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“Baby I Need Your Loving” (Four Tops and Johnny Rivers Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Wow, finally I get to post my video.  I hate when this happens- now it’s going to feel like such a short time until my next video!  Anyway, I’m very proud to bring you tonight’s acoustic cover song music video of a classic song in, “Baby I Need Your Loving”.

Written by three of the Motown Records songwriters, “Baby I Need Your Loving” was the first big hit for the Four Tops back in 1964.  And let me tell you, this falls into my category of “perfect recordings”.  It clocks in under two minutes, but the vocals and instrumentation are just perfect.  The song gives me chills.  The Tops had such a unique vocal blend.  The lead vocalist recently passed away, as I heard.  When I saw them in concert a few years ago, there were only two original Tops left, but I still enjoyed the concert very much.  Hey, there’s only two original Beach Boys left in the band…and one isn’t even technically an original!

Anyway, you may also know this song from the Johnny Rivers version in the late 60’s.  His voice fit well with this classic tune, as well.  But, there’s one big difference between his version and the one done by the Four Tops: the title!  Johnny decided to title the song after what the chorus really says: Baby I Need Your Lovin’.  Note that apostrophe?  The Four Tops had the more grammatically correct version for theirs.

I had so much fun recording this- in one take, mind you.  And now for my slightly melodramatic “personal” update for the week:

I really hope I can find more time to post on the blog, as I have a lot of ambition, but it keeps getting thrown to the side.  Work, both during the day and at night, has helped my wife and I accomplish so much more than anyone else our age I know.  But, that does come at a cost- we’re both tired and the time we do have off becomes “necessary” rather than leisurely.  What do I mean by that?  Well, when you don’t do anything for yourself during the week, you feel like you need to cram in a TON of fun on the weekend.  Most times, that ends up in disappointment because it’s so much pressure!

But, the good news is that we’re managing things a lot better now than we were.  Personally, I’m still working on the whole “friends” issue.  I’ve recently realized that all my friends are gone, either taken away by disagreements, girlfriends, wives, rifts, or even just a marred past.  But, it’s tough finding new friends when everyone you work with is twice your age and doesn’t have time for friends.  Also, it’s tough when you don’t have time for friends yourself!  Thankfully, I still have Dana to get breakfast with me each week, and I’ve been spending a lot of time with my family (both my immediate family and my in-laws).  But, it would be nice to find someone that wants to hang around with me that doesn’t feel obligated because of their relation to me! 🙂 

In closing- I hope the friend train stops at my station soon, for where there are friends, there is fun.  Enjoy tonight’s video and make sure to come back for more, y’all! 🙂

“Heaven” (Brett Dennen Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Hi folks!  Welcome to another Jim Fusco Tuesday!  This was one of those weeks where, after such a great long weekend, I truly dreaded the four-day week ahead.  I have two immediate video programs to edit, a whole bunch of PSA’s, an audio mastering project, and multiple projects looming around the corner… And that’s all stuff I have to do AFTER a crazy day at work!  I feel myself getting a better handle on things at work, but it’s still a struggle on a daily basis, as I’m constantly trying to dig out of a growing hole.  It’ll get better, but it’s just these weeks when everything piles up that I get a bit nervous.  Becky’s been helping (bringing me coffee and snacks, plus trying to keep me to a schedule), so it’s definitely hurt less than it should’ve.

Anyway, onto tonight’s video:

I’ve been churning out the new artists to the blog lately (and ones you might even have heard of, by the way), but tonight I might break that mold a bit.  I had never heard of Brett Dennen before, but my boss kept telling me about him after he heard Dennen’s music on Last.fm, a music service on Xbox 360.  Anyway, he burned me a copy of Brett’s songs (don’t worry, Brett- I bought the LP version of “Hope for the Hopeless” afterward and so did my brother!).  But, even though he kept asking me about it, I didn’t put the CD in because I was still hooked on the Grateful Dead!  So, about four weeks ago now, I popped Brett’s “Hope for the Hopeless” album in and completely fell in love with the music.

The man is simply a good songwriter.  His songs are not overly complicated (which I LOVE)- he uses some pretty simple chords in some songs (and some cool inversions in others, too) and the songs are short and sweet.  The songs pretty much follow the verse-bridge-chorus model and there’s one or two guitar solos spattered throughout the album.  It’s a short one with only 11 songs, but I don’t care- the quality definitely makes up for the quantity.

