I am personal friends with Darek as I'm living in Japan about one minute away from him and we sit in the park together often. He is aware of this video and very thankful for it. He is still performing and playing at his favourite club and is still planning to record and release music!
I know some people poke a bit of fun at the genre currently dubbed as Yacht Rock. But I have much love and respect for the incredible artists that defined it: Player, Earth, Wind and Fire, Ambrosia, Dr. Hook, Gino Vanelli, Boz Scaggs, Paul Davis... The memories run deep. Soulful, catchy, rhythmic, expert muscianship and impeccable production. Long live Yacht Rock! Derek Jackson...Genius bass line on H to H and superb musicianship. He is a master of the instrument.
I don't know if EWF would be called yacht rock. They would just be R&B. Although, they're very top echelon of r& with heavy jazz influence. I think Yacht Rock simply replaces "soft rock" -- which I think it was itself a misnomer because I think it was a label applied to soul or soul-inflected pop by white guys.
My favorite Yacht Basslines is "Peg" from Steely Dan, "If I Saw You" from Pages and Boz Scaggs "Lowdown". What so amazing about Yacht Rock is and always be the rhythm section behind the vocalists of the genre. Keep it up Bassman and thanks.
@@margix1172 true enough, but also falls under a few different umbrellas, blue eyed soul, soft jazz, soft rock, adult contemporary...can't really put it in a box, yaught rock is a good fit imho
Kenny said David Foster was on grand piano in one room and Michael McDonald On Rhodes in another room and they tracked at the same time but they never played at the same time. Rhodes on the verses then he'd stop and then piano on the pre-chorus and chorus, brilliant arranging and playing.
I used to work at a grocery store and they played songs like this all the time. I always hated them haha. You could never hear the bass and most mids through the speakers (like I didn't even recognize the song until the chorus even though I worked at this store for a decade). But I've got much more respect for this music now thanks to your breakdown of it's complexity. Thanks for changing my mind!
Store and restaurant listening- a riot. Sometimes it’s all bass. Sometimes you can’t hear it at all. Sometimes the 12v ceiling system does not account for hard panning and you get one half of a Beatles track. We used to play “Guess the Song?”
Another great video. My favorite is Yacht Rock bass line is probably “What you won’t do for love” by Bobby Caldwell. From what I can tell Bobby played bass on that track himself.
I’ve already commented a little too much, but thank you for plucking and striking the bass strings in a way that accentuates the different ways to voice the strings without making it jarring. Too many bass players make the mistake (my opinion) of just making a cacophony of nerve jangling clanking when it comes to slapping and plucking the strings. In short (too late) you have a much more controlled and admirable sound.
I was thinking about Thundercat when he played Kenny Loggins. That Drunk album is top notch. Lots of Yacht rock elements and a little Zappa in his lyrics.😂
So we're about the same age, and if you came over for dinner, this is the genre you'd be listening to! I love the breakdown here. Just before the pandemic, I had the honor to see Mr. David Foster live. It was like 3/4 concert, 1/4 history lesson. Thank you for the content here!
Great bass line. So much subtlety and complexity, that’ll be an interesting one to sit with. As far as my favorite from the genre, it is likely Chuck Rainey’s work on Steely Dan’s “Peg.” The gems of bass playing in all of those songs is a wonderful revelation for someone who was all about the classic hard rock legends when I first started playing, especially given that I too grew up on these songs, and revisiting them from the point of view of the instrumentalist is eye-opening to the brilliance so easily taken for granted.
As the self professed Queen of Yacht Rock (vocals), this content brought joy. I also appreciate reading the comments and watching your followers grow & appreciate you.
I love your channel brother, every episode, pure knowledge and class. Enough of the compliments. A cult figure in the U.K. on the "rare groove" scene (a very British Sub genre) was Jim Messina for two tracks, " Love Is Here" and "Lovin You Every Minute". Both classics and very much in the genre of "Yacht Rock". There was no such term back in the day. If he is new to you (which i doubt ) then enjoy. Once again, huge respect and keep the content coming. Love and respect.
@@sactownchad i am 62 and have played the drums for over 55 years... no one every ask me to lay down a "Yacht Rock" groove before... now i need to know what is "Pop Rock"... or the difference between the two...
@@sactownchad. excuse me sir!!! who is complaining? i learned something new with this video... i.e. "yacht rock"... i would call Doobie Brothers/Kenny Loggins "pop rock"... how is that complaining? just stating MY life experiences... right? YOU ENJOY YOUR DAY TODAY... OK? p.s. you took a conversation and went LEFT with it... WHY? just go back to my original post... i wrote ===> "thanks for teaching us"... how in the world is that complaining!!!
Born in 1969. Grew up in Gary, Indiana with Yacht Rock and Disco. Went into orchestra on Viola, ended up on bass the next year to college to a music teacher by 1988. There's a core of me that holds so hard on 70s ride or die.
Excellent analysis (as always)! FWIW - one of my personal faves in the genre is “I Keep Forgetting” by Michael Mcdonald. IIRC - that Gadd and Louis Johnson.
Thanks Paul, I agree! I have always enjoyed Jimmy Haslip’s bass line on “I just want to stop” by Gino Vannelli. Not flashy, just a great groove, very tasty…
Great breakdown - I am sorry to admit I never looked up who played this bass line, but am glad to now know it's Derek Jackson. Pretty much impossible to play a more perfect bass line for a song than he did here. The lineup of musicians on this album is incredible. This track alone includes David Sanborn, Richard Page & Steve George (both of Mr. Mister fame), Lenny Castro, David Foster, and Michael McDonald. Elsewhere are Abe Laboriel, Nathan East, Steve Perry, Neil Giraldo, and Steve Lukather, among others.
Agreed, I think pdbass has the perfect vibe for breaking all this stuff down! Sirius Radio even has a station in their line up "Yacht Rock". They play a lot of stuff I forgot about. Great video "pd"! Also new subscriber:)
Yeah man, this album soothes my soul... David Foster does this piano-bass sort of thing all the time, with my favorite being Deniece Williams's When Love Comes Calling, absolute banger track
I listen to heat to heart about once a month lossless. Just part of my 6 tb library of music. Loggins is a beast. I can throw him right in with the Commodores, Al Jerreau, of course Michael McDonald, and Paul McCartney, for early 80s pop. He got as close as Michael McDonald to being one of the RnB big guns for a minute there. Beautiful Voice and cool compositions. I wish he would've teamed up with Lionel Richie or Earth Wind and Fire for a few songs but oh well. Love this channel! You're playing all my jams, and helping me understand why I'm still listening to this stuff after 40years man
I was born in 73' and am a big Yacht Rock fan. I never really thought of how good the bass is on this song until you broke it down. My favorite YR song is Watcha Gonna Do by Pablo Cruise. Bud Cockrell's bass playing and Steve Price's drumming are so damn good. They were locked in and in the pocket.
Love the Richard Davis reference… I’d love to see you break down his work on Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks. The bass on “the way young lovers do” hits HARD, and his choices are the most unique and daring decisions by a bassist in that era or genre. I’m gonna go listen to it now!
I can't believe it but I had , somehow, forgotten about this song. When you said Kenny Loggins and greatest yacht rock bass lines I thought it would have been "Whenever I call you friend". The late George Hawkins Jr plays that one and it is the most catchy bass line I've ever heard, IMHO.
1980s Japanese pop music, dubbed CityPop, took a lot from Yacht Rock and made it their own. There's a lot of funky basslines like this one in that genre, Refrain from Yurie Kokobu being a prime example.
