The Laptop Sessions: “Surrender To Me” (McGuinn, Clark, and Hillman Acoustic Rock Cover Song)

Monday, August 25th, 2008

By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to your Monday, Monday edition of the Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!

If you take a look at the last few posts, you’ll notice all the work I’ve been doing over the past 24 hours.  I’ve managed to mix, master, and put online three concerts worth of material.  The last one has 35 songs!  Then, I finally posted my photos from our TNA Wrestling show back in May.  Finally, I went through and backed-up literally 100 gb of data that was clogging up my laptop’s harddrive.  I put all of it on DVDs, which meant that I needed to complete everything before I backed it up and deleted it from my hard drive.

This is the first time in about nine months that the coffee table is clear of five spindles of DVDs.

Today, I bring you a song that Chris, Becky, and I have been playing since the beginning.  Back in late high school, I fell in love with the music of Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, and Chris Hillman.  I mean, I was already a fan of the Byrds, but we had recentely gotten this album called “McGuinn, Clark, and Hillman”.  It was recorded in the mid-seventies, long after the original Byrds broke up and reformed.

A few tracks on this album, including the first track (which Jeff did as a Laptop Session- Click HERE to view it!) meant a lot to me at the time.  I was with my first girlfriend (and so proud that I had a CD player in the car- my 1990 Camaro) and the way we got together was a little weird.  We kinda had a thing going a year or so earlier, but then something happened to make us not talk for a long time.  I’m being vague not because I want to be, but because I honestly don’t remember.  That’s why I wrote in a journal every single day, I guess.  I’ll have to go back and read up on it.  Anyway, when we finally made it happen, I just thought the song “Long Long Time” was perfect for it.  I hope you’ll listen closely to the words in Jeff’s version and you’ll see what I mean.

“Surrender To Me” is a great song for a couple of reasons- mostly because of McGuinn’s incredible guitar work.  I actually based our live version half on the album version and half on the acoustic demo with Hillman and McGuinn.  Having Chris there to play the rhythm guitar (back when we first started playing live, he had a ton of trouble doing harmony parts while playing), Becky singing with me, and me playing a guitar solo I could actually handle, this was a prime choice.  I just wish more people had heard of it.  But, that’s okay- most people probably think it’s an original, which is major points for me!

Actually, this song is a cover itself.  Neither McGuinn, Clark, or Hillman wrote this tune.  But I still think it’s a great one and a standout track on the album.  Coming up on my next Session starts my suite of videos recorded in the great outdoors.  These videos are part of what the Laptop Sessions is all about, coupled with those Jeff did while on vacation- they’re LAPTOP Sessions!  We can record them anywhere and bring them to you from whereever you may be.  Enjoy today’s Session and make sure to come back tomorrow for Chris’ video, Wednesday for Jeff’s Original Wednesday (which I hope he comes through and plays us his new song), and to download all the new concerts!

FMP Live concert mp3 Download: George’s II on May 16, 2008 - 3 hours of music!

Monday, August 25th, 2008

Click HERE to download the 3-hour show for only $4.95 at the FMP Store!

A big three-hour show was planned for May 16, 2008.  What a busy month it was- the band barely practiced together as a group before the show.  But, the four members practiced constantly on their own, so the friends of now more than ten years came together just fine when they got on stage.

Mike, Jeff, Chris, and Jim after the show

The crowd was sparse at times, but during the height of the night, there was a great group of people hanging on every word and chord of the FMP touring band of Jim Fusco, Chris Moore, Mike Fusco, and Jeff Copperthite.

The show was recorded in its entirety on the ZOOM H2 portable recorder.  The original idea was to record the entire show in surround sound, but the length of the show prevented it.  Instead, the show was recorded at 320 kbps mp3 in stereo.

Jim, Jeff, Chris, and Mike outside after the show.

Over three months later, Jim Fusco mastered the 35-track concert album by bringing out the vocals, widening the stereo image, and applying his trusty adaptive limiter to get the most volume out of the concert as possible.  This process took hours upon hours.  Then, the tracking process took place- splitting the three hour show into separate tracks for ease of navigation on an mp3 player.  Finally, the show was put online and brought to you for the low price of $4.95!  That’s about $1.65 an hour for a great live concert that you’ll listen to again and again.

Highlights include an interlude of solo acoustic performances by each band member between the second and third sets.

Click HERE to download the 3-hour show for only $4.95 at the FMP Store!

Photos from TNA Wrestling Live in Wallingford, CT

Monday, August 25th, 2008

By Jim Fusco:

Well, it’s been months since the show, but I’ve finally gotten around to posting the photos from our amazing “trip” (five minutes down the road) to see TNA wrestling live in Wallingford, CT at the Chevrolet (formerly Oakdale) Theater.

Obviously, my favorite part of the night was climbing in the actual six-sided ring and getting a photo taken with Kurt Angle.  He was a nice guy and I even made him laugh!  And, no, he wasn’t just laughing at how weak I look…I think…

Well, here are some great photos from that night: