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Yacht Rock?! Who has experience.

#124
JPaulGeddy said:
Didn't see it mentioned (sorry if it was), but here's where the whole Yacht Rock thing started.
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To anyone interested, the background music there is George Benson's "Breezin'," which is some of the best instrumental yacht rock ever written, and I think an album everyone should hear at least once. "Breezin'" and "Affirmation" are two solid tunes from that album. And incidentally, four years after "Breezin'", Benson later recorded another yacht staple in "Give Me the Night":

 
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#127
Bass-ball said:
Not sure if it qualifies as YR, but Supertramp's "Take the Long Way Home" is in my YR playlist on Spotify, and it's one of my favorite cover songs to play. So good!
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There are so many great songs that are derisively labeled this way. Most of them are well written, well constructed songs that were played and sung by top-tier musicians, which is what makes them so hard to cover well. And they aren't all dance tunes, either, which makes most of the bands shy away from them.

I've always been of the mind that not every cover band needs to be a dance/party band, but that's likely because I've been in a number of successful bands through the years that weren't. The most successful band I was ever in was playing this stuff many, many years before there was a label for it. In the late 70's and early 80's it was all just lumped together with contemporary music, and audiences loved it even without a dancer in sight; we had lines out the door for our shows. If you can captivate an audience with the musicianship without relying on danceability to keep their attention, you're way ahead of the game, IMO, though there's nothing wrong with dance music, either.

And people do dance to Lowdown :)
 
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#130
LBS-bass said:
Curious as to what songs you like to play.
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I like rock songs based on guitar riffs and tones and with a tight production. The stuff that gets the dance floor moving.
Some of the contributors have already stated how difficult to reproduce some of this over produced material is and if you are experienced, you know that vocal ability in the market is at a low point compared to previous decades.
 
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#131
Aussie Player said:
I like rock songs based on guitar riffs and tones and with a tight production. The stuff that gets the dance floor moving.
Some of the contributors have already stated how difficult to reproduce some of this over produced material is and if you are experienced, you know that vocal ability in the market is at a low point compared to previous decades.
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That's fair and there's plenty of success with that kind of stuff, too. I like to do both, myself.
 
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#132
LBS-bass said:
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?
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Sure -send it over. Im always up for some Lowdown.
I dont think i was saying I am trying to sound exactly like Don Fagen. IF i came across that way -then let me correct that! I would like to have the same nuances to the song however and not sound like David Lee Roth or Cindy Lauper trying to sing Hey 19 :)
I actually would not mind sounding like Don Fagen to be honest -it would be cool! -but nope. That is not how i sound.
:smug:
 
#133
Jimmy4string said:
Sure -send it over. Im always up for some Lowdown.
I dont think i was saying I am trying to sound exactly like Don Fagen. IF i came across that way -then let me correct that! I would like to have the same nuances to the song however and not sound like David Lee Roth or Cindy Lauper trying to sing Hey 19 :)
I actually would not mind sounding like Don Fagen to be honest -it would be cool! -but nope. That is not how i sound.
:smug:
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Sure, I'll send in a minute. When you listen to him, you'll hear that he does some of the same stuff, he does it with his own voice, not really trying to sound like someone else. I think that might be what you mean about the same nuances. I'm with you on that. Put this signature stuff in, sound good, but it's ok to sound like you :)
 
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#134
Bass-ball said:
Thankfully, only Fagen sings like Fagen, and he's the only one who can pull it off. Kind of like Dylan or Waters.
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Fagin has a unique voice, and initially didn't want to the the band's singer (as seen with "Reelin' in the Years"). But they found that other vocalists had a hard time getting the vocal inflections and timing right (again, "Reelin' in the Years", imo, ymmv, etc. :), though it was still a hit). When you have lyrics like "Everyone stopped to stare at your technicolor motor home", the vocalist has to have sort of a quick tongue :). And Fagin has jazz ears (in contrast to, say, Dylan), so the singer needs to be able to hear those inflections, and feel those rhythms. So even though he by no means has a big voice, Fagin's stuff is not easy for a lot of folks to sing. As has been said, a key is to do it in your own voice, not a Fagin imitation, and find the nuances within that.

Leonid and Friends do amazing covers of some very challenging material. They got "My Old School" down, singer/guitarist nails it in both departments. Nice!

 
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#135
LBS-bass said:
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?
Click to expand...
LBS, you still working with that singer you had about four or five years ago? If I remember correctly, he didn't look like a rock star or anything but I remember digging his voice.
 
#136
jerry said:
LBS, you still working with that singer you had about four or five years ago? If I remember correctly, he didn't look like a rock star or anything but I remember digging his voice.
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Yes, but that's not the one in the video I'm referencing. I'm in a different band with him, and we're also doing some challenging vocal stuff, concentrating on three-part harmonies. I do a Roberta Flack / Donny Hathaway duet with him; he has a very soulful voice and I really love singing with him. We also do a couple of Steely Dan tunes and, same as the other guy, he nails the nuances but does it sounding like himself.

He may be doing some guest slots with the other band though, because their vocalist is busy and he isn't always available on nights when we'd like to book shows.
 
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#137
LBS-bass said:
Yes, but that's not the one in the video I'm referencing. I'm in a different band with him, and we're also doing some challenging vocal stuff, concentrating on three-part harmonies. I do a Roberta Flack / Donny Hathaway duet with him; he has a very soulful voice and I really love singing with him. We also do a couple of Steely Dan tunes and, same as the other guy, he nails the nuances but does it sounding like himself.

He may be doing some guest slots with the other band though, because their vocalist is busy and he isn't always available on nights when we'd like to book shows.
Click to expand...
Cool, he had that "thing" I like in a vocalist. The Hathaway songbook rules!
 
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#140
Bass-ball said:
It sounds like it, and I'm super happy for two reasons: a) you're playing stuff you seem to love (not all of us get that luxury), and b) it's not lost on you as you seem keenly aware of how great it is. I'd buy you a beer if I could brother.
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Thanks. It's been a bit of a slog to get here and sometimes I still have doubts, where other times I want to pinch myself. If I never do anything else I think I'll be able to die happy with the knowledge that I did a lot of good and fun things and made good use of the time I had to give to this. That's all that matters, I guess.
 
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