the first track of the album and it’s a great album starter called “Artificial Energy”.  The song has an awesome horn part that overlays the entire song.  This album and song were recorded in 1967 – over 40 years ago.  A stereo version of the song is noted by having the horns loud enough to cause distortion that was still atypical to a record.

The album this comes from is one i’d like to hear.  I’ve read that it is one of their best albums, if somewhat short.

I also wanted to bring this song to the sessions to remind Jim of his days at Wesleyan University.  I hope your roommate was a Byrds’ fan man.

That does it for me tonight – but rest assured!  Tomorrow you will get to hear another song by myself, and then i’ll be back for another fantastic session on Sunday as well.  Chris will jump in Saturday to give me a break, but you can count on a session a day all the way through ’08.

I hope you enjoy today’s session!

Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Jeff’s acoustic cover song music videos are no longer on YouTube, but we decided to keep his cover song blog posts up.  We figured these music blog entries would be good for posterity’s sake and because Jeff always gave such insightful posts each Session.  We hope to see Jeff’s impressive catalog of acoustic rock songs here on the Laptop Sessions cover songs and original music blog again in the future.  But, for now, please make sure to check-out hundreds of other acoustic cover songs from all of your favorite bands here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!

“On the Shelf” (Original Wednesday Acoustic Video by Jeff Copperthite)

Posted on by
1

By Jeff Copperthite:

Wow it seems so long since i’ve done an original Original Wednesday.  I checked my video session catalog (which is nearing 100 by the way) and the last true original song I have brought you (read: a song that I have written) was actually on July 15.  That is OVER TWO MONTHS!  I couldn’t let it go on any longer!

So i’m digging one up for the sessions today.  Finally, not only an original tune, but a PREMIERE, never before seen or heard, Jeff Copperthite original.

All my fans and my sessionmates are familiar with my playing style.  I feel this song is somewhat of a deviation.  The guitar part I play to this song is probably among the more creative ones I have recently conceived.  The lyrics – well, remember I am a happily married guy, but that doesn’t mean someone can’t tell a story that isn’t personal to the writer.  Plus, it fits the “spirit” of the guitar part quite well.

Perhaps this song will make it to the recording studio next year for another album.  I’ve felt the writing itch for a couple months now.  Scott & I are going to be getting together in the near future to do some jamming as well.  Perhaps a new Quilt EP or album is not that far in the future.  And everyone that knows both of us know, that he’ll blow me out of the water on the guitar.

My viewcount has reached 42K, and I have three new requests to work on for my upcoming sessions, but now back to your regularly scheduled “New Bands 2.0” week.  I’ll be back Saturday covering a band that has already made me say “Holy crap why did I pick this band?” – not because they don’t sound good, but because they sound incredible, and covering them will be a tall order.  I’m up to it, however.

And tomorrow, Jim will be back with another new band (feel free to register it under the “Thumpin’ Thursday™” tag Jim), and Chris will be back to satiate our eyes and ears with another new band.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Original Wednesday!

Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Jeff’s acoustic cover song music videos are no longer on YouTube, but we decided to keep his cover song blog posts up.  We figured these music blog entries would be good for posterity’s sake and because Jeff always gave such insightful posts each Session.  We hope to see Jeff’s impressive catalog of acoustic rock songs here on the Laptop Sessions cover songs and original music blog again in the future.  But, for now, please make sure to check-out hundreds of other acoustic cover songs from all of your favorite bands here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!

“Hey, Johnny Park!” (Foo Fighters Cover)

Posted on by
Reply

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to this weekend edition of the Laptop Sessions video blog! Today’s acoustic cover song is from the Foo Fighters, a band that my fellow songwriter Jeff Copperthite has covered several times before. I’ve only gotten into this music within the past few months, after a faithful YouTube viewer and fan of the Laptop Sessions requested that I cover the Foo Fighters song “Everlong.” I went out to the store, bought the album The Colour and the Shape, and immediately got into it. For those of you who don’t know me, you need to understand that I’m a big fan of well-packaged CD’s, and this was the 10th anniversary remix with a nice, lengthy booklet and a shiny cover. Now, this may have coloured (pun intended) my perception of it, but what I really liked about the album was its overall progression. It begins with an electric guitar and Dave Grohl’s subdued vocals on “Doll,” a song that gradually builds up and suddenly ends after about a minute and a half. The next song, “Monkey Wrench,” is pure energy and rock’n’roll. The album continues to rev up and slow down and vary as it goes. Previously to this, I had only heard their In Your Honor album. I love the concept — one disc of electric songs, one of acoustic music — but I found it unremarkable.

I haven’t quite perfected my version of “Everlong,” but this is another great track from the album to tide you over while I practice that one. “Hey, Johnny Park!” is a title that I have yet to understand — Foo Fighters fans please help by commenting here!! — and it certainly made me stretch my range a bit, but I love the guitar intro/riff and it really translated pretty well as an acoustic cover song, as the other Foo Fighters covers by Jeff did.

Without further ado, here’s your official Saturday Laptop Session — don’t forget to check back tomorrow for another quality Copperthite cover…

See you next session!


“Big Me” (Foo Fighters Cover)

Posted on by
1

By Jeff Copperthite:

Laptop Sessions Historian UpdateOn the day 6 years after he recorded this song, Jeff has reuploaded it to his Youtube channel and it is now available for your viewing pleasure or displeasure (hopefully pleasure). Enjoy!

Welcome, for the first time in 6 weeks, to Thumpin’ Thursday!  That’s right, after a brief hiatus for an awesome acoustic cover song by Mike, I am back for my regularly scheduled Thursday video.  I’ve got a short but awesome one for you today.

One of my favorite albums in my teenage years was the album “Foo Fighters” by the band of the same name.  At the time, I listened to this album countless times.  I can probably play most of the songs on the album and the lyrics are easy to recall.  The song I have chosen is “Big Me”, which was a single from the album.  You may recall the music video (yeah, like MTV plays music videos anymore – they used too) is a spoof of old Mentos’ commercials.  I’m sure you can find it on Youtube on countless users’ channels.

I usually don’t record short songs, but my next video will be a slightly longer song, and could be a new band as well!  You’ll have to wait and see.

Come back tomorrow for Friday’s edition, where Jim will wow us again.