By Jeff Copperthite:

Welcome to your fantastic Friday edition of the Laptop Sessions! Today I bring you a fantastic – if short – song from Paul McCartney.

The song is the title track from his 1997 album Flaming Pie, and is a great song. I heard this song (and then, this album) thanks to Jim playing it for a show we did back in 2001.

I hope to learn some more tunes from Paul in the future for more sessions. He really is quite a writer and this is expected given who he is.

I also hope you enjoy this video, and thank you for continuing to watch The Laptop Sessions.

As always, check http://www.laptopsessions.com for more! And, be sure to look for the release of my new EP “Greenlight” on February 24th.

Related posts:

1. “If You Wanna” (Paul McCartney acoustic rock cover song) – The Laptop Sessions
2. “With A Little Help From My Friends” (Beatles Acoustic Rock Cover Song) – The Laptop Sessions
3. “Times Like These” (Foo Fighters Acoustic Rock Cover Song) – The Laptop Sessions

What better way to kick off a Monday at the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover song music video blog than to unveil the Weekend Review’s picks for the top ten cover songs of 2011.  After all, this is kind of our thing.  And this has been a busy year for covers.  Not only were there two – not one, but two! – collections of Buddy Holly covers released as tribute to the legendary singer/songwriter in 2011, but there were also two covers EPs put out by Relient K.  This is not to mention Brian Wilson digging back to his childhood (farther back than the Gershwin brothers this time) for the inspiration to In the Key of Disney.

A regular amount of covers wasn’t enough for 2011.  No, no: 2011 needed more covers!  Now, as you’ll recall from our mission statement, it has always been the goal of this blog to put an end to the proliferation of bad covers on YouTube.  In keeping with that tradition, we will now take the time to recognize these non-YouTube covers that have demonstrated excellence this year, standing out from the pack of mediocre (or worse) ones:

1)  “(You’re So Square) Baby, I Don’t Care” – Cee Lo Green (Cover of Buddy Holly)

2)  “Caroline No” – America (Cover of the Beach Boys)

3)  “Here Comes My Girl” – Relient K (Cover of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers)

4)  “Colors of the Wind” – Brian Wilson (Cover of the Disney song)

5)  “Baby” – Relient K (Cover of Justin Bieber)

6)  “Not Fade Away” – Florence and the Machine (Cover of Buddy Holly)

7)  “Interstate Love Song” – Relient K (Cover of Stone Temple Pilots)

8)  “It’s So Easy” – Paul McCartney (Cover of Buddy Holly)

9)  “Listen to Me” – Brian Wilson (Cover of Buddy Holly)

10) “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” – Brian Wilson (Cover of the Disney song)

Honorable Mention:

“Surf Wax America” – Relient K (Cover of Weezer)

No related posts.

By Jim Fusco:

Welcome, one and all, to the new and improved Laptop Sessions Cover Songs Music Blog!  If you’re a regular viewer, make sure to check out the homepage of LaptopSessions.com and see our new features and new redesign.  It may not seem that different at first, but I think you’ll agree that it’s much easier to navigate, especially if you were a first-time viewer.  And, for a limited time, you can get a free mp3 download of my album, “What About Today?” by subscribing to the music blog!  That’s right- just enter your name and email address and we’ll send you new acoustic cover song music videos every week- cancel at any time, but keep the free mp3 download as our gift to you.  Sounds like an infomercial, doesn’t it?

Tonight’s video will also be the last one in HD (there may be a couple of instances where I can’t get the HD camera, though).  Today, after a scare, I got our new HD video camcorder!  It’s a Canon HV10 and man, what a good deal we got on it.  I found it on eBay in Canada and paid literally a third of the price for it.  It’s basically brand-new and came with a whole bunch of accessories and extra tapes.  But, don’t go thinking I went out and bought a camera just for this- I got it to finally play back our wedding videos (which were shot in HD) and edit them onto Blu-Ray.  I can’t wait to see how it came out!  Not too many people these days gettin’ married in HD.

I’m also posting this relatively early tonight in hopes that my music partner Steve will be able to see it before he goes to bed.

Tonight’s video is a slightly obscure one from Paul McCartney from his 1997 album, Flaming Pie.  What a great album.  Steve and I played for about a half hour extra last Thursday, just going through every song on that album.  I’ve written about my love for Flaming Pie in the past (click on the Paul McCartney category in the upper left on the sidebar to see my other posts), but this is actually good timing because I haven’t recorded a McCartney song for months.  Plus, I have Steve with me, playing his usual great guitar and singing the bridge with me.

“If You Wanna” is just a good driving song- when Paul McCartney got together with Steve Miller for a writing session, he promised himself he wouldn’t write an Americana driving song….so much for that idea.  But, it was really fun recording this one- Steve and I always get so pumped after a good take.  And this one was ONE TAKE!  We had never even practiced it before!  We just went over the structure once and hit record.  Such is life when you’re running on a tight schedule.  I keep hoping for the days when we can have a lot of time to just jam and record a bunch of tunes.

