Yacht Rock?! Who has experience.

[friskinator]

There’s a band doing this stuff in my area that’s been very popular for a few years. Nice guys, good players, but for me, it’s an incredibly boring show. They seem to get a lot of mileage out of wearing Hawaiian shirts and aviators and growing mustaches, but that doesn’t make a stage show. The 50 and up party crowd sure does love it, though.

 

[GWGuitar]

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!

I love playing that one, too. When I was in high school, in the Seventies, Supertramp was a new group and their bass player was one of my influences. One of my favorite songs of theirs was not a hit, but it’s bass part was exquisite: “Just a Normal Day.” It’s from the “Crisis? What Crisis” album.

 

[rtslinger]

maybe this one is consider YR as well?

 

[morgansterne]

I think Pablo Cruise "Love Will Find a Way" is probably the quintessential Yacht tune. One I don't see on Yachty set lists much is "How Long" by Ace, which is a shame 'cause it's such a great track!

We're doing "How Long" tomorrow. As these tunes go, it's on the easy side. "So into you" by Atlanta Rhythm Section is a really strange one to put together, lots of grief along the way.

This is a gig I swore I wouldn't do, but it's happening anyway. The money got ramped up and I felt guilty torpedoing the show for everyone else. We're a converted rock band making our debut as a Yacht Rock band under another name. We learned around 20 new tunes and have the other half from our rock set list that we're shoe-horning in there.

We were really up front with the venue (city street festival) that it might be a little more rockin' than some will expect.

We should have video a plenty!

Oops we're doing that one today, it's 2 a.m. and I can't sleep.

 

[JPaulGeddy]

Here's our fairly-standard setlist. We have probably another 20-30 we swap in/out. Again, nearly all of them are a blast to play.

I'm Alright Kenny Loggins
Ride Like the Wind Christopher Cross
Love Will Find A Way Pablo Cruise
You're No Good Linda Ronstadt
How Long Ace
One of these Nights Eagles
You Make My Dreams Hall & Oates
You Make Loving Fun Fleetwood Mac
Steal Away Robbie Dupree
Reelin' in the Years Steely Dan
How Much I Feel Ambrosia
Magic Olivia Newton-John
Two Tickets Eddie Money
Kiss on my List Hall & Oates
I Just Wanna Be Your Everything Andy Gibb
Love is Alive Gary Wright
Rosanna Toto
December 1963 Four Seasons
Do You Believe in Love Huey Lewis
Brandy Looking Glass
Love Will Keep Us Together Captain & Tenille
How Deep is your Love Bee Gees
Kiss You All Over Exile
Somebody's Baby Jackson Browne
You're So Vain Carly Simon
Baby Come Back Player
Dreams Fleetwood Mac
Lido Boz Scaggs
Silly Love Songs Paul McCartney
Don't Go Breakin' My Heart Elton John
Africa Toto
All Night Long Lionel Richie
Still the One Orleans

 

[GWGuitar]

Here's our fairly-standard setlist. We have probably another 20-30 we swap in/out. Again, nearly all of them are a blast to play.

I'm Alright Kenny Loggins
Ride Like the Wind Christopher Cross
Love Will Find A Way Pablo Cruise
You're No Good Linda Ronstadt
How Long Ace
One of these Nights Eagles
You Make My Dreams Hall & Oates
You Make Loving Fun Fleetwood Mac
Steal Away Robbie Dupree
Reelin' in the Years Steely Dan
How Much I Feel Ambrosia
Magic Olivia Newton-John
Two Tickets Eddie Money
Kiss on my List Hall & Oates
I Just Wanna Be Your Everything Andy Gibb
Love is Alive Gary Wright
Rosanna Toto
December 1963 Four Seasons
Do You Believe in Love Huey Lewis
Brandy Looking Glass
Love Will Keep Us Together Captain & Tenille
How Deep is your Love Bee Gees
Kiss You All Over Exile
Somebody's Baby Jackson Browne
You're So Vain Carly Simon
Baby Come Back Player
Dreams Fleetwood Mac
Lido Boz Scaggs
Silly Love Songs Paul McCartney
Don't Go Breakin' My Heart Elton John
Africa Toto
All Night Long Lionel Richie
Still the One Orleans

All of those are fun songs on bass.

 

[garp]

The 50 and up party crowd sure does love it, though.

This is the market...and the market has discretionary income to hire live entertainment.

 

[Bass-ball]

Magic Olivia Newton-John

Probably one of my favorite YR tunes of all time! Nice!

 

[lildrgn]

No for me. As someone said make sure you can embrace it because it's gonna take a lot of work.

Lot's of rehearsal involved for limited gigs.

My YR band is rehearsing once a week, about 2-3 hours or longer. That's not including a couple nights a week of me practicing my bass and vocal parts. I have about 7 new songs to learn for this Sunday, but that pales in comparison to our sub/new guitarist, who is learning close to 30! And, believe it or not, in my area (Seattle), I have gigged twice in the past month, with two more confirmed in September, and potentially two more to come shortly after.

I think I found my soulmate.

I have been salivating to play yacht rock in a band for probably 30 years. Bring on the Christopher Cross, Toto, America, Don Henley, Boz Scaggs, Doobies, George Benson, Steely Dan, all of it. The closest I get to it is some small recording stuff in the smooth jazz genre (which I absolutely love), but man, finding some talent on keys and singing to do yacht rock would be a dream of mine. I have tons of sheet music and backing tracks for it too, so if the opportunity ever presents itself, I'm ready for it.

What part of PNW are you in? If ever I can't make a gig, maybe you can sub??

Sounds like a great project

My compliments on the excellent set list - though I'd liked to have seen something by Kenny Loggins, and the Doobie's "What a fool believes" is conspicuous by its absence

Not much else to say except: Full speed, dead ahead !

