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By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to another all-new edition of the Laptop Sessions.  To kick off another full week of new material, I’ve reached into the Moody Blues catalog of songs — specifically from their 2003 album December — to bring you a cover song version of their cover of the Mike Blatt and Tim Rice song “A Winter’s Tale.”

Now, although I am an English teacher, this is not to be confused with the William Shakespeare play “The Winter’s Tale.”  Not only is there a notable difference in parts of speech (namely the indefinite – “a” – versus the definite – “the” – articles), but there is also a big difference in tone.  Still, “The Winter’s Tale” is quite a trip.  Consider, for instance, that this play contains one of Shakespeare’s most infamous stage directions: “Exit, pursued by a bear.”  What I find the most interesting is that there is contention over whether he used an actual bear for the original productions, or simply a man dressed in a bear costume.

I would assume the latter, but the former is just so much more fascinating…

But this is all beside the point.

“A Winter’s Tale” is one of those songs that is indisputably beautiful, sung perfectly by Justin Hayward.  For those who have seen them in concert recently, you may have noticed my apparel is a nod to Hayward’s typical onstage wardrobe.  That wasn’t too difficult to arrange, as I simply removed my tie and jacket and voila!  Of course, this is also one of those songs that, upon playback, forces me to remember I’m a rhythm guitarist hammering away at what is such a subtle, pretty song at heart.  During our MoU Christmas concerts, Mike would front the band on this one, fingerpicking and taking the lead — and for good reason!

The reason I’m standing up is because the song simply didn’t sound right when I played it sitting down.  I found I was having trouble getting comfortable as I played it.

Of course, the majority of the song being played on barre chords didn’t help either…

Several takes and several strained ligaments in my hands later, you’ve got yourself a new Laptop Session.

As a final note about the song, I found it very interesting that this song, originally written by songwriters Mike Batt and Tim Rice, hit #2 on the UK charts back in 1982.  Batt teamed up with Rice to write the song for performer David Essex.  Another interesting bit of trivia is that Batt went on to produce Justin Hayward’s solo album Classic Blue between 1988 and 1989 at Abbey Road Studios in London.  Classic Blue, ironically, is an album of covers.  The track listing includes three songs written by Batt, as well as classics from Brian Wilson, Lennon/McCartney, and Led Zeppelin.

I hope that you enjoy this installment of the Laptop Sessions, and I encourage you to hurry back for more very soon.  In addition to your regularly scheduled (yuletide?) cover song music video tomorrow, there may be a brand new Guest Session on Friday, as well as another edition of the Weekend Review.  If you missed last weekend’s music review, you should know that I just kicked off a top five albums of the decade countdown.  Each weekend between now and January 2nd, 2009, I will reveal another album on the list, as well as a full review.  Then, on January 2nd, I will post my full “Top Thirty Rock Albums of the Decade” list, along with my review for the number one rock album of the decade.

Thus far, the Barenaked Ladies’ Maroon (2000) has cinched the #5 slot.  Which album will rank as the fourth best album of the decade?

You’ll have to tune in to the Weekend Review to find out…

See you next session!

By Jim Fusco:

Okay, better late than never!  I just forgot to post this video and even though I kept reminding myself, I’ve been very burned-out lately, so I just couldn’t go through all the motions.  Thankfully I recorded this video a few weeks ago when I was in slightly better spirits.  Not that anything is particularly wrong- I just feel a tad bit overworked, in general.  But, that feeling comes and goes.  I hope that, after a day finishing up yard work and such outside on a beautiful day, that we’re entering a calmer time soon.

I tried making plans today to hang out with 0ne of my best friends, but when I looked at my calendar, it was all booked up every weekend until Thanksgiving.  It’s all fun stuff- concerts, parties, get-togethers at our house- but, it was a pretty sad feeling to say to him, “Sorry, man, I’m booked.”  It’s tough juggling a new marriage,  new house, a website, three jobs, and the massive amount of projects and ambitions I have.  When all these things are working at full-tilt, I feel great- like I can rule the world.  But then, I slowly start to realize that I cannot rule the world and then everything gets overwhelming.  So, it stinks for a few days and then I’m back to sorting things out again.

Sorry for the long-winded explanation, but I felt it necessary considering that I take this Laptop Sessions project very seriously and don’t want it to become a “whenever I get the chance” thing.  I don’t work that way- when someone says, “I’ll get to it when I get a chance,” they really mean that it’s never going to get done.  And for those that are currently enjoying the last Masters of the Universe album, “Homestead’s Revenge,” well then, you’re probably happy that I don’t for people to finish things “whenever they get a chance”.