Of course, you’ll see me playing our colleague Noreen’s beautiful Gibson 1967 12-string acoustic, which never sounded better.  I’m hoping she’ll let me borrow it next week so I can record a song from a sorely underrated band.  That song will usher in the “holiday” (there’s a clue) season nicely.  Speaking of the upcoming holiday, I’m incredibly excited!!  I can’t wait to finally play some video games, eat, and go shopping for someone else for a change!  We’re hoping to do the midnight madness at our local chain of outlet stores.  Don’t worry, I don’t plan on trampling anyone for a TV at Wal-Mart or anything.  We’re just looking forward to a really cool opportunity to ring in my favorite time of year: Christmastime!  You know, we’ve recorded many Christmas songs already- you should check out some of those acoustic videos by choosing the “Christmas Songs” category up top.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s collaborative effort and I’ll be back next Tuesday with an all-new video in HD for the first time!  See you then.

Related posts:

1. “If I Fell” (The Beatles acoustic cover song) – The Laptop Sessions
2. “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better” (A Byrds Acoustic Rock Cover Song) – The Laptop Sessions
3. “Come and Get It” (Badfinger Acoustic Rock Cover Song) – The Laptop Sessions

By Jim Fusco:

Hey folks!  Today, I bring you a favorite song of the Fusco family in “Little Willow” by Paul McCartney.  “Flaming Pie” is one of my favorite all-time albums and that’s because we listened to it CONSTANTLY when it came out, during vacation, and all throughout the summer.  It always brings back fond memories and I always play the album when I take my own vacations now.

It’s fitting that I’m presenting this song today, as we’re in the midst of Tropical Storm Hanna up here in Connecticut.  Hopefully it won’t be too bad because I have a video job (taping an anniversary party) up at the Mohegan Sun casino tonight.  Should be fun, but who wants to drive an hour in a tropical storm?

So, why is it so fitting?  Well, I read in the liner notes of “Flaming Pie” (which is the booklet I modeled the booklet to my first album, “With Or Without You”, after exactly) that this song, “Little Willow”, was written to calm people after a hurricane.  It’s such a great song- so simple, but it has a great calming effect.  I thought it was a perfect one to do while outside with my nylon string guitar.

There’s also “Heaven on a Sunday” off of this album that makes me feel so calm.  I guess that’s the point of the song, but it always reminded me of a particular summer when I went to Boy Scout camp in Camp Sequassen.  That must’ve been a busy summer.  No wonder I remember this album so well!  Anyway, I used to get to fish off of a row boat there.  Having “Heaven on a Sunday” (“cooling my fingers in the bay…”) stuck in my head while peacefully fishing was a zen-like experience.  I think of that moment and it takes me right back there.

On another topic, how about Jeff with his Beatles cover yesterday?  And Chris doing Hendrix?  Amazing, folks- you never know what you’re going to get next on this music video blog- the BEST music video blog in the universe!  Starting in a couple weeks, we’ll be bringing you yet another “New Bands Week” here on the Sessions because we love to challenge ourselves and entertain you.

I’ll be making a couple of BIG announcements in the next few minutes here on the music blog, so stay tuned and for now, enjoy today’s music video!

Related posts:

1. “If You Wanna” (Paul McCartney acoustic rock cover song) – The Laptop Sessions
2. “Come and Get It” (Badfinger Acoustic Rock Cover Song) – The Laptop Sessions
3. “Do It Again” (Steely Dan Acoustic Rock Cover Song) – The Laptop Sessions

By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to your Friday edition of the Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!

Tonight, I bring you a cool tune from Paul McCartney, “My Brave Face”. I always knew of this song, hearing it on the radio and such, but for some reason, I fell in love with it a couple years ago. I guess I never really knew it was Paul.

It’s a TOUGH song to sing and I just can’t seem to shake this cold lately, but I prepped myself by eating and drinking a lot before I did the take. It always makes me feel better.

There’s also some really tough lines to sing, as they have this odd syncopation to them. The line, “Ever since you left I have been trying to compose a ‘baby will you please come home’ note meant for you”. Are you kidding me? It took a while to get that one down.

But, I really like the way the whole video came out and I think you’ll agree it’s one of my more passionate ones.

Enjoy tonight’s video and make sure to get yourself back to http://www.LaptopSessions.com tomorrow for another new video from the one and only Chris Moore!

Related posts:

1. “If You Wanna” (Paul McCartney acoustic rock cover song) – The Laptop Sessions
2. “You Just May Be The One” (Monkees Acoustic Rock Cover Song) – The Laptop Sessions

Welcome to your Sunday edition of the Laptop Sessions!

Today, I bring you a tune that I covered on my album “That’s All Folks” called “Great Day” by Paul McCartney. It closes out his 1997 album “Flaming Pie”, one of my all-time favorites.

This is the perfect acoustic song and gives quite a vocal workout, which you wouldn’t expect in such a simple song.

Actually, you can download my fully produced version for FREE on our website (because I can’t sell other people’s songs). Here’s the link: http://fusco-moore.com/store/index.ph…

I hope you all enjoy today’s Session, as I’ll be back on Wednesday with a “political” original song- don’t miss it!

Related posts:

1. “If You Wanna” (Paul McCartney acoustic rock cover song) – The Laptop Sessions
2. “Garden Party” (Ricky Nelson Acoustic Rock Cover Song) – The Laptop Sessions
3. “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better” (A Byrds Acoustic Rock Cover Song) – The Laptop Sessions