Dennen’s two previous releases before “Hope for the Hopeless” had the feel of Jack Johnson’s first album- sparsely produced to its detriment.  Yes, there are good songs, but I need a little more than an acoustic guitar to make me love an album.  “Hope for the Hopeless” is different.  It’s almost like he got signed to a label that gave him some more money to produce an album.  The result is amazing- I just love the production on this disc.  You won’t find a lot of harmonies here and the instruments are no-frills.  Mostly, you have an acoustic, an electric, bass, piano/organ, and drums.  That’s a perfect mix for me.  What’s great about this album, and I plan on trying with my next album, is that there really is no rhythm guitar.  The guitar only plays what it needs to.  So, the music sounds open, but not lacking.  You’ll just have to listen to get what I’m saying.

I could’ve picked any of the 11 songs from “Hope for the Hopeless” to cover.  My favorites are “Who Do You Think You Are?” and “Make You Crazy”, but I chose “Heaven” because it’s just one of those “perfect” songs.  It has such a message- kind of like “Imagine” by John Lennon.  This song, according to Dennen fans, will stand as his masterpiece.  On the recording, I challenge you not to get chills once the band comes in at the start of the second chorus.  It’s AWESOME!

So, I decided to record my version of this song just acoustically, though I’ve been playing it on the piano recently, as well.  “Heaven” is a great song to sing by yourself, as it only has one vocal in the album version anyway (the single version suffers from a female lead vocal in the second verse- I much prefer the album version and I’m glad he did it that way).

One thing about Dennen- when you hear his songs, you’ll notice his…let’s say “accent”.  I’m not really sure what it is.  It sounds Louisianan to me.  At first, I really didn’t like it.  But, if you get past the way he says certain words (like instead of “trouble”, he says, “trugh-bowl”), you’ll really like these songs.  And now, I even like the way he says those words, because I can tell he’s not doing it on purpose (just to sound different)- it’s just the way he talks/sings.

On a side note, check out one of my new favorite tunes, “Make You Crazy”, on YouTube- the music video is pretty cool.

Now, I had a feeling I’d heard of Brett Dennen before.  I mean, that voice is so unmistakable.  Becky and I both agree that we’ve heard his most “famous” song, “Ain’t No Reason” (not one of my favorites and if you heard it and know my musical tastes, you’ll understand why).  We must’ve heard it in a TV show.  Then, my brother Mike ended up knowing (and loving) “Make You Crazy”, too, from his days working at Hollister, where they played the song on a daily basis.

Okay, enough talk- time to watch the LSHD version of “Heaven” performed by me, Jim Fusco!  I’d love to hear your thoughts about the song, my performance, and Brett Dennen.  I hope you have a great week and make sure to stop back next Tuesday for another acoustic cover song.  I plan on it being a classic early 60’s tune that Becky and I heard in the car while on our way to Albany, NY for our weekend trip.  We had a blast- check my Twitter (jimfusco) for all the updates and photos from the road!  Until next week!

“Friend of the Devil” (Grateful Dead Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Well, as promised, I’m back with your Wednesday edition of Jim Fusco Tuesdays!  Don’t understand that?  Then you should be visiting the blog more often! 🙂  Tuesdays are my usual day to post, but unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera last night, so I had to put-off doing the video until today.  I also recorded another video for next week that you’re going to LOVE.  It’s from a guy you probably haven’t heard of, but he’s new to the blog and he’s a well-respected musician.  I guess you’ll have to wait in suspense until then!

I can’t believe it- this blog has been up for well over two years and there hasn’t been a Grateful Dead song done yet!  Late last year, I decided that I wanted to learn more about the Grateful Dead.  Back in high school and early college, I used to work at the now defunct Cheshire Video and Disc (a local video store).  I used to work with this hippy girl named Karen.  She was cool- we used to work on Sunday mornings together and always had a nice time.  She used to play this Grateful Dead VHS tape during our shift every week.  It was from the 80’s.  It was a trippy kind of concert- crazy 80’s video effects and extended drum solos.  But, I really enjoyed the songs.

Fast-forward about seven years to the present-day.  I finally got my Grateful Dead “Best Of” for Christmas from my mother in law and I was so excited to play it for the first time.  My boss had re-ignited my interest for the band, as he put a few of their songs on a mix CD for me.  So, I got the CD and played it at work for the first time.  I LOVED IT!!

