Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Yacht Rock?! Who has experience.
- Thread starter Jimmy4string
- Start date
The SiriusXM Yacht Rock channel is a must, for anyone who is signed up. They play the obvious ones like Toto and Hall & Oates, but their YR "deep tracks" are also killer. They even played the instrumental to the ending of the 1980s movie "Romancing the Stone" the other day, which is an Alan Silvestri composition. It has no singing, but still catches the YR vibe big time.
It's a shame people rip into YR because the musicianship in it is top notch.
It's a shame people rip into YR because the musicianship in it is top notch.
"Rock the Boat" was a very early disco hit (before disco had really exploded), but was recorded as simply a pop tune looking for airplay. Kind of straddles some genres. Bet it could fit in with a "yacht rock" set. Got a boat theme happening 
(Still can't get used to saying yacht rock, a retroactive term that feels a bit pejorative ... I'll adjust ... 
)
(Still can't get used to saying yacht rock, a retroactive term that feels a bit pejorative ... I'll adjust ... )
Wow this thread really got the wings! To answer your question it just depends on who is at the helm per say.
Keyboards, Harmonies, shmaltzy lyrics about love or rendevous or drinking. Hell on my list i even threw in some crossover Charlie Rich "Keep on rollin with the flow" and Lobo. I would leave out like blues or single artist mostly like Linda Ronstandt or later Don Henley. But, Hell i even have some later stuff by Josh Roush "Light Therapy" fits the bill.
I am still kicking around the YR band idea -i could sing the Ambrosia pretty well but that "what a fool believes" is a bit of a vocal Mt Everest LOL.
Yacht Rock on...
@TyBo
It is a little known fact that "Rock the boat" is huge in Ireland -they even have a whole dance that goes along with it. Google it and check it out -most enjoyable!
It is a little known fact that "Rock the boat" is huge in Ireland -they even have a whole dance that goes along with it. Google it and check it out -most enjoyable!
I attended the same high school he did, about a decade after him. When he hit the big time in 1980, all I heard around campus was his name and his music. I tired of it pretty quickly, and I pretty much hated him for it. But then I was a dirt poor, angry, young man who hated that high school and all the spoiled rich brats who ran the place anyway. Yacht Rock was the soundtrack for spoiled rich kids in our area.
These days, I have a lot of respect for him and the genre in general. By all reliable accounts, Chris is a world class composer, songwriter, musician, and human being.
I still hate that school though.
On a side note, before Tommy Johnston quit The Doobie Bros., and again after he rejoined, I have always thought of them as more of a “Biker Rock” band. Which I am fine with.
Although embraced by the yacht club crowd, I think of the MacDonald era Doobies as a sort of mix of Rock and Blue Eyed Soul.
Last edited:
I occasionally play in my buddy's YR band, which is normally a duo, but sometimes they do full stage stuff and bring in a rythm section. They do get plenty of work that pays good, but almost always as background music for corporate stuff or restaraunts. Ive never seen a dancefloor of YR girls getting down low, ymmv.
"Rock the Boat" was a very early disco hit (before disco had really exploded), but was recorded as simply a pop tune looking for airplay. Kind of straddles some genres. Bet it could fit in with a "yacht rock" set. Got a boat theme happening
Yeah, the term is needlessly pejorative. Millions of people who have never been near a yacht like this music.
This is the stuff you play on corporate circuits. It can be a nice pay check if you have the skill and discipline to do the songs well. Plenty of residual work comes in from private employers who loved your set and want you to play their kid's Bar Mitzvah, friend's retirement party, daughter's wedding, etc.
Aye, thar be money in those, songs.
Aye, thar be money in those, songs.
Last edited:
I don't even care about labels these days. Too old, I guess. I was listening to some Jeff Lorber Fusion in the car, and my 20 year old son said "Dad, that's elevator music!" and I said "Who cares?! All I hear is Jimmy Haslip ripping it up!" Same thing with this stuff. "Careless Whisper" or "Just the Two of Us" or other tunes like them might be cheesy AF, but they're incredible melodies sung by an astonishingly good singers, and the sax solos are some of the most memorable in decades. Can't beat that.