Love this channel! I'm not a musician. Rather, I'm a lover of music & love learning about all aspects of the art form. I really dig what some classify as "Yacht Rock" & this video struck in my mind a really cool track off of Pablo Cruise's 'Worlds Away' album. The cut "Don't Want To Live Without It" has what I think is one the funkiest, smoothest, & cool grooves I've ever heard. While Bruce Day was the bands official bass player, this track was laid down by Mike Porcaro. I find myself often putting on headphones, turning the volume up & just mentally trying to isolate the bass part & figure out how he grooves for the first bit of the track then switches to a super funky breakdown to finish it. Because I'm not a musician like most of you surely are, I may be way off base in suggesting that it's ultra complicated so please forgive me if it's not. But to me it's amazing. I'd love to hear an analysis of it & when I discovered this channel, I figured I'd suggest it. Mike Porcaro was an amazing player & I'd love to hear any other undiscovered gems from him disected. Thanks everyone.
Thank you! One of the most incredible bassists ever! He doesn't stop there, he is an incredible producer, songwriter and arranger! I am so happy to see him being recognized! :).
I was in band in middle school, I played trumpet, baritone and keys. I regret that I did not stick with it. Your videos inspire me to get back into the technical side of music. You make the theory easy to understand, although it may not necessarily be easy to DO. Thanks for posting the technical and the practical, making it relatable to us!
Great content, as always! I love how you cover the chords and drum figures as well as nailing the bass part. I didn't use the term "Yacht rock" at the time, but I liked The Little River Band - George McArdle in "Reminiscing" :)
As someone who lived through those times and listened to a lot of music, I agree that these labels weren’t known then. However that doesn’t mean that they’re not useful ways of thinking about the music retrospectively.
Great example, though I really do really love David Hungate's bass line to Boz Scaggs' "Lowdown." It's easier to play but absolutely iconic. That P-bass thumping pop at the beginning is legend.
Oh yeah! This is a great one. Excellent breakdown. How about Chuck Mangione “Feels So Good”? The staple soundtrack of weather reports and local afternoon talk shows, as well as well-sampled in hip hop. PD, what are your thoughts on Thundercat? You heard that joint “Show you the way” with Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald? It’s new and familiar…
Thanks so much for this breakdown! Your analysis is perfect. This song, "Minute by minute" and "New frontier" are the GOAT for me, I am also a bassist and learned to play this on keyboard by ear, this song has a magic that always makes me feel great... on a side note, I don't like the term "Yacht rock", I prefer to call this "West Coast", I remember this term was used before someone came with the yacht thing. Keep up the excellent work. Thanks again.
@@sactownchad This have nothing to do with "generations" , why do hard rock hasn't changed...why do heavy metal hasn't changed....why do funk hasn.t changed and so on...and only AOR that i the perfect term in order to label this style has become a ridicolous "yacht rock"???? It is simply a false and dumb term ...so why don't label classical as "queen and king symphonies" or funk as "ghetto dance" etc...? it's just r-i-d-i-c-o-l-o-u-s
Great analysis! I'm a guitarist/bassist born the year Kennedy was elected. I was already a working musician when this song was released. It is one of the best composed songs of the time. From a bass player vantage, McDonald's "I Keep Forgetting" and the Doobie Bros. (another McDonald composition) "Takin' It to the Streets" ranks high on my list. Louis Johnson and Tiran Porter, respectively use enormous amounts of space to make both songs groove. BTW, have you ever had to play the intro to "Josie" on bass? It can be done, or "hacked", on a 5 string well enough to fool the casual listener.
PSA: OK, this video is about Loggins...his bandmate Jim Messina has an album, OASIS...if you're into Yacht Rock, this checks all the boxes. Nice playing, nice bass.
Paul, I love this channel and love this song. For great bass lines of yacht rock, I don't know if this is the best line, but one of the best songs by Kenny Loggins in this genre for me has always been This Is It by on the The Fire This Time album. You won't remember me, but I met you in the late 00s (2000?) coming out of a Giant Eagle in Squirrel Hill. I recognized you because I was a host at James St. Tavern on the North Side back then. We chatted about Jaco's 3 views of a secret. . Anyway, so glad you do this channel and you are such an awesome persona and great player. Also, I have a request for possible future videos. It's not exactly "groove music" but it grooves. I am talking about the fretless bass line on "Open Letter to a Landlord" by Living Colour from 1988's Vivid. The bass player is Muzz Skillings. I have always loved that song and loved that he plays fretless on it. Just a thought. Keep doing what you are doing. You make the music world a better place.--Sincerely, Matt Meldrum
I'm new to your channel and I just wanted to voice some appreciation, you have got me listening to a lot of music that I had overlooked, the analysis is on point and your passion is infectious.
