The Yacht Rock Book: The Oral History of the Soft, Smooth Sounds of the 70s and 80s

by Greg Prato, Fred Armisen (Foreword)

‘ It’s amazing that this style came to be. Can you imagine being a struggling musician back then? It must take an incredible amount of restraint to play that gently .’ — Actor/comedian Fred Armisen, from his foreword to this book
Just what is ‘yacht rock,’ you ask? Perhaps the easiest description is music that would not sound out of place being played while carousing aboard a yacht back in the good old days. But these songs were also some of the top pop gems of the 1970s and '80s. And while some associate yacht rock’s biggest songs with one-hit wonder artists, several of rock’s most renowned artists fall under this category, too including Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, Steely Dan, Hall & Oates, The Doobie Brothers, Toto, and more. Yacht rock seemed to have become extinct by the early twenty-first century … until a comedic video series, simply titled Yacht Rock, went viral and introduced captain’s hats and blazers to a whole new generation – as well as the emergence of a popular cover band, the Yacht Rock Revue, and of course, Jimmy Fallon’s on-air admiration of all things yacht rock. Now, yacht rock is one of the most celebrated ‘yesteryear’ styles of pop music, and has resonated with a new generation of musicians (including the Fred Armisen/Bill Hader-led Blue Jean Committee and soul/funk/electronica crossover act Thundercat). But despite all the hoopla, there has never been a book that told the entire story of the genre. Until now. Featuring interviews with many of the heavy hitters of the genre, including John Oates, Kenny Loggins, and Don Felder, The Yacht Rock Book leaves no sail unturned. This is the definitive story of the yacht rock’s creation, rise, chart-smashing success, fall, and stunning rebirth.

Genres: Music, Oral History, Nonfiction, Pop Culture

320 pages, Paperback

Published March 6, 2018

About the author

Greg Prato is a Long Island, New York-based journalist, whose writing has appeared in such renowned publications as Rolling Stone. He is the author of several popular books, 'A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other: The Story of Shannon Hoon and Blind Melon,' 'Touched by Magic: The Tommy Bolin Story,' 'Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music, 'No Schlock . . . Just Rock!,' 'The Eric Carr Story,' 'MTV Ruled the World: The Early Years of Music Video,' 'Sack Exchange: The Definitive Oral History of the 1980s New York Jets,' 'Too High to Die: Meet the Meat Puppets,' 'Dynasty: The Oral History of the New York Islanders, 1972-1984,' and 'The Faith No More & Mr. Bungle Companion.'

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I learn not to read oral histories? This is even lazier than the typical oral history, as Prato seems more interested in yacht rock as a means to make a few bucks cashing in on something vaguely trendy than actually providing much insight into the subject.

Prato does get some good sources from the yacht rock world and lets them prattle on and then apparently just let the transcribers do their thing. If you pared this down to interesting or informative quotes, the book would be about 25-33 percent of its current size. Prato creates haphazard chapters and does no fact checking whatsoever. The book is a chore in parts to read, which is strange for a book that should be breezy as all get out.

Some of the interview subjects are fairly interesting, and reading the quotes from Daryl Dragon and Toni Tenille, it's amazing she hung on in their marriage as long as she did. Dragon is not so much a bad guy as socially really unaware (but he does have some interesting things to say).

There is a really good book waiting to be written on this subject. Prato set the bar low here.

[Kris Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The unsung heroes of radio finally get their due. Have your spotify handy when reading, you're going to discover some hidden gems.

[Jay Gabler · Rating 3 out of 5]

A poorly organized oral history that nonetheless shines affectionate light on the enduring appeal of a musical genre that's constantly joked about without ever quite becoming a joke. I reviewed The Yacht Rock Book for The Current.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

As cool as a Massachusetts afternoon.

[Min · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having only learned about this musical term last month, I was interested to learn more. I hoped this book would be a foray into that strange new world of classic soft rock tunes that had been divided into their own genre, 40 years later.