It’s 17 songs and, believe me, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better overall “Best Of”.  It has all of my favorite elements: harmonies, good guitar, everyone plays their own instruments, and (my personal favorite) multiple band members writing songs!!  Actually, my favorite song on the whole “Best Of” CD (which I will definitely cover in the future) is “Box Of Rain”, written by bassist Phil Lesh.  (On another note, I hear he and former Dead member Bob Weir are now touring as “Furthur”, but the show in my hometown of Wallingford, CT is SOLD OUT!  Grrr….)

Anyway, there are so many great songs on this disc- from the ones you’ve heard of (and probably didn’t know they did them) like “Truckin'”, “Casey Jones”,  and “Touch of Grey” to the ones that you haven’t heard of yet, this is a top-to-bottom rare “Best Of” find.  The last times I felt this great about a “Best Of” was when I purchased the America and Doobie Brothers’ discs.  So, what I’m saying is, if you haven’t purchased the Grateful Dead “Best Of” (the one with 17 tracks- NOT the cheap 10-track version), then you should really give it a try.

Tonight’s song is “Friend of the Devil”.  At first, this wasn’t one of my favorites, but it’s catchy and the story is pretty cool, so it grew on me quickly.  I love singing it in that Jerry Garcia drawl.  Plus, this was an easy one to convert to acoustic.  Most of their songs aren’t so easy because of their great harmonies.  I’ve wanted to do so many of their songs, but it just won’t sound right without someone else singing with me (who knows the song really well, too).

So, whatever idea you had of the Dead (I thought it was just a stupid stoner band that jammed nonsensical songs for hours on end…which may be true for the live sets, as I’ve heard), throw it away!  They’re a tight band that last quite a while and came up with some great songs.  And now I’m even more excited that I can build my vinyl record collection with some of their interesting albums, such as their lone 60’s record (from 1967, which I’m INCREDIBLY interested in hearing) and their all-time classic from 1970, American Beauty.

Enjoy tonight’s LSHD video and make sure to come back next week for my newest obsession in music!

“Maybe Baby” (Buddy Holly cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Hello everyone- it’s a Tuesday, so that mean’s it’s another edition of The Laptop Sessions and another acoustic cover song from me, Jim Fusco! Tonight, I bring you an oldie, but a goodie in Buddy Holly’s classic tune, “Maybe Baby”.  You know, it’s funny- I can almost picture how Buddy wrote this song.  He started playing an A chord, followed by an F#m chord, which is a nice change.  I can tell that he really liked it and kept playing it over and over until the tune of, “Maybe baby, I’ll have you…” came into his head.  The rest of the song is pretty formulaic after that.

But, that’s what I love so much about these very early rock’n’roll songs- it must’ve been great to have a wide-open slate because no one had done it before!  So, even the simplest chord changes (like the one I just mentioned) became opportunities for new rock songs.  I’m sure someone used that progression in jazz or another form of earlier music, but since Buddy was such a pioneer, he was the first to utilize such chord progressions in rock music.

Now, of course, Buddy Holly had the advantage of being one of the first to write modern rock’n’roll songs in this style, but it wasn’t easy.  Having a blank slate seems great- “Oh, okay, I have every chord and no one has taken any of the potential melodies yet- this will be easy to write a song!”  But, you have to remember that Buddy, unlike the rest of us, didn’t have a lot to draw from.  He didn’t grow up listening to similar music like I did.  He had to do it first, which is infinitely more difficult to do than when you have some prior knowledge to draw on.

So, even though “Maybe Baby” may not be the hardest or most complicated song, I still give the man all the credit in the world because he paved the way for so many others.  I plan on starting a little Buddy Holly collection- I saw a really great CD retrospective once with all of his original, earliest recordings.  That blows me away- there’s some songs in there from the early 50’s!

For this video, I tried to sing the song true to the original, but it’s tough to do that on a Buddy Holly song without having it sound like an imitation.  Of course, I never want that.  So, I tried singing just like myself, but threw in a few “hiccups” of Buddy Holly’s style in there.  It was a lot of fun to record!

The busiest month of the year so far…and it’s only the first one!  I keep telling myself, “Well, as soon as (insert major event here) is over, then things will go back to normal.”  But, as soon as home life returns to normal, work life goes crazy, and vice-versa.

I hope you have a great week and stop back, if for nothing else than my next post next Tuesday!