The Laptop Sessions: “Getcha Back” (Beach Boys Acoustic Rock Cover Song)

Monday, August 11th, 2008

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome, one and all, to my favorite type of acoustic cover song — a collaboration with fellow Fusco-Moore Productions artist Jim Fusco. (I’ll be posting another one soon with Jim and his girlfriend — fiance, to be more precise! — Becky Daly.) Tonight, I’m happy to present our rendition of the Beach Boys’ “Getcha Back” from their 1985 self-titled release.

This is probably their last great record, as such. After this, Dennis’ absence is all the more profound and the overall quality of involvement and projects seems to decline. But this album should not be ignored, even taking into account how much it sounds like “eighties music.”

“Getcha Back” is the first track and sets the tone for the album as a whole. I used to turn this on, set it to repeat, turn off the lights in my room, and lay on the floor listening to it again and again. There’s so much running through Mike Love’s vocal and the instrumental accompaniment is both rocking and sad. It made me want to write and record a song that could be that simple, and yet that good!

Years later, I still love the track, and I feel privileged that Jim would relinquish his claim on a Beach Boys cover — one of my favorites — so that I could record it for the acoustic cover songs music blog. Not only did he let me record it, but he joined in to make it probably one of my favorite Laptop Sessions thus far. I hope you enjoy it too!

Don’t forget to hurry back tomorrow for a new acoustic rock cover by Jeff…

See you next session!

Brian Wilson - CONCERT REVIEW!- 7/16/2008 at the Warner Theatre in Torrington, CT

Friday, July 18th, 2008

By Chris Moore:

For the set list, click HERE!

A quick Google search of Brian Wilson these days will yield first and foremost the release date and information about his upcoming album That Lucky Old Sun, which will hit stores on September 2. This is exciting news, extending a decade of increased productivity on the former Beach Boy’s part. In 1998, he released an excellent if somewhat overlooked album titled Imagination; this yielded the adult contemporary hit “Your Imagination.” Six years later, he released not only an album of new recordings, Gettin’ In Over My Head (which was received similarly to Imagination), but also released an album called SMiLE. Since 1966, this album has been considered perhaps the most anticipated new rock music album that was never released. Wilson managed to overcome the demons that once haunted him during the initial recording sessions in the mid-sixties and released this US #13 and UK #7 charting album! Now, word that he is releasing new material could not be more exciting than for the fans who have waited with bated breath to see if Wilson’s period of productivity, both in the recording studio and on the stage, would continue.

You may be wondering what all this wonderful background information has to do with the concert that Brian Wilson and his band performed at the Warner Theatre in Torrington, CT on Thursday, July 16, 2008.

The key connection here is what follows lower on the first page of Google results, namely a blog article titled “Brian Wilson refunding Hammerstein Ballroom ticket money…” According to the article, fans complained that the show was only 75 minutes long and performed by a smaller band than Wilson is typically known for. Reading this for the first time the afternoon before I was to attend this concert, I suddenly wondered if disappointment lay ahead. After all, a quick glance at the posts on BrianWilson.com’s message board suggested that there was a significant amount of tension surrounding the recent concerts. When the time came to leave for the concert, I did what any self-respecting Wilson fan would do; I gathered a collection of Beach Boys and Brian Wilson solo albums, got in my car, and kept my expectations somewhere between medium and low.

It should at least be explained briefly here that this show probably did have a lot to live up to. After all, I have seen Brian many times in my brief six years as a loyal and interested fan of his work. The most memorable and incredible concert I attended was, without hesitation, a SMiLE show in New York City. Not only did I go with my friend and fellow Fusco-Moore Productions founder Jim Fusco, but he had enlisted me to help him film his honors’ college thesis project. Due to his legwork, we were graced by the presence of a handful of Brian Wilson’s touring band members right in our very hotel room! After recording enough footage, we enjoyed the rest of the stay in New York for what it was — an opportunity to meet, in a casual environment, such Beach Boys figures as writer David Leaf and band members Probyn Gregory and Taylor Mills. This was probably the most memorable music experience of my entire life; it certainly was up to that point!

