By Jim Fusco:

Today, “#1 Week” ends with a great tune from John Lennon’s last album, “Double Fantasy”. I was surprised that this song reached Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 instead of “Woman”, which made it to #2.

I’m typing this description while listening to these two fartheads talk. I’m talking about Chris and Jeff, who just bet me to type that, so there you go, guys.

Anyway, I really love this song, too, and it came out great on my nylon string guitar. I had to record this one on my digital camera, as my laptop has been making a lot of fan noise lately.

I will be doing more songs from this album in the future, but I hope you’ve all enjoyed “#1 Week” and that you watched Chris and Jeff’s videos, as well!

By Jim Fusco:

Let’s have a little contest here- go ahead and find me a better solo acoustic performance of this song.  I’ll wait…

…

I didn’t think so!   Tonight, I bring you one of my personal favorite performances.  I’ve been practicing this song for many months now.  I wanted to get it right.  To me, John Lennon’s “Woman” is an example of a perfect song.  Yes, it’s about Yoko Ono, but if you look past that, you get a truly amazing song.  If you haven’t heard it before, get ready to have a new favorite song.  It’s probably my favorite love song of all time.  The songwriting, the words, the tune, and even the production of the original version is simply unsurpassed in my mind.  This came on the radio this morning- what a way to wake up.  And I knew it was a sign that it was high time I did this song on the place for great acoustic cover song music videos: The Laptop Sessions blog!

“Woman” appears on “Double Fantasy”, which is an album that should’ve been titled, “Half Good”.  John wrote half the songs and Yoko…wailed her way through the other half.  But, this was John’s comeback album- he hadn’t done one in years before Double Fantasy came out.  Of course, it turned out to be his last- it was released only weeks before he died.  That makes songs like “Beautiful Boy” all the more poignant.  That song is amazing, too- listening to Double Fantasy proves that John Lennon is one of the absolute best songwriters of all time.  He had the perfect mix of genius and wacky, out-there “artist” to him.  Songs like “Watching the Wheels” and the number one hit “(Just Like) Starting Over” (which I also covered- search for it in the John Lennon category on the left of the page) round out some great hits for John from Double Fantasy.  He even had some other obscure, but equally great, songs on the album including “Cleanup Time” and “I’m Losing You”.

I tell you right now that this song will play at my wedding on July 25th.  I will ball my eyes out.  Something about the way he sings it and how he admits, “I’ve been a jerk in the past, but I am sooooo appreciative.”  In the end, it all adds up to, “I love you.”  Of course, if you know my tastes in music, you know that I love a good, “Yeah, yeah” or “Well, well” in a song.  And we all know that John Lennon is the originator and master of that (“She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah” = genius!).

I’m glad to bring this acoustic cover song music video tonight.  I am very hopeful that soon my YouTube video views will increase by leaps and bounds.  You know I’ll keep you updated!  Enjoy Jim Fusco Tuesday for this week and make sure you come back for Jeff’s Thumpin’ Thursday in only two days!

 By Mike Fusco:

Hey there!  First self-written blog on the laptopsessions site, and Im excited to be learning all the ins-and-outs of the process.  (Not really EXCITED, cuz it’s lots of work, but the end result is exciting!)  So I was in kind of a bind because 3 days comes and goes so fast, and suddenly I was left to do another cover.  And anyone who knows me knows I used to HATE doing cover songs, so I have zero in my prelearned catalogue.  However, I figured out this Beatles tune, my second favorite Beatles tune of all time (The first being “Something”, which I will do in a future session on the Uke in tribute to George Harrison!)  I’ve always loved “In My Life”, Ringo’s drums are great… they sound like feet shuffling during a slow dance, and I think anyone who gives this song a good listen will have a slide-show of their whole life playing in their head.

As I sing it to myself pictures of faces I dont speak to anymore still pop up, (“some are dead and some are living”- it’s true!), and loves that have come and gone.  I dont know exactly what this song means to me, I guess just because there’s no current love to sing it to makes me believe it’s sung to my soul… and whoever out there shares it with me, and the Big Man upstairs who is responsible for it all.  (No, not my father upstairs! haha!)  Not bad for a 4 am recording on a binge of candy and diet Dr. Thunder.  Enjoy!

~mikey

By Jim Fusco:

I’m sooooo tired.  No, I’m not quoting a classic Beatles tune- I’m really freakin’ exhausted!  Something about driving an hour to the Buckland Hills mall, shopping, eating a TON at Red Robin, and driving an hour back just makes me so tired.  Then, I realized it was my night for a cover song music video.  It always works that way.  My way of dealing with it?  Honk the horn while driving down I-84.

As we gear up for yet another winter storm here in CT, I find myself really ready for Christmas, and just in time.  Today, we dug ourselves out of the snow and I went to my parents’ house for a party with my father’s cousins- a yearly tradition.  It was so nice, especially because Mike was there.  Felt like old times.  Mike and I would attempt to fit in with the older crowd, but eventually would just run downstairs and play with our Hess trucks, which we would get each year.  Today, we got pizza from Fratelli’s in Wallingford.  My parents had never eaten there before, but I tried it at work and loved it.  So, I put my recommendation out there, and thankfully, everyone loved it.

I then went to do a video job (maybe THAT’S why I’m so tired) at the New Haven Lawn Club.  It was a nice Jewish wedding.  I only had to do the ceremony, but got paid for a whole job.  And a few days before Christmas, that’s always a welcome thing.  Chris, Dana, and I went on our trek (see above) after I got home, and that brings us to my cover song music video for tonight.

I’ve known “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” my whole life.  I always found it interesting that my father said this song wasn’t really a big Christmas “hit” until after John Lennon died.  Just like George Harrison’s music- the man’s albums went on being obscure and not available on CD until AFTER he died.  Hey, at least they’re out now.  Dennis Wilson is the perfect example of this phenomenon, except it took everyone about 25 years to re-release something after his death.  And he was the most talented of them all.

I dedicate this song to my boss, Steve Mirabella, who suggested I do this for the Laptop Sessions.  It’s so rewarding to find someone who cares about and loves music as much as I do and is actually interested in these cover songs music videos we do on a daily basis here.  And yes, Steve, I found a much less annoying way of handling the Yoko Ono parts, so the song sounds much less….well, you know…than the original.

I hope you all enjoy this great Christmas song and heed its words- Christmas is a time for EVERYONE and it will come no matter the wars, hardships, unreasonable hatred, etc.  It’s good to know that there’s an anchor in our lives like that.  It allows me to keep traditions going and that makes me incredibly happy.  I’ll see you back here again on Tuesday for another great Laptop Session!  Oh, and tonight is my 150th music video, and here’s to 150 more!