Yacht Rock, Adult Contemporary, Easy Listening... All I know is it's all great tunes, and I would gleefully sign up to play bass in a YR band if the opportunity presented itself, without question or second guessing.
Links to my references, since this thread is so effing awesome:
Hey there, fellow '09er! I was class of '91. Trust me, I know all about the spoiled rich kids (I wasn't one; I grew up closer to the loop in the poorest part of the district). In my days, yacht rock had played out and all the rich spoiled kids listened to euro-pop/rock. Me and my friends listened to hair metal and Rush. The attitude of the area hasn't changed much.
I'm in a pretty popular Yacht Rock band. AMA! 
As folks have said, it takes a LOT of discipline, attention to detail, and practice. Goes over great, and total ball to play. There's maybe 3 songs on our list where I think, eh, not much to do here. Literally all the rest are totally fun to play, every time.
As folks have said, it takes a LOT of discipline, attention to detail, and practice. Goes over great, and total ball to play. There's maybe 3 songs on our list where I think, eh, not much to do here. Literally all the rest are totally fun to play, every time.
Just got done practicing, inspired by this thread. Jammed on:
Ride Captain Ride
Deacon Blues
Saturday in the Park
Drift Away
Rich Girl
Rikki Don’t Lose that Number
Summer Breeze
In Shot the Sheriff
Lowdown
Fooled Around and Fell In Love
Give a Little Bit
Such fun songs!
Ride Captain Ride
Deacon Blues
Saturday in the Park
Drift Away
Rich Girl
Rikki Don’t Lose that Number
Summer Breeze
In Shot the Sheriff
Lowdown
Fooled Around and Fell In Love
Give a Little Bit
Such fun songs!
@GWGuitar -how was it?
I like that bouncy bass line in "Lowdown" for sure. I have been kind of practicing some of these and do alright on vocals for that one and Brandy.
That odd kind of voice that Steely Dan's singer uses is challenging though. Oh That bass line in Orleans "Dance with me" is great too.
Take a video if you have a moment and post -would be fun to see those! @rtslinger posts some pretty good vids. maybe he can provide a YR sample...
Cheers!
I like that bouncy bass line in "Lowdown" for sure. I have been kind of practicing some of these and do alright on vocals for that one and Brandy.
That odd kind of voice that Steely Dan's singer uses is challenging though. Oh That bass line in Orleans "Dance with me" is great too.
Take a video if you have a moment and post -would be fun to see those! @rtslinger posts some pretty good vids. maybe he can provide a YR sample...
Cheers!
The video I've been sharing privately from this past weekend is one of my bands doing "Lowdown." Here's what I have to say about these songs and vocals.
It's ridiculous to assume you have to sound like the vocalist on the record in order to bring these songs to an audience and cover them well. A good vocalist knows his/her own voice well enough to intonate properly, put the correct emphasis where it needs to be, and otherwise do the tune justice. We are not mimics and if you try to be a mimic to a quirky vocalist you will fail every time.
Our lead vocalist sings Lowdown like himself. He doesn't sound like Boz, he's a very well-respected singer in this area who hits the notes, does the job, has a great ear, and is one of the few people I know who can still make a living in music. He sounds like himself. I'm happy to share this (privately) if you want to hear it. Trust me when I say nobody cares that he doesn't sound like Boz Scaggs on this song.
What you need with this music is strong vocals, but in no way do they have to be carbon copies of the original artists. Live music should have its own feel. If people want to hear all the nuances of the original recording, they'll put the record on. Get a good singer - a really good singer - and let them be themselves.
The most popular Steely Dan tribute band in this area has a great singer who unapologetically sounds nothing like Fagen. Why would you do that? Who wants to sound like Donald Fagen, anyway?
Last edited:
