Reactivation of this thread reminded me of several superb yachty covers I discovered a couple months ago. Producer and multi-instrumentalist Zo! (aka "the musical architect") dove into the yacht rock sphere on Just Visiting Three, the third in a series of digital EPs he released from 2006-2012. He does straight justice to three YR gems out of the seven tunes in the set: SD's "Black Cow," Pages' "Let It Go," and Eric Tagg's "Marzipan." The "Black Cow" cover is an almost precise take on the original, because I mean, how do you improve on the Dan. All three worth a download, I believe. Zo! f. Eric Roberson & Phonte - Marzipan (2012)
The first two Just Visiting EPs are not as YR loaded as the third one, but he does include a cover on Just Visiting Too of Bobby Caldwell's memorable song "My Flame," which I think was the follow-up to Bobby's big one. Meanwhile, here's Zo! with the cover of the tune from the first Pages album -- Zo! f. Nicolas Ryan Gant - Let It Go (2012)
Musicians on the Blush album: Lani Hall, Jay Graydon, Tim May, Marty Walsh, David Hungate, Kenny Lewis, John Pierce, Mike Porcaro, John Jarvis, Jeremy Lubbock, Brian Mann, Greg Phillinganes, Bruce Roberts, Randy Waldman, Michael Baird, Gary Ferguson, Gary Mallaber, Harvey Mason, Jeff Porcaro, Raymond Pounds, Paulinho Da Costa, Victor Feldman, Steve Forman, Herb Alpert, Charlie Daniels, Jerry Hey, Kim Hutchcroft, Bill Reichenbach, Steve Varneau, Tommy Funderburk, Tom Kelly, David Lasley, Marcy Levy, Jon Lind, Arno Lucas, Arnold McCuller, Sharon Redd, Alee Willis & Lauren Wood. Still no CD in sight!
I’m really enjoying the new Chromeo album Adult Contemporary. Very Steely Dan/Nielsen Pearson sounding
This is fascinating stuff! I'm starting to see the differential between Yacht and AC. So much so that I'm gonna give "I Want You Back in My Life Again" a much closer listen... In all honesty, it was always my least favourite track on the album (a bit too close to Cliff Richard territory for my liking); but I will listen now for those elements you point out. Thanks again!
Where has Jaye P. Morgan's 1976 self-titled album been all of my life? I've been listening to the streaming version and I'm blown away at how good this is. The full blown David Foster treatment. Any recommendations on the best CD or vinyl copy to get?
The 2019 CD reissue sounds amazing to my ears. The cymbals on Can’t Hide Love are demo worthy. It is a vinyl rip, but it is a perfectly mastered vinyl rip. I suspect that the master tapes are lost. https://www.discogs.com/release/13150129-Jaye-P-Morgan-Jaye-P-Morgan
The thing that makes that album even more amazing is that from what I understand it was private label and not initially intended for release. Not too shabby a production for a DIY project.
Late laid back entry here from Tim Feehan, making his way from Canada to California Listen For The Heartbeat
This is Yacht Soul all the way, and I'd put it on the boat in the low 60s. Steve would surely give it higher, given his recent penchant for adding R&B.
so the guy who wrote "Daydream Believer" and was a member of the Kingston Trio randomly comes back to relevance after a decade to do an ode to California with Stevie Nicks doing the most obvious backing vocals on planet Earth? Some peak yacht here
Primo Yacht Jesus. It's good in that it's pretty subtle; you can drop this in a playlist and no one will know unless they listen to the lyrics closely.
Hey, some good news for you streamers out there. It looks like whatever label produced a lot of the of-the-era Hawaiian yacht rock just added almost all their titles to Spotify. Some gems include Seawind's s/t and Light the Light albums, which are killer yacht rock, and about a dozen Kalapana albums, which range from Doobie-esque early '70s sounds to yachty early '80s track to some surprisingly rockin' late '80s AOR to some current well-produced adults contemporary. Here's a good one from their Walk Upon the Water album: I'd provide a link to my Spotify list, but my work computer now blocks all media sites , so no can do. But if you do a search for "Hawaiian Yacht Rock," I think mine is literally the only playlist on the whole platform.
This Spotify playlist has been put together by someone fairly well versed in these old albums (from around late '70s to early '80s, ie the golden years). Props for Michelle Pillar's inclusion, beautiful. Certainly her first two albums [have plenty of YR material] but by '84 it's getting more high tech Pop... I thought Erik Tagg and Paul Davis were more secular type of artists? Their sound back then was totally in step though with the other entries. Bruce Hibbard features, but I see nothing from this classic, one of the most mellow CCM albums I've ever heard: If you want to explore some other similar music omitted on this list, maybe try check out some Michael & Stormie Omartian https://www.discogs.com/artist/913196-Michael-And-Stormie-Omartian
I see Steve Archer Solo on the playlist there, a fine singer for sure. Here he is with his band, in 1981: "Nothing Can Separate Us" The Archers, from Spreadin' Like Wildfire
1, 2, 3, 4... I spy 5 YR related artists on this old soundtrack, that still doesn't appear to have a CD release! Various / Arthur - The Album (1981)
Actually it has been reissued four times on CD: three times in Japan and once in the US. Various - Arthur - The Album
