Carol Kaye facts for kids

Carol Kaye (born March 24, 1935) is an American musician. She is one of the most recorded bass guitarists in rock and pop music. She has played on an estimated 10,000 songs over a career lasting more than 65 years.

Kaye started playing guitar when she was a teenager. After teaching guitar for a while, she began performing jazz music in Los Angeles. In 1957, she started working as a session musician. This means she played instruments for recording artists in the studio. She worked with famous producers like Phil Spector and Brian Wilson. In 1963, she switched to playing bass guitar when a bass player did not show up for a recording session. She quickly became one of the most requested session players of the 1960s. She played on many hit songs. Later, she started playing for film soundtracks. She also wrote books to teach others how to play the electric bass. Carol Kaye has continued her career and is highly respected by other musicians. In 2025, she was chosen to join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

During her busiest years, Carol Kaye was part of a group of Los Angeles musicians known as The Wrecking Crew. She appeared in a 2008 movie about them called The Wrecking Crew.

Early life and musical start

Carol Kaye was born in Everett, Washington. Her parents, Clyde and Dot Smith, were both professional musicians. Her father played the trombone in big bands. In 1942, her family moved to Wilmington, California.

Kaye was raised as a Baptist. In the early 1960s, she converted to Judaism. She had a Bat Mitzvah ceremony.

When she was 13, Kaye received a steel string guitar from her mother. She began playing in jazz clubs around Los Angeles. In the 1950s, Kaye played bebop jazz guitar with groups like Bob Neal's and the Henry Busse Orchestra. She also toured the United States with them.

Career highlights

Playing for pop music hits

In 1957, Carol Kaye was playing at a club in Hollywood. A producer named Robert "Bumps" Blackwell invited her to a recording session for Sam Cooke's song "Summertime". She realized she could earn much more money doing studio work than playing in clubs. So, she decided to become a full-time session musician.

In 1958, she played acoustic guitar on Ritchie Valens' song "La Bamba". This was recorded at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood. Through Gold Star, she started working with producer Phil Spector. She played electric guitar on songs like "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" by Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans and "Then He Kissed Me" by The Crystals. She also played acoustic guitar on "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". Her work with Spector made other producers notice her. She became a highly requested session player.

In 1963, a bass player did not show up for a session at Capitol Records. Carol Kaye was asked to play the bass instead. She quickly found that she loved playing bass more. She felt it allowed her to be more creative. It was also easier to carry one bass guitar to sessions instead of many guitars. After another famous bassist, Ray Pohlman, left studio work, Kaye became the most in-demand bass player in Los Angeles.

Kaye continued to play guitar on many hit songs in the 1960s. This included the twelve-string electric guitar on several Sonny & Cher songs. She also played twelve-string on Frank Zappa's album Freak Out!. It was unusual for women to be experienced session players at that time. However, Kaye remembers the sessions as fun and focused on the music.

Carol Kaye was the only regular female member of The Wrecking Crew. This was a group of studio musicians who played on many hit records in Los Angeles during the 1960s. While the public did not know their names, Kaye played bass on a huge number of songs that appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. She played on songs by Frank Sinatra, Simon & Garfunkel, Stevie Wonder, Barbra Streisand, The Supremes, The Temptations, and The Monkees. She played electric bass on Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" and helped create the famous introduction for Glen Campbell's "Wichita Lineman". Kaye often played three or four sessions a day. She was happy that so many of them became hit records.

Through her work with Phil Spector, Carol Kaye got the attention of The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. Wilson hired her for several of his albums, including Beach Boys Today, Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!), Pet Sounds, and Smile. Kaye's bass lines are described as the "driving force" behind "Good Vibrations". This song was a number 1 hit and The Beach Boys' best-selling single. Unlike other sessions where she could create her own bass lines, Brian Wilson always had very specific ideas for what she should play.

Soundtracks and teaching

By 1969, Kaye was tired of pop music sessions. She decided to change her career path. She started playing mostly for film and TV soundtracks. She also began writing and teaching. She wrote How To Play The Electric Bass, which was the first of many teaching books and video courses.

Her soundtrack work included playing on the themes for M.A.S.H., The Streets of San Francisco, and Across 110th Street. Kaye had already worked with Lalo Schifrin, playing on the theme to Mission: Impossible and the soundtrack for Bullitt. She often worked with Quincy Jones, saying he wrote some of the most beautiful music she had ever heard. Kaye was also part of Jones' orchestra at the 43rd Academy Awards.

In the early 1970s, she toured with jazz musicians Joe Pass and Hampton Hawes. She continued to do studio sessions. In 1973, she played on Barbra Streisand's song "The Way We Were". In 1976, she was in a car accident. She then mostly retired from music but continued to play sometimes.

In 1994, Kaye had surgery to fix injuries from the accident. She then started playing and recording again. She worked with Fender to create a lighter bass guitar. This helped reduce strain on her back. In 1997, she worked with Brian Wilson again. In 2006, she played on Frank Black's album Fast Man Raider Man. She was featured in the 2008 film The Wrecking Crew. In the film, she mentioned that at the peak of her career, she earned more money than the US president.

Musical style and instruments

Carol Kaye's main instrument in the 1960s was the Fender Precision Bass. She also sometimes used the Danelectro bass. In the 1970s, she used the Gibson Ripper Bass. More recently, she has used an Ibanez SRX700 bass. She uses special flatwound strings and prefers to use guitar amplifiers in the studio. These included the Fender Super Reverb and the Versatone Pan-O-Flex.

Kaye mostly uses a pick, also called a plectrum, to play both guitar and bass. She also often muted her bass strings with a piece of felt near the bridge. This helped create a clear, focused sound. She said this simple trick gave her "the best sound in town."

Kaye liked to play interesting and rhythmic bass lines. She did not just play simple parts. In the studio, she often used the higher notes on her bass. A double bass would then play the lower notes.

Legacy and influence

Carol Kaye is known as one of the greatest session bassists of all time. Michael Molenda from Bass Player magazine said that Kaye could quickly create memorable bass lines for any song. Paul McCartney said that his bass playing on the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was inspired by her work on Pet Sounds. Alison Richter from Bass Guitar magazine called Kaye the "First Lady" of bass playing. She added that Kaye's style has influenced music deeply.

Kaye's bass line in Phil Spector's song "River Deep – Mountain High" was a key part of its famous "Wall of Sound" production. This recording is now in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Quincy Jones wrote in his autobiography that "women like... Fender bass player Carol Kaye... could do anything and leave men in the dust." Brian Wilson said that Kaye's playing on "Good Vibrations" was very important to the song's sound. He said, "Carol played bass with a pick that clicked real good. It worked out really well. It gave it a hard sound."

Despite being a studio legend, Kaye never expected to be remembered so well. At the time, most musicians thought pop music would not last long. She is surprised that people still listen to the songs she played on. In 2020, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Kaye number five on its list of the 50 greatest bassists of all time.

Kaye was chosen for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025. However, she decided not to accept the honor or attend the ceremony.

Selected discography

See also

In Spanish: Carol Kaye para niños