Category Archives: Huey Lewis & the News

Huey Lewis & the News covers: Acoustic cover songs – music videos by the songwriters of the Laptop Sessions video blog. Daily music blog with new indie rock acoustic songs.

“Heart And Soul” (Huey Lewis and The News cover)

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Hello and welcome to yet another episode of “The Laptop Sessions” here on the best cover songs music video blog ever created. Yep, I still think that’s the case, but if anyone wants to challenge it, get back to me in 14 years and we’ll talk. 🙂

Today, I bring you a great song in “Heart And Soul” by Huey Lewis and the News. No, this isn’t that simple piano song that people learn on day one of piano lessons. This is a rock’n’roll song that I tried to give the acoustic treatment. The song is from the Sports album from the early 80’s and that album is simply a classic. Every song is good and there are some all-time greats including “I Want A New Drug” and “The Heart of Rock’n’Roll”.

“Heart And Soul” has always been a favorite, as my family would listen to this album quite a bit in the 80’s when I was very young. It came back to mind when my brother Mike and I would jam with a friends of ours, Steve and Matt. We would think of all our favorite songs and this one came to mind. I came up with this guitar arrangement, as there really isn’t a guitar part for the verses. I loved the way it sounded so I’m thinking this is actually a unique arrangement I’m debuting here! I suppose I should do that more often but I’m always so concerned with trying to stay true to a song that I don’t deviate. Because of the lack of guitar part in the original recording, I had no choice but to make one up!

We made a recording of our cover version of “Heart And Soul” back in the day. I’ll post it one of these days. Basically we recorded the music as a live band in the studio and then I added a couple of extra instruments and all the vocals. It came out great and we did that for a few other songs, including “Moondance” by Van Morrison and “No Time” by the Guess Who. Steve still plays them for friends in the car as a showcase of how good they came out. 🙂

Huey Lewis and the News are so underrated- it’s crazy to me who certain bands could be so good and so popular, yet they don’t really get their “due”. They should be revered as one of the best bands of the 80’s, in no small part because of the fact that they were a true rock’n’roll band in a time when there weren’t many at all (The Cars, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers come to mind). They managed to keep their sound relevant to the times while not deviating from the rock sounds that made them great. I guess that’s the message in their song, “The Heart of Rock And Roll”, but even then, I remember reading somewhere that song was voted as one of the worst songs of all time. Whoever voted that clearly never heard “Mind Garden” by The Byrds…

I hope you enjoy this original arrangement (and cover version) of Huey Lewis and The News’ “Heart and Soul” here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog. I’ll be back soon with another video, so subscribe here and on YouTube and stay tuned!

“If This Is It” (Huey Lewis & The News Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music blog for Monday! I’m back with a video that’s not only one of my best performances (if I do say so myself) but one of my favorite tunes. This song, “If This Is It”, is an underrated song and Huey Lewis and the News are a very underrated band.

I think Huey Lewis loses points in many reviewers’ minds because he doesn’t write the songs he sings.  But, there are members of his band (you know, the News!) that write the songs he sings.  It’s kind of like a Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons thing.  So, when you look at the band in that light, Huey Lewis is just a really cool guy and a good singer, too!  I love the style of their songs- it’s kind of like my music, but back in the 80s.  You can tell that the songwriters loved a bygone era of music (especially with the doo-wop style of “If This Is It”) but updated it for the times.  Obviously, “If This Is It” wouldn’t have sounded right in 1956, but somehow the song gives off that vibe while still sounding fresh…for 1983, that is…

The whole “Sports” album is very entertaining to me.  I know songs like “The Heart Of Rock & Roll” have actually been put on “Worst Song Ever” lists in the past, but I’ve always liked that tune!  Plus, “Heart and Soul” is one of my absolute favorite songs of all time.  And, you’ve even got the song that was stolen for the Ghostbusters theme song in “I Want a New Drug”!  If you’re into music from that era, please give “Sports” from Huey Lewis and the News a shot.  You’ll be glad you did!

“If This Is It” wasn’t the easiest song to learn- the chord changes and the special strumming pattern made it a tough one to get correct while singing.  But, the singing wasn’t too easy, either.  I recall messing up near the end of the song on a couple of occasions.  Why?  Because Huey Lewis had (and still does) an amazingly powerful voice.  Of course, he wasn’t playing guitar at the same time during his performances!

I always thought this would be the perfect album closing song.  It just has that “ending” feel to it, even though it’s not a slow song like most albums feature at the end.  The sentiment here is that a person knows all of the telltale signs of a relationship ending are there and that person wants the truth.  But, what makes this song great is the hesitation- yes, he may know it’s over, but he still doesn’t like that fact.  He knows he should save himself from more heartache, but he wants her to be the person to break it off.

I hope you all enjoy tonight’s acoustic cover song, played on my nylon stringed acoustic guitar, as our week of brand-new bands to the Laptop Sessions continues!  This Huey Lewis and the News song is one of my favorites and I knew it would be a great pick for another cover song music video here on the best music blog around: The Laptop Sessions!