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“Two Of Us” (The Beatles Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

I swear we didn’t plan this… I’m sure by now, if you’re a rock music fan, you’ve heard about the Beatles Rock Band game that’s coming out tomorrow, Wednesday, 9/9/09.  Everyone in the gaming world is excited about this new release, and you better believe I am, too!  You see, it’s very rare we get an official Beatles release (any more “interview” discs floating around?), and it’s great to see the Beatles music brought to a whole new generation of youngsters that are sure to fall in love with it just like the rest of us did.  I’m excited about the new Rock Band video game for Playstation 3, but I’m especially excited about the entire Beatles catalog (including the collection of singles in Past Masters Volumes 1 and 2) being remastered and re-released.  I’ve wanted the Beatles albums remastered for as long as I remember hearing them.  The original tape transfers sound so tinny- the discs they were selling on shelves all the way up until today were made in 1986 and have just been duplicates.  Go ahead- check your CDs- they all say 1986 on them!  That’s back in the time where they had to tell you the “great sound quality and fidelity” you get with CDs…  Anyway, as I am happy that they’ve remastered the original two-track masters of the Beatles albums, I’m a bit disappointed in two things:

First, they’re not remixed.  Not to say that they weren’t mixed great for the time, especially because (next to Brian Wilson, in my personal opinion) George Martin was the best producer ever.  But, now you listen to these songs and many leave a lot to be desired.  Imagine if you heard some of the songs on “HELP!” without all the vocals to the right channel and the music in the left.  Imagine if the drums in the early records were panned more towards center so they don’t cut through the mix (especially the tambourine).  As tacky as the “Love” CD from Cirque de Soleil is, it’s still pretty cool to hear the songs in such lush stereo, as opposed to the duophonic sound that they achieved before the late 60s.

And second, there are no bonus tracks.  My father is quick to point out some key missing tracks that were left off the Anthologies (“The extended version of “Dig It”!”, he always yells) and we’re left with nothing more than the albums that we’ve already bought on LP, 8-track, cassette, and original CD.

So, there’s Beatlemania in the air and I love it.  It’s been WAY too long since the fervor of the Anthology series and it feels great to say, “Oh yeah, well I’m only 25 and I’ve been a fan ALL 25 years!”

Which brings me to tonight’s Beatles cover song video.  Let me tell you, folks- prepare to be blown away.  Along with my mystery guest Steve and other off-camera guest Chris (not Moore) (from my new cover band, the Traveling Acai Berries, also featuring Bill, who couldn’t be at the session), we play a completely effortless version of “Two of Us” from the “Let It Be” album.  Chris appears on-camera in the video I’ll be posting next week, but Steve, by request of his college-age daughter who would commit social suicide if her friends found out her father was on YouTube singing Beatles songs with a 25 year old 🙂 , decided that he would just show his guitar skills on camera.  Actually, that’s Steve singing with me on this one, too.

And that way I described the performance: effortless.  That’s what makes it different from many of my past collaborations.  Whether it be getting the chords right, remembering the words, or remembering harmony parts, past duets have always been troublesome.  But Steve, Chris, and I play this like we’ve been playing for years, and that’s what I love about this video.  You can barely hear Chris in this video- he’s playing mandolin away from the microphone, but at times, especially late in the chorus, you can hear him plucking away.  His sight reading was impressive.  On next week’s video, you can definitely hear him, though.  Steve’s playing is great, as he took the time to learn all those parts I don’t on guitar, which is just so great knowing that I can just sing and play rhythm.  Steve reminds me a lot of my father- not only in his love for the Beatles music, but in how he can sing harmony parts without having to teach him every note.  Somehow, he just knows.  And that’s where this familiarity comes from- it really shows through in the video.

I sincerely hope you enjoy tonight’s performance- one’s that’s been in the works for months now.  It was a lot of fun and I hope they’ll want to do more, especially when they see all the good reviews we’ll get!  I’ll be back next week and hopefully I’ll be enjoying the new Beatles Rock Band game, too.  I’m going to wait until Christmas for the Beatles remastered albums, though- in stereo, of course.  And don’t even get me started on the new “mono” box set… 🙂  Until next week!!

“It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over” (Lenny Kravitz Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

I’m sure a couple of people are picking their jaws up off the ground for this one…

If you know me, you know I would never say, “Wow, you know who I should do a song from?  Lenny Kravitz.”

It’s not that I have anything against him- his popularity just came at a time that I wasn’t listening to any music on the radio, i.e. the past 25 years…  But, somehow this song worked its way into my head.

It literally took me over a half hour to finally figure out that this song was done by Lenny Kravitz.  I would have bet good money that this was written and sung by Smokey Robinson with the Miracles.  Have you heard the studio version?  The strings, the beat, the high vocals, the great bass line- it HAD to be Smokey!  Plus, it has that classic Motown sound to it and I truly believed this song was recorded in 1964.

