By Jim Fusco:

Well, in the world of Moody Blues songs, it doesn’t get much more popular than “Nights in White Satin”, written by the great Justin Hayward.

I wanted to do this classic song for the Laptop Sessions music video blog because I thought it would translate well to a solo acoustic performance. I hope you like my whistling flute solo! 🙂 I wasn’t gonna do it, but Chris and Becky egged me on, and I think I nailed it!!

I love the vocal exercise this song presents and I’ve always thought that Justin Hayward has one of the best singing voices ever.  He’s also one of the greatest songwriters ever and can play an amazing guitar.  As with most of my favorite musicians and songwriters, Justin Hayward doesn’t get the credit he deserves for his incredible talents.  His acoustic guitar work on songs like “Question” haven’t been reproduced since.  And his electric guitar work gets almost no attention, even though it’s amazing.  Have you heard the guitar on “Story in Your Eyes”?  It’s face-meltingly awesome!  The tone he gets and his style of playing belie the calm and proper British personality he portrays.  Well, even if Justin Hayward (or the Moody Blues as a band, for that matter) doesn’t get the credit he/they deserves, I’m still glad I can share some of his greatness with you, my loyal Laptop Sessions acoustic cover song watchers.

So, this is a high bar to rise above, but I’m such a big Moody Blues fan that I know the song backwards and forwards.  It would be great to record a version of this someday, but honestly, how can I improve upon perfection?  I think I’ll stick to classic songs like this on solo acoustic guitar for my posts here on the music blog.

Enjoy today’s Session and make sure to come back for a Super Saturday appearance from Chris!