Yacht Rock a Dockumentary

tenordas said

Is that meant as a compliment or a put down?

I don't consider Steely Dan "yacht rock" for even a second. It's jazz fusion and not anywhere near "poppish" enough to be thrown in with the likes of Cross, Loggins, etc. And I admit my bias as one who is not a fan of yacht rock.
While I'm okay with the tunes Michael McDonald wrote for The Doobie Brothers, I will quickly tell you they are near the bottom of my list of Doobie Brothers songs. His solo stuff you can have. Just my taste...

Click to expand...

I think the Dockumentary does a good job of explaining how the Steely Dan "sound" was the impetus for the whole "yacht rock" genre- what Steely Dan did, musically, in studio, is what led to this sound. Off-time rifs and chords, r&b/jazz infused timing and sound coupled with lyrics and in some instances, voices, that birthed this whole thing. It was crossover music before crossover music was even a thing.

What surprised me was just how almost every one of the artists in this genre were originally simple session players. Shoot, i had no idea Toto ( the entire band ) were more interested in playing session music than their own. The drummer played on over 5000 studio recorded songs for every artist you can think of.

Oh and Michael Jackson- didnt write Human Nature. ;) ( and how it came to be on the album- the story behind it- thats the reason i watch these documentaries. you find out/hear some really interesting and crazy stories )