The Laptop Sessions: “If You Could Read My Mind” (Gordon Lightfoot Acoustic Rock Cover Song)

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to yet another all-new edition of everyone’s favorite acoustic cover song music blog! Today, I’m bringing you a song taken from Jim’s list of songs to record. He’s noticed that I’ve been having a hard time recently finding songs from new artists to cover — most of the songs I want (and I have quite the list) are either from artists I’ve recently covered or have difficult singing parts that I need more practice with. So, he suggested I do Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind.” I have always loved this song, and my passion for it was renewed when I picked up a copy of Gene Clark’s album Firebyrd. The album includes a cover song version of this song that I love every bit as much as the original. So, in a way, this is the perfect track to choose for a Laptop Session — a song by a new artist that was once covered by an artist whose material we have often covered on this video blog. If that made sense to you, then you deserve extra points!…

Regular fans of the Sessions may notice that I’m standing up tonight instead of sitting, as I have been for many of my recent video blog entries. Well, the reason is simple — even though this is not an upbeat song, I felt that I just wasn’t doing well with it while sitting. I’m kind of like Robert Redford’s character in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in that way. In the film, Sundance (played by Redford) is asked to shoot a target in order to prove how good a shot he is. The man insists that he not draw from his holster; rather, he should simply take aim and shoot. He does so and misses. The man grins disappointedly and starts to walk away. Then, Sundance puts the gun back in his holster, draws, and rapidly shoots the rather small target repeatedly.

When the man looks at him, awe-struck, Sundance’s response is something like, “I’m better when I’m moving.”

While recording acoustic cover songs is obviously not anything like firing a weapon, I do often think about this comparison when I’m playing. When I’m on my feet, I tend to take what I’m playing more seriously and I truly feel more comfortable than if I were to sit and play.

Well, now that you have more information about my style of playing acoustic guitar music than you could ever have hoped for or desired to know, I’ll leave you with the actual session. I kind of wore myself down on this one, playing so many takes that, although it is technically solid, I feel that it lost some of the urgency of the earlier takes. Of course, it didn’t help that my computer lost battery power and shut down in the middle of my most perfect take. If only it had held out for two more minutes, I would have been done a half hour earlier than I was!

Okay, without further ado, here’s my version of Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind.” Don’t forget to hurry back tomorrow for an all-new and excellent session from Jeff!

See you next session!

Download a FREE mp3 of this song at the Fusco-Moore Store by
Clicking HERE! It’s on “The Laptop Sessions, Vol. 8″:

free mp3s



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This is one in a series of acoustic cover songs, original music, and free mp3 downloads here on the Fusco-Moore Productions Blog.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 18th, 2008 at 11:50 pm and is filed under Gene Clark Songs, Gordon Lightfoot Songs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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The Laptop Sessions is a video blog that showcases acoustic cover songs from the best rock bands of all time. Our cover songs are added constantly and we always put a unique spin on every song we play. Songwriters Jim Fusco, Chris Moore, and Jeff Copperthite all contribute to this music video series on a daily basis with the goal of putting an end to bad YouTube videos forever!

The blog has search capabilities, so you'll be able to find your favorite cover song instantly. Or, you can search by band by using our category pages and our sitemap. We're constantly adding new bands to the Laptop Sessions Music Video Series, and we're accepting requests all the time. The blog also features music articles about how to write a song, how to record a song, and product reviews. We also write great blog posts about our general lives and interesting commentaries about the music business in general.

The Fusco-Moore Productions Blog doesn't just feature cover songs: we also do original songs every week with our exclusive "Original Wednesday" video series. Here, you'll hear brand-new original songs by great songwriters. If you like the cover songs we're doing here on the blog, you'll LOVE the original tunes we play! These songs show you the multiple talents of everyone involved in the Laptop Sessions. You'll hear a great original song every single week- who knows, you may just end up finding a new favorite musician!

So, if you're looking for new music, original songs, classic tunes, cover songs, or any acoustic music, you've come to the right place. The Fusco-Moore Productions Blog is home to the world-famous Laptop Sessions music video series and pledges to bring you the best in rock music every single day. Remember to check back often, as new cover songs, original videos, and great music articles are being added constantly for your entertainment.