Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen criticized the directors of the ‘Yacht Rock’ documentary.
A user on X recently shared a conversation from News Central with the caption, “Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen telling the directors of the ‘Yacht Rock’ documentary exactly what he thinks of that name and Steely Dan being lumped into that genre. I don’t think he was on the doco…”
“Hello, Mr. Fagen…” said Garret Price. “Yeah, this is he,” Fagen replied. “Hi, this is Garret. I’m the one making this ‘Yacht Rock’ documentary,” the director explained.
Garret continued, “So, I’ve been talking to a lot of people that have played with you and Steely Dan over the years, and I was wondering if you’d sit down with me and talk about your music and this genre?”
Fagen asked, “And what genre is that?” Garret replied, “‘Yacht Rock.'” Fagen said, “Oh, ‘Yacht Rock.’ Well, I tell you what. Why don’t you go f*ck yourself?” The director laughed and added, “I think Donald Fagen hung up on me.”
The HBO Films documentary ‘Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary’ premiered on November 13 at the DOC NYC festival. The conversation between Fagen and Garret is featured in the film, as reported by People.
Price told People the call and hang-up were ‘100% real.’ Despite this, Fagen’s manager later called back and allowed six Steely Dan songs to be used in the documentary. The director said, “I think it’s a wink. It’s like, ‘I get it. I understand how important this name [‘yacht rock’] is to our music. But I’m gonna let you know how I feel about that.’ It’s him being him.”
The documentary delves into ‘yacht rock,’ a soft rock style blending jazz and R&B, which was popular in the late ’70s and early ’80s. The term originated from a web series that ran from 2005 to 2010. Steely Dan were considered its godfathers, Toto its architects, and Michael McDonald its voice. Other notable artists included Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, Boz Scaggs, and Black musicians like George Benson and Michael Jackson.
Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen telling the directors of the ‘Yacht Rock’ documentary exactly what he thinks of that name and Steely Dan being lumped into that genre. I don’t think he was on the doco..🤣 pic.twitter.com/Pqvnujbq5E
— Punt Road (@punt_rd) December 29, 2024