Yeah, WAFB is epic and is the holy grail. Hopefully we can try it someday; the aforementioned new guitarist can sing leads.

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!

THanks for sharing that! Incredible!!

 

[turf3]

Yes, I have experience. Not experience at playing that stuff, just experience at being hit over the head with it day in and day out in the 1970s. Yes, it was skillfully performed, arranged, and produced, but skillfully arranged, produced, and performed schlock is still schlock. And you simply COULD NOT ESCAPE. Every restaurant. Every store. Every radio station (well, not really, but almost every radio station).

So, I'm planning never to perform that genre of music.

Just like I haven't eaten an Arby's "roast beef" sandwich since I spent a summer working there. Overexposure.

 

[LBS-bass]

Yes, I have experience. Not experience at playing that stuff, just experience at being hit over the head with it day in and day out in the 1970s. Yes, it was skillfully performed, arranged, and produced, but skillfully arranged, produced, and performed schlock is still schlock. And you simply COULD NOT ESCAPE. Every restaurant. Every store. Every radio station (well, not really, but almost every radio station).

So, I'm planning never to perform that genre of music.

Just like I haven't eaten an Arby's "roast beef" sandwich since I spent a summer working there. Overexposure.

Funny to hear, because it goes over incredibly well. But I can understand not wanting to play it. For one thing, it's very demanding and there is a lot in the genre that's pretty schmaltzy. I choose my battles with it. There are songs I'd never play.

 

[lildrgn]

Yes, I have experience. Not experience at playing that stuff, just experience at being hit over the head with it day in and day out in the 1970s. Yes, it was skillfully performed, arranged, and produced, but skillfully arranged, produced, and performed schlock is still schlock. And you simply COULD NOT ESCAPE. Every restaurant. Every store. Every radio station (well, not really, but almost every radio station).

So, I'm planning never to perform that genre of music.

Just like I haven't eaten an Arby's "roast beef" sandwich since I spent a summer working there. Overexposure.

To each their own. One person's schlock/ roast beef/ insert dislike here is another person's guilty pleasure /joy /good time.

Me? I love it all!

 

[mike o]

Hey y’all. Don’t forget to throw in some Alan Parsons

 

[turf3]

Funny to hear, because it goes over incredibly well. But I can understand not wanting to play it. For one thing, it's very demanding and there is a lot in the genre that's pretty schmaltzy. I choose my battles with it. There are songs I'd never play.

I can well imagine it goes over well, it went over well first time round. But I was something like 14 and what I had to occupy myself was stuff like "Muskrat Love", while my friends' older brothers and sisters were there for the Beatles on Sullivan, CCR, etc. coming out for the first time. Most of my friends felt like we'd been cheated.

 

[kentiki]

After reading this thread, I realized I used to live at ground zero of yacht rock. Original members of Blues Image, Player, and Michael McDonald all lived on my street. Who knew?

 

[Bass-ball]

What part of PNW are you in? If ever I can't make a gig, maybe you can sub??

I'm in Salem, but holy cow man, I would die of the jitters. I've subbed in rock, grunge, and folk bands before but the thing about YR is you HAVE to get it right - all parts - or it won't work. That's too much pressure. At least subbing in a rock band it's so effing noisy nobody knows if you have the jitters. But I appreciate the sentiment!

 

[lildrgn]

I'm in Salem, but holy cow man, I would die of the jitters. I've subbed in rock, grunge, and folk bands before but the thing about YR is you HAVE to get it right - all parts - or it won't work. That's too much pressure. At least subbing in a rock band it's so effing noisy nobody knows if you have the jitters. But I appreciate the sentiment!

LOL, you'd think you need perfection. I'd like to be more perfect. But I have not gotten close to perfect yet. The two shows I have under my belt, crowd was more interested in dancing and singing along. If there were any note-perfect nerds watching and judging, well, I didn't see them.

I'm having way more fun in this band than I expected. Super challenging.

My big challenge this week is learning Maggie May. I use YouTube links, any sort of transcription video (if there's one out there, for this song, there doesn't seem to be); Moises.ai to mute/boost bass, etc; any sheet music if it's there (there is a transcription by @Tom Read (TRANSCRIPTIONS | Tom Read Bass), an excellent resource, btw) to get riffs, etc. And then repetition. I am not using notes on stage or practice and I don't want to. I find using the sheet music hinders my ability to memorize parts, so I use it to decipher what my ear can't (thankfully I can read music!!), and then piece it together from there.

Maggie May is tricky. Structurally it is a little weird, if I recall correctly, it's like intro/2 verses/interlude/3 verses/ or something like that. And notes wise on bass? All over the place. There's no way I'll get a note for note, but I'm trying to get in the ballpark. Even if you listen to studio version vs live versions, there is barely any overlap.

I do strive for accuracy to original song. There are minor alterations I will make simply due to variations in playing. Other times I simplify bass notes to accommodate syncopated vocal lines. Signature riffs and runs I will absolutely try to nail. And very rarely will I throw in any self-indulgent fills.

 

[Gregc57]

Anyone else hate the name Yacht Rock! Geez, Just the name bugs the hell out of me.

 

[lildrgn]

Anyone else hate the name Yacht Rock! Geez, Just the name bugs the hell out of me.

Nautical based rock music doesn't have the same ring.

 

[LBS-bass]

Anyone else hate the name Yacht Rock! Geez, Just the name bugs the hell out of me.

Well, somebody thought it would be cute to name it that and it's silly, now we have stupid "theme" bands dressing up in sailor suits to play music from an era, which completely misrepresents what the music was about when it was current. But I have better things to worry about, I guess.