This book's approach is one of topic headings that divide interview excerpts. The entire book, except the Forward, and the Introduction, is interview quotes. So, as they say, one gets it direct, without commentary, from the people directly involved. The Cast of Characters are the various artists from such groups as Player, Poco. Toto, Eagles, Steely Dan, America, The Captain and Tennille, Hall & Oates, Little River Band, Christopher Cross and others, plus, members of the tribute group Yacht Rock Revue, and Steve "Hollywood Steve" Huey, whose humble internet show launched a genre, and a pdcast.

The chapters cover what it was like at the beginning of the "soft rock" era, on to popular artists of the day, craft of songwriting, the power of session musicians, fashion, parties, the crest of the wave of popularity, stories about some of the more popular songs of the 70s, and 80s, nyacht rock, album art, plus chapters that deal with one person's story such as about the song Escape (the pina colada song), or how various musicians lives shifted to other areas like music production, or politics.

These are songs I know and love very well. I am delighted to be reminded to listen to them more often, and to learn from this book, the tales of the makers, and shakers of that time.

[Tiffany Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

The editing on this is much better than Prato's grunge book. While I agree with other reviewers in that there's a lot of grasping for material and much padding, it's balanced by the core of the book - the middle half - which is chock-full of interesting industry tales and song backgrounds. This is what lovers of the Yacht Rock sound are wanting (not a bunch of comments from podcasters). I must add, I disagree with some of the inclusions to the genre (The Captain & Tennille and Billy Joel are not YR, in my mind), but I suppose that is the beauty of this type of categorizing: it means something a little different to everybody. This isn't a perfect book, but it was enough of what I wanted that I read the majority of it in one day (by the pool, of course!). 3.5-4 stars

[Mike Balsom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not being a huge fan of the "oral history" format, I wasn't expecting to like this book as much as I did. However, there are some hidden gems here, just as there are in the whole yacht rock genre. Christopher Cross once subbed in for Ritchie Blackmore at a Deep Purple concert? Actor Ronn Moss from the "Bold and the Beautiful" is that hunky-looking guy in the band Player? Members of Looking Glass were later members of pop-metal band Starz? Who knew! If you like the yacht rock genre, you're pretty much guaranteed to enjoy this book.

[Akio Kobayashi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yacht Rock is called AOR (Adult Oriented Rock) in Japan. We can see it same as AC. This music genre influenceed the music genre City Pop in Japan later in 70's, 80's and early 90's. As a music genre, Yacht Rock aka AOR, AC, Soft Rock etc became popular in 70's and lost the popularity soon in 80's. But many songs in the genre continue to survive now. We can know the reason from this book.

[Steve Schrader · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are fan of this style music (Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs, Kenny Loggins, The Eagles, etc.) you will like the background stories and the interview style approach. If you aren’t a fan you might be bored.

[Jonny Brick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toto, Steely Dan, soft rock and Hall & Oates: inspired by a web series, this is the definitive book of a fine made-up genre. For fans of smoooooth music. Keep the fire.

[RL Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought too many topics were covered in too short amounts.

[Burck Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Subject matter is great. Book is sufficient

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehhhh...not what I expected and hoped it would be.

[Jerry James · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very annoying book: a bunch of great musicians all saying very little. It was maddening. You kept expecting some more detail, more history, more depth, and they never go there.

[Deanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read

[Jed Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun deep dive into a pop rock sub genre.

[R.S Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good enough resource, an entry point and adequate information. Which is what I was looking for. However, I had hoped for a little depth rather than selected bits and pieces.

[Robert Palma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great place to start for a good primer on Yacht Rock.

[Michael Cawley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chaotic and disjointed collection of musician comments on pop and soft rock hits, with an occasional yacht rock comment.

[Lukas Evan · Rating 2 out of 5]

As pleasant and fleeting as a summer breeze.

[Onionboy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excerpts of interviews roughly grouped by topic. If you are interested in Yacht Rock, there probably aren't too many resources like this. Not terribly exciting, but interesting enough to hear from the people who made the music.