So, this being said, the concert at Warner Theatre on July 16th had a lot to live up to. Still, I came to terms with the fact that this was billed as a “Greatest Hits” show, meaning I wasn’t expecting rarities or even tracks off the new album. (I’m not sure what the aforementioned show at the Hammerstein Ballroom was billed as…) I had read elsewhere that Darian Sahanaja, a major contributor to the sound and structure of the band, was unable to attend this tour, as well as Taylor Mills. Two other regular members had recently left the band. I wondered what it would all sound like, and whether or not it would be worth my $50.

It most certainly was. Even with the aforementioned absences, the band was spot-on and sounded remarkably clear and crisp, most likely owing to the acoustics of the small venue. Although the show only lasted for 90 minutes (which was brief compared to some previous shows I have seen), he played 28 songs spread out over a main set and two encores. The set list was somewhat predictable, but then, isn’t that the nature of a greatest hits show?

What struck me was the energy in the room. Applause broke out the moment background vocals were sung during “In My Room.” Within the first few notes of “Do You Wanna Dance?,” every single person with a floor seat was on his or her feet and shaking around. Finally, and perhaps most unusual for this concert veteran, was the fact that not a soul went for the door until the final song of the second encore was over and the lights had fully come up. This was exciting, as I am often frustrated to find that people would rather get out of the parking garage before the traffic builds than stay and watch the band perform their final song or two.

What I couldn’t understand to any degree was why the couple in their early thirties sitting in front of me got up during “Do You Wanna Dance?” and never came back. What did they expect to hear? As far as greatest hits concerts go, this was just about the best you could ever ask for — well-known songs, lively performers, and faithful arrangements.

Perhaps the best aspect of the concert was Brian’s talkative nature. I wondered if he was considering the bad press he had recently received or if he was simply in a good mood. Regardless, he engaged the band and the audience throughout the show. He began with a brief statement before the show, something like, “It’s great to be in Torrington.” He explained the origins of songs — “I wrote this one when I was 19 in my car” — and later asked the band, then the crowd, to make the noise a coyote makes.

Before the final song of the main set, he asked, “You didn’t come here for bad vibes, did you?” No! the crowd responds. “Did you come here for medium vibes?” No! “Good vibes?” YES!!

I think the set list speaks for itself; these are the quintessential Beach Boys songs, mostly tracks that he wrote in the 1960s and 1970s that still have importance to us today. We still love to hear them, and the band did an excellent job (as they always do!) of performing them. The two curve balls of the night were the tracks from the upcoming release That Lucky Old Sun, “Goin’ Home” and “Southern California.” The former sounded great; it was catchy and employed powerful harmonies, although Brian’s lead vocal was difficult to distinguish in the mix. In the second new track, he clearly took command of his part. Suffice it to say that, if I wasn’t excited about the new album before now, I was after listening to these performances.

Other highlights included Scott Bennett’s absolutely scorching electric guitar solo, not to mention Brian’s opening piano riffing, on the seventies Beach Boys track “Marcella.” (He had tapped the keys of his keyboard just before “Sloop John B,” and then continued to ignore the instrument behind which he sat as the night went on.)

All in all, this was a great show and I’m glad that I went. I can’t say it was my favorite Brian Wilson show, and how could it be when compared to the others I have seen in the past? No, I took this for what it was — a greatest hits show with a couple of sneak peaks of new material to come. I truly couldn’t have been happier to find that Brian was in high spirits and incredible form, on the eve of yet another new album.

Brian Wilson - SET LIST - 7/16/2008

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008

By Chris Moore:

Click here for the concert review!

The set list for Brian Wilson’s 7/16/2008 “Greatest Hits” show at the Warner Theatre in downtown Torrington, CT. A review of this great show will follow, so check back here very soon!

1.) Do It Again
2.) Dance, Dance, Dance
3.) Catch a Wave
4.) Surfer Girl
5.) In My Room
6.) Hawaii
7.) Don’t Worry, Baby
8.) You’re So Good to Me
9.) Then I Kissed Her
10.) Drive-In
11.) All Summer Long
12.) When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)
13.) Add Some Music
14.) Do You Wanna Dance?
15.) That Lucky Old Sun track (”I’m goin’ home…”)
16.) California Girls
17.) Sloop John B
18.) Wouldn’t It Be Nice
19.) God Only Knows
20.) Marcella
21.) I Get Around
22.) Good Vibrations

