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“Essential Question” (Original Music by Indie Songwriter Chris Moore) – The Laptop Sessions
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
Originally posted 2008-08-20 15:21:13.
By Chris Moore:
Well, it’s the best time of the week. It’s the time when we songwriters — Jim Fusco, Jeff Copperthite, and myself — get to really believe what we boast: that this is the best acoustic cover songs music blog on the web. And we get to do that…
…by not recording an acoustic cover song!
We still record and post a music video of an acoustic song, but it is not a cover. On Original Wednesday, we bring you an original song for your enjoyment that you most likely have never heard before. Today, I bring you a song that I have had kicking around for a few years called “Essential Question.” It never quite made the cut for Love Out of Fashion, either because I hadn’t finished writing it or because I didn’t feel it was up to par. It finally saw the light of day as a track on Weekend Demos… but only on the bonus disc. I don’t really know why it never made the cut, even on a demos album. Overall, I’ve always felt that the song was a bit simplistic, particularly in the verse and bridge. I do like the chorus a lot, though, and that’s one of the reasons that I wanted to break it out for an original Wednesday.
I have been working on some new songs, and I hope to bring an all-new one to the music blog very soon! For now, just be sure to hurry back for another great, all-new acoustic cover song (business as usual!) by Jeff tomorrow…
See you next session!
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“Do You Wanna Dance?” (Beach Boys Acoustic Cover Song) – The Laptop Sessions
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
Originally posted 2009-03-31 21:02:16.
By Jim Fusco:
Well, do you?
Welcome to another Jim Fusco Tuesday here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog. I can’t believe it’s been another week- here I am again to send a new cover song music video your way.
I realized I’ve only done one Beach Boys song so far in 2009 (and a quite unknown one, at that), so I decided to please the Beach Boys faithful (who’d have to be REALLY faithful to wait three months for another video) by doing a song everybody knows in “Do You Wanna Dance?”!
Originally written and recorded by Bobby Freeman in the late 50′s, the Beach Boys version is very far removed from the original recording. Freeman’s version has a more bossonova feel to it and is a little slower-paced. Brian Wilson, clearly budding into an ambitious producer at the time, took the song and turned it pure mid-sixties rock and roll. It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart at Nubmer 12, and was the highest charting record with Dennis Wilson on lead vocals.
This was a great song for Denny to sing- I love the Beach Boys version so much more because Brian gave Dennis a chance to sing on it. The production on the Beach Boys version is very Phil Spector influenced, so my acoustic cover version of it married the Beach Boys verison (in terms of style) without all the guitars, tympanies, etc.
I had to fight siging this song like Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys, as in concert he’s the one who sings Dennis’ lead vocals. He sings much differently than Dennis normally would, so there’s different inflection to the words. I sing more like Bruce than Dennis, so I was inclined to sing the Bruce version- but stopped myself and tried to stay true to Denny’s original vocal style, raspy voice not included.
Right after “Do You Wanna Dance?” was released, the Beach Boys came out with one of their Number One singles in “Help Me Rhonda”, a great song. 1965 was an amazing year for music, but especially for groups like the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and Bob Dylan. It was also the break-out year for the Byrds. The Beach Boys’ “Today” album has to be one of the best recordings ever, especially because it combines the happiness of earlier Beach Boys albums and (some of) the production value of later recordings like “Pet Sounds”.
I hope you enjoy my version of “Do You Wanna Dance?”. On a personal note, I’m scheduled to receive my copies of my new album, “Halfway There”, tomorrow on CD, but the release date still stands for April 7th. I hope you’re as excited as I am! When I get the CDs, I’m sure I’ll get ambitious and do a ton of promotion, so stay tuned! Have a great week- I’ll try to post an original, but I’m pretty tired, so we’ll see. Talk to you again soon!
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“Three Ways” (Wallflowers acoustic cover song) – The Laptop Sessions
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
For chords & lyrics, click HERE!
By Chris Moore:
For those wondering how long it’s been since I last recorded a bona fide “Laptop Session,” please refer to my YouTube page, and check the length of my hair.
(This has long been one of my favorite aspects of the LS blog, as I can skim through the stills of my cover song music videos posted over the span of months and years and watch my hair grow out, out, out, then get cut, and continue to grow… Well, you get the idea.)
That being said, I decided several months ago that I would only post a cover song again when the time felt right. I’ve been keeping quite active reviewing albums for the Weekend Review and “Yes, No, or Maybe So” segments that are regularly published here at the site. However, I haven’t recorded an official cover song session since April 11th.
It’s now July 6th.
I spent the morning and afternoon this past Saturday driving around the state with a dear friend, windows down with selections from our favorite albums blasting at full volume. All the time, we were singing along and pointing out our favorite sections and solos, etc. in the various songs. Of course, the first album we chose was one with the following line: “I feel fine with the sun in my eyes, the wind in my hair…”
I’m referring to my pick for number one album of the decade and my personal favorite: the Wallflowers’ Red Letter Days.
This is one of those records that incessantly hits you with great songs, track after track. After the rock/pop/alternative rock attack of the first four tracks, the fifth track slows down a notch, but is equally as catchy as the songs that have come before. I’m referring to “Three Ways,” a beautiful little song that I’m featuring here this morning on the blog.
When I heard it again in my friend Mike’s car, I spent part of the duration thinking how much I would like to learn it on acoustic guitar. And that feeling didn’t dissipate days later. Thus, I took a break from reading Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass yesterday to figure out the chords to “Three Ways.” I found chords online, but not surprisingly, they were significantly flawed. This cemented my desire to complete a full session, posting chords and lyrics for others to access that are accurate to the song. For the chords, I spent quite a while playing to the song and experimenting with different options until I pieced together the core components of the song. As for the lyrics, I went to the CD booklet — one of the reasons I love having physical copies of my music — and copied them from there. (In fact, if you enjoy this song at all, I would strongly encourage you to check out this album, either as a download from iTunes or some other service, but PREFERABLY as a physical CD. I’m telling you: this is not only one of the best albums of all time, but it has excellent packaging as well!)
After a few takes, I recorded one that I was happy with, which is the one you’ll see tonight. So, without further ado, I’ll leave you to the actual recording. Enjoy…
See you next session!
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Choose Cover Songs from over 100 Bands: Welcome to the Laptop Sessions music video blog! Here, you'll find cover songs, original music, & music reviews updated every weekday! We hope you enjoy the acoustic covers, free mp3s, chords, tabs, and music reviews here on the site! |
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