The Laptop Sessions: “Letters From the Wasteland” (Wallflowers Acoustic Rock Cover Song)

Sunday, September 7th, 2008

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to yet another all-new acoustic rock cover song from the best cover music video blog on the Internet!  Although last week was fun for me — I played covers from the Counting Crows and Jimi Hendrix, which were both a lot of fun to learn and play — but this week promises to be even better.  Not only is it my turn for an Original Wednesday (when we songwriters here at the music blog break out one of our original songs), but I’m starting out the week with a song from one of my all-time favorite bands, the Wallflowers.

Which brings me to today’s video.  This is “Letters From the Wasteland” from the Wallflowers’ Breach album, which was released in 2000.  I was actually listening to my iPod on random earlier today when this song came up.  I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t already done a session of it, and I figured that Jeff might take it if I didn’t jump on it soon.  In fact, Jeff is another reason I chose to record the song.  He just recently recorded “Some Flowers Bloom Dead,” another great song from Breach.  I love that song, too, but I’ve always been taken by “Letters.”  There’s something really dark and powerful about it, and I absolutely love the drum beat and the guitar sounds.

Interestingly enough, at least for an English teacher like myself, is that the title of this song is reminiscent of T.S. Eliot’s famous poem, “The Waste Land.”  I always wondered if Jakob Dylan intended any sort of reference, but there is a key clue that makes me believe he didn’t.  Namely, the Eliot poem spells it as two words — Waste Land — whereas the Wallflowers song spells it as one — Wasteland.  This may seem like a minor detail, but you’d think that Dylan, being as careful about his wording and his songwriting as he says he is, would have picked up on such a detail.  It would honestly be one of the questions I would ask him if I ever met him…

That being said about the background information regarding the actual song, I have to say a bit about my night surrounding this music video.  What a night!  First, I’ve been hit with allergies pretty bad the past couple days, and even though I started taking allergy medication again, it hasn’t quite kicked in.  Thus, my voice wasn’t exactly angelic to begin with tonight.  Then, I kept recording takes of the song that I wasn’t really thrilled with, so by my tenth take or so (including brief false starts) I was dragging.  My throat was pretty sore.  After taking a break to watch the Mets a bit, I went back downstairs and ten or so minutes later, I had a take that I was pretty happy with.  So, I went upstairs from the studio to render my video and post it…

…only to find that the last ten seconds of the recording were all audio static!!

This was devastating to me at the time and some words and phrases slipped out that I shouldn’t repeat on a family-friendly blog.  (Well, as a quick tangent, a family friendly blog directory actually removed us from their listing a few months ago, so maybe we’ve crossed the line already…)  But, anyway, Jim swooped in and, being the computer deity that he is, spliced and salvaged my take by using footage from previous takes.  Amazing.  Even though I now owe him lunch or dinner or a drink or really any sort of food/beverage outing that he chooses, it was well worth it!  I didn’t mentally or physically have it in me to either record yet another take or to settle for a previous one.

And this brings us to the actual video.  I hope you enjoy “Letters From the Wasteland” and I hope you hurry back tomorrow for a new acoustic rock cover from our resident Wallflowers expert, Jeff Copperthite.  You’ll never know what song is up his sleeve unless you check back tomorrow…

See you next session!

The Laptop Sessions: “Some Flowers Bloom Dead” (Wallflowers Acoustic Cover Song)

Monday, August 18th, 2008

 By Jeff Copperthite:

Welcome to your Monday Night Football….er, edition of The Laptop Sessions!  It’s the man, myth, and legend Jeff Copperthite tonight with your latest acoustic cover video for the series.  I hope this song is familiar to you, because it is a good one.

The song is another one from The Wallflowers called “Some Flowers Bloom Dead” from their album “(Breach)”.  I think the album as a whole is one of the most underrated of their albums.  It has some really awesome tunes on it and I know that my friend Rory would belt out the tracklisting in order.  I’d put down $40 that he could do it.  Before session-a-day ends in a mere 4 months and 13 days (almost 2/3 done), I will do another song from this album called “Murder 101″ because I think the tune is that good.

