Carol Kaye

Carol Kaye (* as Carol Smith ; March 24, 1935 in Everett , Washington ) is an American bassist and guitarist and teacher of these instruments.

Early years

Father Clyde Smith played trombone in military bands, Mother Dot was a ragtime - pianist . Carol grew up with two other siblings and the entire family moved to Wilmington, Los Angeles , California in December 1941 . Her mother bought her daughter a guitar for $ 10 in 1948, and a year later she played it so well that she was able to perform publicly as a semi-professional. With the proceeds from this she bought a Gibson Super 400 . She began as a professional jazz guitarist in 1954 in the bebop style, played exclusively with the plectrum and was part of the line- up of Jack Sheldon , Billy Higgins and most recently the Henry Busse Orchestra (until 1955). The double bass player Al Kaye, whom she married in 1954, also played here; the marriage resulted in two children. The marriage lasted only a short time, so the young mother played for the Teddy Edwards Jazz Group for income reasons . During a performance by the group at the Beverly Caverns Nightclub, she was approached by music producer Bumps Blackwell .

Studio musician

Bumps Blackwell was looking for session musicians to record with the still unknown Sam Cooke . In December 1958 she played rhythm guitar instead of René Hall in the recording session for Sam Cooke with an Epiphone Emperor, a typical jazz guitar . Cooke had a record deal with Keene Records , owned by Bob Keane, who in turn discovered Ritchie Valens . Through this chain of relationships Kaye can be heard on La Bamba with acoustic guitar on September 23, 1958 . The Valens hit La Bamba was again made in the Gold Star Studios . On 2/3 March 1959 she accompanied Sam Cooke on his hit Wonderful World . Apparently the only time her name appeared - misspelled - with the title Three Stars with Tommy Dee & Carol Kay & the Teen-Aires (April 1959). In 1961 she married David Fireman, from whom they separated again in 1964.

When Chris Montez walked into the Gold Star studios for Let's Dance on May 5, 1962, he was shocked by the female guitarist Carol Kaye. “I actually wanted someone who could play Richie Valens material.” Kaye countered: “I played on his LP.” That convinced him, and the result was a million seller . Since the recording was made in the Gold Star studios, Kaye came into contact with Phil Spector , who immortalized most of his music productions for the Wall of Sound here . Kaye's first recording for the Wall of Sound was Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah for Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans on August 24, 1962. Here she played a danelectro bass alongside Jimmy Bond (double bass) and Wallick Dean (Fender Bass). Since then she has participated in numerous Spector productions.

The wrecking crew

As in the Capitol studios of Hollywood in 1963 bassist lacked the trained guitarist Kaye took a Fender Precision Bass and jumped in; she also used the pick on the bass guitar. Until then, many music producers and sound engineers were of the opinion that the bass - like with the double bass - should be felt rather than heard. The striking touch of the bass strings with the pick brought clarity and transparency to the bass runs.

This session marked the beginning of her membership in The Wrecking Crew , a loose community of Los Angeles studio musicians who accompanied great hits from record stars on demand . In this way she played for the Beach Boys for the first time with Fun, Fun, Fun (recorded on January 1, 1964; here still guitar), then bass guitar with Help me Rhonda (March 22, 1965), Sloop John B (December 29, 1965 ), Wouldn't it be Nice (April 11, 1966) and for the concept album Pet Sounds (November 1, 1965 to April 13, 1966). She can also be heard on one of the most lavish single hits, Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys ( mix : September 21, 1966).

Carol Kaye took part in recording sessions for million-seller such as Rhythm of the Rain from the Cascades (November 1962) or You've Lost That Lovin 'Feelin' from the Righteous Brothers (August to November 1964). In addition to Kaye (Fender bass), Barney Kessel (6-string bass) and Ray Pohlman (double bass) also played as bassists . On November 19, 1965, she was booked as the bassist for the recordings of Nancy Sinatra's These Boots Are Made for Walkin ' . On March 7, 1966, the Sound of Wall's last product was created, namely Ike & Tina Turner's River Deep - Mountain High with Kaye's piercing bass runs. For Little Willie John she played some bass passages (April 1966), which, however, only appeared on the CD Nineteen Sixty Six (November 2008). The Monkees hit I'm a Believer (October 15 and 23, 1966) was created with her participation, her distinctive bass lines in the intro of Sonny & Cher 's The Beat Goes on, recorded on December 13, 1966, vitalize and characterize the entire song. Frank & Nancy Sinatra's duet Somethin 'Stupid also took place with their participation (February 1, 1967). She was booked for Electric Prunes -LPs Mass in F Minor (December 1967) and Release of Oath (November 1968), Jimmy Smith -LP Livin 'it up! (May 13-14, 1968) or Cannonball Adderley Quintet LP Accent on Africa (June 13-14, 1968). She worked for Ray Charles several times, for example with Eleanor Rigby (July 1968), Understanding (August 1968) and Don't Change on Me (April 1971). Kaye can also be heard on Glen Campbell's Wichita Lineman (May 1968) and Galveston (November 27, 1968), Paul Revere & the Raiders Indian Reservation (December 3, 1970) or Barbra Streisand 's first number one hit The Way We Were ( in 33 takes; September 12, 1973; 2 million sold).

Tamla Motown

Their participation in Motown productions is controversial , because the indispensable and regular bass player here was James Jamerson from the Funk Brothers . Kaye claimed to have played on major Motown hits, but in fact only remakes of those hits on the TCB Taking Care of Business soundtrack LP for a television show from the Supremes / Temptations (December 1968). Kaye also appeared on Motown recordings a few times when they were in Hollywood, such as the Brenda Holloway hits, the Temptations LP In a Mellow Mood (April 1967) or the Four Tops LP On Broadway (April 1967).

power

Carol Kaye found her way into California pop music as a jazz guitarist and switched to the bass guitar. She played with this instrument in more than 10,000 recording sessions and made the pick acceptable for bass guitars. She was featured on a variety of number one hits without her name becoming known to a wider audience as a session musician. She was considered a pillar of the studio music community in Los Angeles.

In 1969 her book "How to play the Electric Bass" was published, the first of many textbooks that she has written since then; The influence of the book was largely responsible for the fact that the term " Fender Bass " was replaced by " E-Bass " in common parlance . From 1969 she began working as a musician for film and television music, such as for Zwei Banditen .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Smithsonian, February 28, 2012, The Hidden History of a Rock'n Roll Hitmaker
2. ^ Premiere Guitar on August 10, 2012, Forgotten Heroes: Carol Kaye
3. ↑ Scott R. Benarde, Stars of David: Rock 'n' Rolls Jewish Stories , 2003, p 23 ff.
4. ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 166
5. ↑ possibly during the recordings for the LP Deuces, T's, Roadsters and Drums by Hal Blaine & the Young Cougars on April 4, 1963
6. ↑ Patrick Pfeiffer / Pamelia S. Phillips / Blake Neely / Jeff Strong, Making Rock Music , 2008, p. 180
7. ^ Allan Slutsky, The Carol Kaye - James Jamerson Debate
8. ^ The New York Times, June 7, 2000, This Working Mom Played Bass For the Best of Them
9. ^ Richard Williams, Phil Spector: Out of His Head , 1989, p. 65
10. ↑ Tom Mulhern, Bass Heroes , 1993, pp. 157 ff.

Web links

• Official website