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!