You may notice I enjoy covering this band a lot.  It has something to do with the fact I haven’t had to filter many (if any) negative comments about ANY of their covers here or on Youtube.  Maybe my singing style is similar to Jakob Dylan, or you can tell that I’m a huge fan when you watch me play their tunes.  Regardless, I love bringing you more videos of their songs.  However, I had to include a little text after my title in the video.  I must admit that I was getting a little tired in this recording session.  I’m have to sit down and record some videos this week so this doesn’t happen in the future.  My guitar playing isn’t as clean as usual, but I was trying my hardest to not ruin another take.  I don’t think I’m a perfectionist, but when it comes to recording these videos, sometimes I just have to relax and just play the song.

Terrific Tuesday is next, and Jim Fusco is on deck for that.  I hope you checked out his video from Saturday.  What a great, great video and great song.  You’re really missing out if you haven’t seen it.  Here, I’ll even give you the direct link: Ben Folds “Time”.

The Laptop Sessions: “Everybody Out of the Water” (Wallflowers Acoustic Rock Cover Song)

Monday, July 7th, 2008

By Jeff Copperthite:

Good evening, and welcome to The Laptop Sessions for Monday, July 7th. Today’s song is dedicated to the youtube user who sent me a message simply asking “Why haven’t you done a Wallflowers song lately?”. Well, I aim to please, so here you go!

Today’s song is from The Wallflowers, from their album “Red Letter Days” (my personal favorite of thiers). We have covered songs from this album before, but given that each song is awesome, there’s no reason we can’t cover another! And the song is “Everybody Out of the Water”, which is unlike any other song on the album. It’s the 4th track, and the song before it is the soft piano medley “Closer to You”. That song and this song are the two extremes on the album. This is meant to be an angry song, and even though this song sounds best with the electric distorted guitar, I think the acoustic cover that I present to you is just as effective.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Jim’s next awesome song. I hope you enjoyed today’s session and continue to enjoy the sessions overall!

The Laptop Sessions: “When You’re On Top” (Wallflowers Acoustic Rock Cover Song)

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to the next installment of “Track One Week” at http://LaptopSessions.com ! Today, I’m taking a temporary break from playing songs from new artists to play track one off of one of my favorite albums of all-time, “Red Letter Days.” This is the Wallflowers’ “When You’re On Top.”

For anyone who has heard the studio version before, you may miss the synthesized effects, but all I had was my acoustic guitar, so I made due with what I had… And this should help me to prepare for Jakob Dylan’s new album, “Seeing Things,” which is going to be a very acoustic affair (judging from tracks he’s already released, such as “Something Good This Way Comes,” which I hope to record in the near future!).

I hope you enjoy this video, and I especially hope you’ll stop by tomorrow for an all-new track-one selection from our very own Jeff Copperthite!

See you next session!

The Laptop Sessions: “Three Marlenas” (Wallflowers Acoustic Rock Cover Song)

Monday, May 5th, 2008

By Jeff Copperthite:

Good evening to everyone at www.laptopsessions.com. It’s Jeff for your Monday edition, and it’s time to go back to the favorite band and to exhaust all their singles from “Bringing Down The Horse”. I get the privilege of bringing you “Three Marlenas”.

I also bring it to you while being shy of a few pounds. You’ll notice I am now clean-shaven, and that is because it was the agreement with my wife. If I purchased a new amplifier, then I would have to shave the beard. Speaking of which, you will see my Behringer BXL1800 tomorrow when I let you know what I think of it.

Anyway, while this song is quite simple to play, it tells an interesting story and I like the song a lot. “Bringing Down The Horse” is a terrific album and you should consider giving it a listen if you can.

The Wallflowers are a popular band here at www.laptopsessions.com. I’m sure you’ll hear more of them in future sessions. Until then, enjoy “Three Marlenas”, and come back tomorrow for Jim’s latest and greatest Laptop Session!

The Wallflowers Live - Foxwoods, April 25th, 2008 (Set List & Review) - Songwriters on Vacation

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008

Set List:

1. Up From Under

2. Three Marlenas - Click HERE for the LAPTOP SESSION!

3. Here He Comes (Confessions of a Drunken Marionette)

4. Letters from the Wasteland

5. 6th Avenue Heartache - Click HERE for the LAPTOP SESSION!