ENCORE
23.) Johnny B Goode
24.) Help Me, Rhonda
25.) Barbara Ann (Brian on bass)
26.) Surfin’ USA (Brian on bass)
27.) Fun, Fun, Fun

ENCORE #2
28.) TLOS track (”Southern California…”)

The venue really was excellent, boasting great acoustics and atmosphere. More on that when I post my review, but this is what it looks like from the outside:

The Laptop Sessions: “That’s Not Me” (The Beach Boys Acoustic Rock Cover Song)

Sunday, June 29th, 2008

By Jim Fusco:

“That’s Not Me” is track three of the pivotal album, “Pet Sounds” from 1966. My family got into the Beach Boys back in 1990 or 1991 because of this album. Of course, we listened to the greatest hits, but we were more interested in this well-crafted, deeper music that “Pet Sounds” brought to the table. Seventeen years later, “Pet Sounds” doesn’t stand as my favorite Beach Boys album- that title goes to a couple of others, including “Holland”, “Sunflower”, and “The Beach Boys (1985)”. But, I still love every single track off of “Pet Sounds”. One of the reasons I like those other albums better is because of the contributions from the other band members. On “Pet Sounds”, it’s really a Brian Wilson solo album, featuring Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston, Carl Wilson, and Dennis Wilson on backing vocals.

But, then you get songs like “God Only Knows” that clearly benefited from Carl’s lead vocals and “That’s Not Me”, which benefited from Mike Love’s great lyrics and singing. This song is a great one to play on acoustic guitar and do a cover of because I didn’t have that feeling of stripping too much away from the song. This is a very personal-sounding song and I think it works great as an intimate cover music video. Of course, I plan on doing pretty much every song from “Pet Sounds”, but I arrived at this choice now because it’s the track that still hung on to that Brian Wilson/Mike Love writing tandem that put them on top in the early 60s.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s Laptop Session acoustic cover song and I hope you’ll come back to see another great cover music video from Chris Moore tomorrow!

The Laptop Sessions: “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” (Beach Boys Acoustic Rock Cover Song)

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to another edition of The Laptop Sessions here on “Track 1 Week”!

Today, I give you one of the best album-opening songs to one of the best albums of all time: Pet Sounds!

“Wouldn’t It Be Nice” is a favorite song of Chris Moore and Becky Daly, two fellow MoU members.

Tomorrow night, The Laptop Sessions Live plays a three-hour set at George’s II Restaurant in Wallingford, CT. We’re very excited and it oughta be an amazing event. I hope to record the audio for future release.

I hope you’ll come back tomorrow for another album-starter from Chris Moore and check out Jeff’s last two videos, as well- they were great!

The Laptop Sessions: “Slip On Through” (Beach Boys Acoustic Rock Cover Song)

Monday, May 12th, 2008

By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to day two of “Track 1″ week here at the Laptop Sessions! This week, Chris, Jeff, and I (plus a possible new special guest) will be bringing you our favorite album-starters! This is the second in a series of specialty weeks to come. We’ll be doing “Title Track Week” soon, plus an album closer week, and another new bands week very soon!

This particular week is pretty big for me- but to find out why, you’ll have to visit the Blog at http://laptopsessions.com and read my entry that will appear in the next few days- trust me, it’s worth the click!

Today, I bring you the first of TWO Beach Boys songs because I haven’t done one for a couple weeks. Actually, this just kinda fell into place- I was going to do “Slip On Through” anyway (track 1 off of my favorite album, “Sunflower”), and it just fit into this week, so here it is!

I’m also happy to finally be doing a Dennis Wilson song here on the Sessions. We’re all anxiously awaiting Dennis’ “Pacific Ocean Blue” and “Bambu” collection to come out next month, and you better believe there will be Sessions done from those albums! We’ve had POB for years now and I’ve been itching to do a song from it.

Like I said, “Sunflower” is probably my favorite Beach Boys album (besides my guilty pleasure: the 1985 album), so ANY requests from this one will be fulfilled.

I’ll be back on Thursday with yet another amazing Beach Boys album starter: “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” from everyone’s favorite, “Pet Sounds”!! It’ll be my first Pet Sounds Session and I’m very proud of how it came out. See you then, but make sure to check out Chris’ first entry for “Track 1 Week” on http://laptopsessions.com!