So, all I knew was the tune and the words, “Baby, it ain’t over ’til it’s over…”  How does one search for that?  I wish I could just hum into my iPhone’s Shazam program and have it tell me what I was thinking of.  I finally found a different version by some woman and realized it was the song I was thinking of.  I kept coming across Lenny Kravitz’s name, but said, “Nah, it can’t be him” and kept looking.  Finally, I clicked on his version and sure enough, it was the exact one I heard in my head!  Who knew?

I was very happy to finally perform this song and I’m even happier that I’ve brought a very popular artist to the music blog for the first time.  Gotta respect a man that plays a great guitar, has a high range of vocals, and writes his own songs- that’s pretty much my criteria!

This song is easy to play- same for verse and chorus: A, Amaj7, Asus4, D, Dm on a 4th fret capo.  This comes out to C# and F#, but it’s much easier to play it with the capo.  I’m glad it was easy to play because it’s not the easiest song to sing.  I find I sing better with my eyes closed- you’ll see I do it a lot in songs with a high range to them.  I do it a lot here, but I hit all the notes and am very happy with this performance.

It’s been a busy week- Chris said it all about the Moody Blues concert.  It was a fun time and I was happy to have gone both with family and friends from work.  The baseball card show I went to in the morning with another colleague from work was a blast- meeting the likes of Orlando Cepeda, Steve Carlton, and even Ric Flair!  I got baseballs signed by Ralph Kiner and Ken Griffey Jr. and a ton of cool new cards, including printing plates and signed jersey letters.

This weekend looks to be slower, but I have a lot of wedding video to edit and, as of tonight, I still haven’t started.  Becky moving in has proven quite stressful and involved, as I had to setup her computer (and the one back at her parents’ house because the move screwed-up their internet situation) and still cook, etc.  The house is coming along great, as well.  I spent a lot of time there today, just looking around and imagining where things would be.  The back yard is especially exciting, as I truly believe we’ll have room for whiffle ball, which is very important to me.

Finally, did you get a chance to check out the Twitter widgets up at the top of the Laptop Sessions homepage?  It shows the updates for Chris, Jeff, and myself.  I update all the time and it allows me to keep in touch with the Laptop Sessions viewers on a much more consistent basis than I previously could.  Well, have a great night and I’ll be back next week with another great acoustic cover song.  As Dana would say, “Until then”!!

“Boom Boom Pow” (Black Eyed Peas Cover)

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Ladies and gentlemen- after 25 years, I’ve finally fallen to peer pressure and decided to cover a contemporary pop song.  Tonight, I covered the Black Eyed Peas’ song, “Boom Boom Pow” right here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog.

I’m going to let the music speak for me on this one, as I’m sure all of my friends and fans are going to need some time to pick their jaws up off of the floor after the reading the words “Boom Boom Pow” at the top of this post.

I hope you all enjoy my unique version, as it was challenging to get this to work as an acoustic song.  So, this goes out to you- you know who you are! 🙂

“Are You Lonesome Tonight?” (Elvis Presley Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Well, are you? 😉

I hope not, but if you are, I hope this video brings you some comfort and company on this Spring evening.  Tonight, I bring to you one of my favorite Elvis Presley songs in “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”.  This tune is a slow one, but has so much feeling in both the lyrics and the way Elvis sings it.  I love the major D chord to the minor D chord progression and the way the song builds up at times.  This song is truly a sad one- it says everything that needs to be said and is so simple that you know Elvis was the first to bring this style of music to rock’n’roll.

I’ve been working on this one for many, many months now.  I just had to learn that poem in the middle.  You never would realize how difficult it is to play the guitar, keep in time, keep your place in the song, and say the correct lines at the correct times.  So, seeing how difficult this would be, I pushed it aside for so many other songs over the past few months.

I’ve since run low on my “need to do NOW” list, so this one came back up.  I decided tonight was the right time.  Actually, I’ll be broadening my horizons with many exciting new songs in the near future, as tomorrow night, I’ll be getting my brand new car!!  Well, it’s not exactly “new”, but it’s new to me.  I’m inheriting my mother’s Chrysler Concorde and I’m so excited about it.  I’ve always loved this car and even though it’s nine years old, you’d never know it.  It was always kept in the garage and only has about 60k miles on it.  The best part is that my brother Mike got me a brand-new stereo installed for my birthday!  So now, I can hook up my iPod and listen whereever I go.  Plus, since it’s a digital hookup, everything will finally sound right coming out of the speakers- everything always sounded so tinny in my last system.

It’s been a long couple of nights with working both night and day.  All in the name of progress, I suppose.  I’m looking forward to getting my newest baby- my Dean Boca 12-string electric guitar!!!  I got an incredible deal on Musicians Friend and saved 20% off the price.  I’ll finally get that 12-string electric sound I’ve loved for so many years.  Look for some Byrds songs in the near future!  I’ll post photos of me with my new guitar after I get it this Friday.

Okay, back to work for me, but at least I have two big things to look forward to this week!  It’s going to be non-stop for the next, oh I’d say two-plus months, but you know I’ll be keeping up with the Laptop Sessions through it all.  It’s the greatest way I can chronicle my life and keep the music dream alive.  Until next Tuesday!