6. When You’re On Top

7. Mourning Train

8. Invisible City

9. Sleepwalker - Click HERE for the LAPTOP SESSION!

10. If You Never Got Sick - Click HERE for the LAPTOP SESSION!

11. Closer to You

12. How Good It Can Get - Click HERE for the LAPTOP SESSION!

13. One Headlight - Click HERE for the LAPTOP SESSION!

14. God Don’t Make Lonely Girls

15. Everything I Need - Click HERE for the LAPTOP SESSIONS!

16. How Far We’ve Come - FALSE START

17. Josephine

18. Empire in My Mind - Click HERE for the LAPTOP SESSION!

19. Nearly Beloved

By Chris Moore:

The Wallflowers have long been one of my favorite bands. So, my first question as the curtains came up at Friday night’s Foxwoods concert was, where is Rami Jaffee? Aside from Jakob Dylan, he’s the only original Wallflower still with the band. Instead of the four-member crew I expected, there were only three — Dylan, bassist Greg Richling, and drummer Fred Eltringham. This set the tone for the night, as I was laughing and enjoying myself before they even played a song.

Actually, the tone was set before the curtain even went up, as the pre-concert background music (usually played at a reduced volume) was turned up for an Edgar Jones song called “Oh Man That’s Some Shit.” This title refrain was repeated with intermittent additions such as, “Oh, yes it is!” When the song finished, it was played again. By the third time it was played, Jim, Mike, and I began to wonder if they were stalling for time. It was now 9:15, and the show was scheduled for 9 sharp. More likely, this was Dylan’s sense of humor showing through. The three of us couldn’t keep from laughing and singing along with the layered harmonies of Jones’ “Oh Man That’s Some Shit.” Even as I write this, I’m singing it in my head…

Once I got over the initial shock of Jaffee’s absence, I was struck by the song selection. Opening with the Breach track “Up From Under,” continuing with “Three Marlenas,” and then playing “Here He Comes,” Dylan kicked off the show with three really great songs from three different albums. Still, he hadn’t quite rocked out yet…

…which changed as soon as he tore into “Letters from the Wasteland.” For “Letters,” Dylan really seemed to get into it, putting emotion and a sense of foreboding into the performance.

The highlights of the show for me were really when they played “When You’re On Top” — aside from changing the tune on the chorus, it was a great version and done acoustically to boot! — and the fact that they chose six tracks out of eighteen from the Red Letter Days album, one of my all-time favorite (and terribly underappreciated) albums. Other songs, such as “One Headlight” and “If You Never Got Sick” would have made the highlights, if not for Dylan forgetting the words and singing the first verses and chorus a bit oddly, respectively.

This was how the show went — one exciting moment followed by an odd or off moment. For instance, Dylan forgot the words to several tracks, including all but the first line to “How Far We’ve Come.” The most disappointing aspect of the concert really was the fact that the band lacked a soloing musician. There was no lead guitarist and no keyboard player, so instrumental sections were filled with Dylan’s fingerpicking or Richling’s bass playing. Having a fourth musician on stage probably would have taken this concert to the next level and made it perhaps one of my favorite concerts ever.

Actually, the most disappointing moment of the experience was learning from Fusco-Moore labelmate Jeff Copperthite that one of his friends at work had actually met Jakob Dylan! Not only did he meet him, but he met him before the concert while having dinner at the buffet… that we had been at an hour earlier! I’m also pretty sure I walked past Greg Richling while looking for a bathroom, but I wasn’t sure and just stood there staring at him until he was out of sight…

In the end, I had a great time at this show. After their two-year absence from touring, I had begun to believe I would never see the Wallflowers in concert. But now I have seen them, and Dylan’s voice was in great form, the song selection was incredible (and even a bit surprising, considering previous years), and I won’t soon forget the experience. It was interesting to see Greg Richling, who has been a Wallflower since the days of “One Headlight,” and Fred Eltringham, who I was initially uncertain about, but who really warmed up and earned my respect over the hour and a half he was on stage.

Back at home, I learned that Jaffee left the band late last year and is currently on the road with the Foo Fighters. What does this mean? I don’t mean to blow his exit from the band out of proportion, but it marks for me a new era for the Wallflowers. With new concert dates planned for the Wallflowers and the imminent release of Jakob Dylan’s solo album, Seeing Things, the future is promising.

I suppose I’ll just have to be patient about the next Wallflowers album — whatever and whenever it will be…