“Bob Dylan’s Dream” (Bob Dylan Cover)

By Chris Moore:

Thanks for coming to the best acoustic cover song music blog on the Internet!  Today, our featured cover is “Bob Dylan’s Dream.”  Bob Dylan, believe it or not, is the original songwriter.  Who would have guessed?  Well, I guess anyone could have…

This song was originally released on Dylan’s early folk album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and it is what you would call a deep track, as it was never a hit, no one that I know of ever covered it for an album, and it never appeared on any live compilations.  At least, not official ones.  But, regardless of how little attention it has received, I think that it is a perfect candidate for the Laptop Sessions treatment.  First, it’s originally acoustic, recorded once as a “live-in-the-studio” recording, which makes it easily translatable to an acoustic cover song.  Second, it has a really nostalgic feel to it.  By nostalgic, I don’t mean that it sounds like an oldtime song or anything like that.  Rather, I mean that it really makes you think about your own “first friends” — those people that you spent your youth with, engaged in simple activities that brought indescribable happiness.

Well, those “first friends” very rarely make it into your future.  And while it’s always nice to look back and remember them, it can be very sad to think about the exits they took from your life.  Like Bob Dylan, I would pay a good deal of money to go sit “simply in that room again.”  But you can never go back…

…you can only write and sing songs like this one that describe the feeling!  Another thing I love about the song is that it starts off with the line, “While riding on a train going west…”  It gives the feeling of someone nodding off as a train barrels on down the tracks, and as that person just drifts off, these memories of his life come rushing back to him.  I think that’s a great way to start the song.

While this is certainly not my first Bob Dylan cover song — it’s one of many Bob Dylan songs I’ve learned and performed — it is one of the few that I haven’t known for years.  Many times, when I record a Dylan music video, I just dig back to a song that I used to play all the time and re-learn it.  This song was new to my acoustic cover song repetoire, so it was really fun to learn it.  And, of course, a little harmonica on a Dylan song goes a long way…

I hope that you’ve been noticing and enjoying all of the changes and additions to the blog these past few days.  The home page has been rearranged a bit to make it easier for newcomers and longstanding fans alike to find the band categories and search for their favorite material.  In addition, the first seven volumes of the new and improved Laptop Sessions FREE MP3 albums are avaiable in the left column.  Finally, last week saw the addition of a truckload of new live music from the Fusco-Moore team.  All you need to do now is go to the Fusco-Moore Store and choose which concert you want to listen to — some music is FREE and some is avaiable for a low, low price.  I really hope you’ll go over and check it out.  We really worked hard to make some quality sets, and it’s interesting to be able to look back now.  Well, listen back — there’s no video, but it’s really the sound that matters, right?

That’s it for me for now, but don’t forget to hurry back tomorrow for another all-new acoustic cover song music video from our very own Jeff Copperthite.

See you next session!



“The More You Stay” (Masters of the Universe Cover)

By Jeff Copperthite:

I love bringing you original music in our videos – even if it is a couple of days late.  But thankfully, I have my memory card back, so I’m able to bring you your weekly dose of original music, even if it is a couple of days late.

Today I am covering a song by Masters of the Universe, from their recent 2008 album “Homestead’s Revenge” is the final track from that album.  It has been one of my favorites that hasn’t been covered yet (Jim & Chris have already covered some of my favorites, such as “Gonna Be There”).  The song is called “The More You Stay”.  It has a great beat and a cool personal, thought provoking message that is very common to the last track of an album Jim and Chris are involved in.

In this cover version, I tried to improvise the solo section, and while it isn’t as clean as i’d want it to be, I have to realize I can’t be a perfectionist when doing these videos.  If I’m having fun doing it, then no biggie.

After all, if it’s any video that is proof that I like to have fun doing these things, it’s this one.

Tomorrow I will be back with a new acoustic cover to appease you with.  I hope you enjoy tonight’s session, and report back tomorrow (and beyond) for brand new, fresh acoustic covers from Jim, Chris, and myself!

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!

“Chinese Sleep Chant” (Coldplay Cover)

By Jeff Copperthite:

Assistant Editor’s note (that’s Jeff): I am in the process of re-embedding some Laptop Sessions videos that I still have.  This post was originally from 2009, but for history’s sake I have not edited the post.

And continuing from last week’s post is the song that is followed by the one I covered last week.

Now, I know that i’ve covered a bunch of Coldplay songs, and quite a few from Viva La Vida, but there’s a good reason.  Everybody loves this band.  They write catchy songs, and enjoy performing and love their fans.  How can I not want to cover this band?

This song is more of an instrumental than a lyrical song, but the lyrics are present and sung.  I initially wanted to perform this with my electric guitar hooked up to my bass amp.  However, I hit a few snags.  1) My electric strings are kind of old.  2) The bridge of the guitar sticks out of the base of the guitar a bit, making the strings a bit further from the fretboard, and therefore more difficult to play.  3) The amp is meant for bass, and I could not find a good combination of settings that made my guitar sound like a guitar.

However, practicing the song on the electric proved helpful, as it made it a lot easier to play on the acoustic.  Funny how that works sometimes.

This video came out great.  I’m very proud of this cover.

I have reached my first milestone post 100K views and hit 110K views.  I’m nearing 500 views per day on my videos, and I can’t wait to tell you when I am averaging 1K views per day.  It could happen before the year is out!

“Crazy Life” (Toad the Wet Sprocket Cover)

By Jeff Copperthite:

Welcome to your Saturday night fever edition of The Laptop Sessions!  Today I bring you another return engagement with a band previously featured on the sessions, and it is a great song.

The band is Toad the Wet Sprocket (and again, don’t ask – I’m not too sure where that name came from either), and today I am covering another song from their final album “Coil” (well, I should now say their most recent release) called “Crazy Life”.  It is a simple, yet catchy tune with a great strum pattern.  The lyrics are quite interesting and I still have not fully understood what they mean.  There are a few historical references you’ll hear though.

It is appropriate that I am doing this song today.  I really had a “Crazy Life” kinda day, where I ejected only my 2nd coach in my 2 year umpiring career.  It takes a lot to get to me, and if you go onto my ejection list, you must’ve done something wrong.  Baseball coaches, if you are reading this, do not argue balls and strikes – unless you’re looking for an excuse to go home.

I hope you enjoy today’s session, and I know you will be back to see Jim’s latest installment of the sessions.  We’re rolling along as usual!  Seeya next time!

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!