Yacht rock first set sail over 50 years ago, but the sound just keeps getting bigger and bigger. This particular kind of soft rock — paired best with a piña colada and a pool chair — peaked in the late Seventies and early Eighties. But it didn’t get its official name until the mid-2000s, when a web series gave overdue appreciation to the breezy bangers made by Steely Dan, Gerry Rafferty, and the Doobie Brothers. In 2015, SiriusXM launched an official Yacht Rock channel, thanks to Jess Besack, senior director of music programming and special projects.
“I didn’t grow up with yacht rock, but it was in the ether, the way some of these long-lasting hits always are, and they get absorbed into your brain,” Besack tells Rolling Stone. “These songs are all so intrinsically related. They share the smoothness, they share this groove. It’s a very relaxing type of music. And then there’s this built-in humor aspect to it, which is so great. It’s always been rolled up in a ton of affection — it’s not making fun.”
Eleven years later, the channel is still going strong. The Sirius app has spinoff channels like Yacht Soul (where Al Roker hosts Yacht Soul Sundays), Yacht Country, and Yacht Rock Deep Cuts. Besack also runs channels featuring U2, Kelly Clarkson, and the soft pop of the late Eighties and Early Nineties (that channel is obviously titled Mom Jeans), but there’s something special about yacht rock. “There’s a generation-spanning appeal to it,” says Besack. “You have the people who actually grew up with this music and were true original fans of it, and they can be kind of purist about it. Then there’s people like my generation, who discovered it via the YouTube videos. And there’s still younger and younger people who are getting into it.”
To coincide with Rolling Stone’s new list of the Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time, we asked Besack to run through her favorite yacht rock solos. “The greatest guitar solo in yacht rock is the sax solo of ‘Baker Street,’” she jokes. “I would like that to be memorialized somewhere.”
Steely Dan, “Peg”: Solo by Jay Graydon (1977)
There’s just so many layers of precision work going on in all these yacht rock songs. All the tracks that I picked are so proficient and so incredible, and they don’t take away from the rest of the song. “Peg,” my God, you could do miniseries on just the vocals, just the key. And then you have this guitar solo by Jay Graydon. So much of the yacht rock catalog are these incredible session musicians who play on a lot of different bands’ tracks. You don’t hear their name as much as you do a Donald Fagen or whatever. But giving them a little bit of a shine is a good idea. Give me Standing in the Shadows of Motown, but for yacht rock.
Steely Dan, “Reelin’ in the Years”: Solo by Elliott Randall (1972)
Is it fair to say there’s two guitar solos? Because it starts with a guitar solo. The one that’s halfway through the song gets a lot of love and attention. But for me, I really love getting hit in the face right away. It’s a little bit different than the other songs that I picked, where I was like, “Oh, [the solo] blends. It works cohesively with the rest of everything going on in the song.” With “Reelin’ In the Years,” this one comes screaming out the gate with a guitar solo. It’s almost an anti-yacht rock way to start a song. But it’s Steely Dan. They make their own rules.
Player, “Baby Come Back”: Solo by Peter Beckett (1977)
The solo on “Baby Come Back” is groovy and dramatic. It’s one of those you find yourself singing along to, which is always a good sign. You can’t sing along to a lot of really virtuosy guitar solos. But yacht rock ones, you find yourself almost like karaoke-ing them.
Gerry Rafferty, “Right Down the Line”: Solo by Hugh Burns (1978)
Gerry Rafferty is just cool. He’s not trying too hard. There’s nothing show off-y, but it adds so much and you’re just like, “Ugh, listen to that!” You almost don’t notice it until you’re like, “Oh my gosh, I have to turn on my ear for the guitar here.”
And that’s Hugh Burns. I think it speaks to how incredible these musicians are that they’re doing this. The guitar solos contribute to the overall final product, but they’re not taking anything away. The song isn’t a vehicle for a solo, ever, and I think that’s definitely the case here.
George Benson, “Breezin’”: Solo by Benson (1976)
Anytime you can take a moment for George Benson, you have to. He’s probably a little more yacht soul than yacht rock, but he’s definitely included in the greater yacht rock universe. But dude, talk about cool. It is just effortless.