You're helping bring highlights to all the great music to younger generation when sadly, as others like the guy from Atlanta sorry can't remember his name, point out truth of statistics that the youngest generation don't care about music. So sad. My teenage kids don't care about music and musicians. Ugh. As an 80s kids I existed because music
oh yeah, that bass line is dynamite doc, u rt on point, good pic, that's iconic, but my personal fav yacht rock bass line goes to Walter Becker FM/no static, I dig the overdubbed hypno-bass and the 4 bar G major progression, woven together like tapestry as well, great work man, keep 'em comin
@@jazzpunk Hi Jazzpunk, not ignoring u, jst lot going on. Anyway; fm(no static) was actually the only time that (Becker/Fagan) handeled all the instrumental work aside from added string section (later), Fagen did all the piano/keyboard arrangements, & Becker all guitar/bass. Bass overdubs in this case
@@jazzpunk now; about the string section, supposedly only the second time that Steely Dan ever added a string accompaniment. Johnny Mandel handeled all the string arrangements according to liner notes on the FM Soundtrack LP
It's always a pleasure to listen to your explanation. I knew the sound before, but never heard of "Yacht Rock". Thanks for this. br Markus Heflik from Germany
Well done, man. Your analyses are always top notch. As someone whose reading is, frankly, better than my ear, I appreciate than you notate stuff. That has helped me steal a few ideas. 🙂
Good GOD your killin me today . 🤣. I so much understand every thing you say and the nuance of it . And yes always dig this cut .!! As well as Georgie Porgie . I know em all . Lol . Joey
You really gotta start a patreon for requests and breakdowns. I HAVE SO MANY I would love to see you do on your channel here. As for my favorite yacht rock bass line? I have to think about it
Love your channel! Not mentioned was Chicago, Idk if they fit in this category, but always loved the jazz/rock combination. I'll continue watching, always entertaining information 😊
HA! Never hear that term before and being born in the late 60’s and having older siblings I heard quite my share of Yacht Rock. I loved this genre. I think What You Won’t Do For Love by Bobby Caldwell might be my favorite from this era though. Thanks for bringing me back to this time in music. I now know what my music playlist for the workday is.
I was at Tandem Computers in 1988 when we had our 1 Billion Party (Tandem had $1BN rev). Loggins played our party along with Charlie Daniels, Chuck Berry, and a Santa Cruz band, The Kool Jerks (Blues Bro clones). Great choice once again; I had forgotten about those albums; will play on Spotify today!
Around the 4:30, as you was strumming your guitar, that jazz groove gave me fond memories of the bassline to the theme of Barney Miller. Keep up the fantastic work.
Idk if City Pop/Japanese Jazz fusion really counts as Yacht Rock, but Cassiopeia had some awesome bass lines. The line from Swallow interacts with the chords in some really cool ways.
An underrated tune is "How do those fools survive?" By the Doobie Brothers, its the last song on the Minute by Minute album... Mr. Porter is doing the lords work on that tune!!
My favorite yacht rock basslines are Ambrosia ; Biggest Part of me, Steely Dan : Peg, Toto; Georgy Porgy, Boz Scaggs; Lowdown, Doobie Brothers; What A Fool Believes, Gino Vannelli ; I Just Wanna Stop, Robbie Dupree; Steal Away, Kenny Loggins ; This is it, Michael McDonald ; I Keep forgetting , Hall & Oates I can't go for that.
Another awesome video Paul! Al Jarreau’s Boogie Down has an awesome bass line, on Synth Bass… Used to cover it with an Octaver…PS. your P Bass and Tone is ‘Smooottthhh” 👍🏻
Great video, thanks. I realize the focus was the base part, you have to give some love to David Sanborn's sax solo. It was credited as "Artistic Debris" in the album's liner notes.
