Chicago Songs : Cover Songs & Music Videos Category

  • The Laptop Sessions: “If You Leave Me Now” (Chicago Acoustic Rock Cover Song)

    Sunday, April 27th, 2008

    By Jim Fusco:

    Welcome to the start of “#1 Week”, where Chris Moore, Jeff Copperthite, and I are playing only songs that topped the Billboard Hot 100 charts, except for Original Wednesday, of course. But, I hope that the song I play on Original Wednesday will be a contender for a #1 week in the future! :-)

    Tonight, I bring you a song that I just can’t get enough of. It’s Chicago’s first #1 hit and was written by the great Peter Cetera.

    It’s a slow song, but has a great tune and some great chords. The only problem with the song is that it marked the beginning of Chicago’s “power ballad” phase. It was fruitful for them, yes, but it was also the end of their highly creative rock-n-roll style.

    This is one of my favorite performances and I hope it ends up being even more popular than my first Chicago video, “Wishing You Were Here” ( http://laptopsessions.com/archives/26 ).

    Download a FREE mp3 of this song at the Fusco-Moore Store by
    Clicking HERE! It’s on “The Laptop Sessions, Vol. 3″:



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  • The Laptop Sessions: “Wishing You Were Here” (Chicago Acoustic Rock Cover Song)

    Sunday, November 4th, 2007

    By Jim Fusco:

    Hello all and welcome to another installment of the Laptop Sessions!!

    Here’s a neat one because of the collaborative effort on the original. This song, Wishing You Were Here, written by the great Peter Cetera, is one of my favorite Chicago songs. I love many of their other songs as well, and you’ll be hearing them in the coming weeks!

    But, this one has to be one of Cetera’s best. I mean, he got bandmate Terry Kath to sing lead on the verses with a real raspy voice, then the Beach Boys (well, Carl Wilson, Al Jardine, and Dennis Wilson, anyway) come in with the rest of Chicago and sing those great harmonies on the “Wishing You Were Here” part. Plus, Cetera even sings a great lead on the middle 8!

    I’ve been playing this song since I learned to play a G minor chord, and thanks to my brother for buying me a Chicago music book! It’s definitely come in handy…

    Anyway, this is definitely one of those “check it off the list” songs for me, because I’ve always wanted to pay homage to this tune. I hope you enjoy!

    Download a FREE mp3 of this song at the Fusco-Moore Store by
    Clicking HERE! It’s on “The Laptop Sessions, Vol. 1″:



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Chicago Acoustic Cover Songs

They may not be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but the songwriters of Chicago have continually proven their talent not only in composing songs, but in recording them as well –they are great, energetic musicians. The band was originally named the Big Thing and they exclusively played cover songs. Eventually, they progressed in their songwriting and started playing and recording new music of their own. The new rock music that they brought to the radio – hits like “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” and “Saturday in the Park” – included an unusual array of instruments, rather than simply being based on electric or acoustic guitar music. Later, when new songwriter Peter Cetera joined the band, they found success with the sound of their new music, including songs such as “If You Leave Me Now.” There have already been Laptop Sessions dedicated to this music, and the Chicago YouTube videos have been well-received.