Onto tonight’s video:

“I Dreamed Last Night” by Blue Jays is simply one of the greatest songs I’ve ever heard.  Other than a guitar solo and harmonies (two things I love, but aren’t necessary in this song), this is a PERFECT song.  If you haven’t heard the original, do yourself a favor and download it.  This is a great story for me because of the way I remembered this song:

I was in Northampton, MA for a day trip and went into this small record store.  In the top section above the rest of the albums, they had a Moody Blues Starter Pack.  There were four records for eight bucks and they were in amazing condition.  In fact, the copy of “Long Distance Voyager” (one of my all-time favorite albums) was never played.  To this day, I don’t have the heart to play it- it’s over 30 years old now and is brand new!  Anyway, inside the set was a copy of “Blue Jays”, which was a one-off album for Justin Hayward and John Lodge of the Moody Blues.  There’s a cool story behind that album, too:

Justin Hayward and Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues decided to work on a project together after the Moodies broke up after the “Seventh Sojourn” album.  But, Mike Pinder (like Gene Clark of the Byrds) is a notorious homebody and backed out of the project after a while.  So, Justin Hayward called in John Lodge to collaborate and to add a few of his own songs.  The album was titled “Blue Jays” because they’re the two members of the Moody Blues with names that start with “J”- get it?  Blue-J’s?

Well, I fired-up the turntable and put the album on.  I instantly loved it.  Here I had a brand-new (to me) “Moody Blues” album!  I knew all the rest of their albums, but we never got this one on CD, so I never heard it growing-up.  I knew “Remember Me, My Friend” from a Moody Blues compilation I got recently and loved that song.  So I knew I’d love the rest of the album.  There’s something about the sound on “Blue Jays”- it’s very “classic rock” sounding with great guitars and a wonderfully full production.  The songs themselves, for the most part, are some of the best Hayward ever did.  Lodge’s songs were good, too, but I liked some of his earlier work, including “I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock’n'Roll Band)” and “Ride My See-saw”.

Then, as I was listening to the album, “I Dreamed Last Night” crackled onto my speakers.  I instantly remembered it.  It must’ve been on a compilation set my father played a lot.  My brother remembered the song, too.  And when I heard it, I instantly ran over and played it again.  I called my wife upstairs and embarrassingly sang it to her at the top of my lungs.  I couldn’t stop talking about it for days- this song has one of the best tunes I’ve ever heard.  It has slow parts and fast parts.  It’s sad and yet triumphant.  In a word, it’s amazing.

So, when it came time to do the new season of the Laptop Sessions, this was near the top of the list.  Even though I don’t play the song in the same guitar tuning as Justin Hayward does, it’s still in the same key and I think it gets the sentiment across very well.  I hope you’ll love this song as much as I did and will check out this album- it’s a lost gem if I’ve ever found one.

Have a great one and I’ll be back on time for my video on Thursday, October 28th.  Enjoy tonight’s cover song acoustic version of “I Dreamed Last Night” by Blue Jays!

By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to another edition of the Laptop Sessions!!

Anyway, this song, “Never Comes the Day”, is a Moody Blues tune from “On the Threshold of a Dream” that I absolutely love. Plus, it works great with two people. Justin Hayward (who wrote this song) has a great way of writing a nice, slow song…then busting out to a faster section of the song. Despite the fact that “Threshold” is one of my favorite Moodies albums, this tune always stood out to me because of the way Hayward sings the line, “If only you knew what’s inside of me now…”

I hope you enjoy my first duet here on the Laptop Sessions! Stay tuned for more and keep those requests coming!

By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to this special report for the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!

A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with my father about the best Moody Blues albums.  My father is very opinionated and we had a nice argument about the subject.  He decided to make a list.  I’m not sure if it’s because we were arguing and he knew I had some differing opinions, but I couldn’t believe how similar his answers were to what mine might have been!  In fact, there’s very few on this list I would disagree with (I’d put “Every Good Boy…” lower and definitely “December” a lot higher…).  So, without further ado, here’s my father’s list of Best Moody Blues albums…including solo albums!

Moody Blues albums:

1. On the Threshold of A Dream
2. Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
3. To Our Children’s Children’s Children
4. Long Distance Voyager
5. Strange Times
6. Question of Balance
7. The Present
8. In Search of the Lost Chord
9. Seventh Sojourn
10. Days of Future Passed
11. Octave
12. This is the Moody Blues (A really good Best-Of compilation, mixed like a real Moody Blues album.  However, if a compilation album lands here, you can only imagine how…not great…the albums below it must be!)
13. Prelude (Another compilation, but this is of their early stuff before “Days of Future Passed”)
14. Caught Live +5 (I’ve always been a fan of the five unreleased songs at the end, myself)
15. Keys of the Kingdom
16. December
17. The Other Side of Life
18. Sur La Mer

Moody Blues Members’ Solo Albums:

1. The Promise – Mike Pinder
2. View From the Hill – Justin Hayward
3. Blue Jays – Justin Hayward and John Lodge
4. Among the Stars – Mike Pinder
5. From Mighty Oaks – Ray Thomas
6. Kick Off Your Muddy Boots – Graeme Edge
7. Natural Avenue – John Lodge
8. Songwriter – Justin Hayward
9. Hopes Wishes Dreams – Ray Thomas
10. Paradise Ballroom – Graeme Edge

Now that we’ve had our say, we’d love to hear what you think!  What would you change about this list?  Turn it upside down?  A few tweaks?  Let us hear from you in the comments section below!