Sailing Takes Me Away

The Yacht Rock Book – The Oral History of Soft, Smooth Sounds of the 70s and 80s – Greg Prato with foreward by Fred Armisen (Jaw Bone Press)

I have to admit that even as a pretty eclectic music fan I had never heard the term yacht rock used to describe a genre of music before coming across the The Yacht Rock Book – The Oral History of Soft, Smooth Sounds of the 70s and 80s, by Greg Prato. When I gave it some thought the description fits…with some exceptions in my mind.

I think that yacht rock doesn’t necessarily equate to so-called soft rock, but rather in my mind to a slice of the genre that has that California, Pacific feel; music that makes for the sound track of the easy going life on the shore in the sun, music coming from the back of a boat or a beach boombox. So for me the inclusion of bands like the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and Hall and Oates don’t seem to fit. The Eagles are more of the whole Laurel Canyon sound.

Prato does take a completist approach to delving into a wide range of topics that fall into the yacht rock realm. While it’s not necessarily my favorite approach as he stitches together subjects/chapters with a multitude of interviews with insiders, fringe players and outsiders in attempt to tell the yacht rock story.

For me the true yacht rock feel is epitomized by songs like:

• Seals and Crofts – Summer Breeze
• Christopher Cross – Sailing or Ride Like the Wind
• Jay Ferguson – Thunder Island
• Orleans – Still the One
• Pablo Cruise – Love Will Find a Way
• Little River Band – Reminiscing
• Player – Baby Come Back
• Michael McDonald – I Keep Forgetting

The Yacht Rock Book, is a fun reminder of what for many is a guilty pleasure.