Carol Kaye session musician

[john]

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Carol Kaye: my 10 greatest recordings of all time

The Beach Boys - Sloop John B (1966)...

Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made For Walkin' (1968)

...“Nancy liked two basses on her songs. That might’ve come from Billy Strange, who did the arrangement. But it worked. You needed a strong bottom end on a song like this. Boy, what a hit, huh? You couldn't turn on the radio at one point without hearing 'Boots.'”

[Note: she did not play the iconic bass line in Boots, that was a stand-up bass. She played electric bass on the song]

Sam Cooke - Summertime (1957)

“I played the guitar on this song. Bumps Blackwell had come into a club and saw me playing bebop jazz, and he asked me to play on a record he was producing. I really didn’t want to do it because I liked the clubs, but I needed the money. It wasn’t long till I realized there was more money in making records...

Ray Charles - America The Beautiful (1972)

...“As a bass player, I knew I had to keep it simple. This wasn’t a song where I was supposed to call attention to the part or move the music. It was all about Ray. All I had to do was find the right spaces and let him shine. There were a couple of fills I did. I think of them as background singers going, ‘Amen!’ That’s the only embellishment you need.”

Ray Charles - In The Heat Of The Night (1967)

“What a great, great project. I worked with Quincy Jones on the film music, playing fuzz bass on a lot of the cues. That was pretty cool. Not many people knew you put fuzz on a bass; they thought it only worked with a guitar.

“Playing the title song with Ray Charles was a dream come true. Ray was so easy to work for. I thought he was a real salt-of-the-earth kind of man. We traded a lot of jokes back and forth. He was a good kidder.

“We cut the track at Ray’s studio. I asked to have his vocal way up in my headphones because that’s what I wanted to play to. On some records, you want to cook with the band. With Ray Charles, you wanted to cook with his singing. His vocal was the most important thing, so that’s what you had to support.”

Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman (1968)

...“At one point, though, Jimmy Webb stopped me and had me do some fills. Then it was decided that I should start off the song. So that’s what you hear: me on my bass, playing this little bouncy part that introduces the number.

“Glen sang his butt off. He really captured the words and set a mood. It was incredible to see him go on and become such a success. A truly nice man."

Lou Rawls - A Natural Man (1971)...

Barbra Streisand - The Way We Were (1973)

“The single of this song is the one to hear. There are so many different versions from the movie out there, but that’s the sweet stuff. All the versions have the same strings, but on the single you can hear the solid drums and the bass part that I created.

“It was all cut live - strings, the band, and Barbra sing right there with us. I think we did 32 takes, which was quite a lot. I was trying to work around Barbra’s vocals, but Marvin Hamlisch, the producer, kept getting annoyed. ‘Stick to the part, Carol. Don’t ad-lib,’ he told me.

“I was getting pretty bored playing such a simple part, so after 31 takes I just decided, ‘Oh hell, I’m gonna go for it.’ [laughs] I played some real interesting lines and fills. Barabra’s voice held this long note, and the feeling was electrifying. She gave it her all, I gave it my all, and the whole thing came together.”

Frank & Nancy Sinatra - Somethin' Stupid (1967)

“’Somethin’ Stupid’? Well, we thought the title was pretty dumb. [laughs] Who would write something and call it ‘Somethin’ Stupid’? But the song turned out to be a real winner, and when I heard the lyrics, the title made a lot of sense.

“It’s a fun song, but it’s also a love song. When Nancy sang it with her dad, boy, that was powerful. The two of them had such father-daughter affection for each other. It was really great to see.

“It was funny, though: Frank was all business. I think we only did a couple of takes and he was out the door. He did what he had to do, he liked what he heard, and he didn’t hang around.

“We had a really good band on this one: Hal Blaine on drums; Chuck Berghofer on electric bass – I played string bass; and Al Casey on guitar, doing some real nice stuff. A wonderful recording.”

Joe Cocker - Feelin' Alright (1969)

“This was with Paul Humphrey on drums and Artie Butler on keys. Artie started out the riff, and Paul and I joined in. We got such a groove. The whole thing just rolled. Before you knew it, we were locked in beautifully.

“Joe Cocker was in the studio singing with us, which was great. In my opinion, he’s one of the only white guys who can really sing like Ray Charles, so to have him right there, working off of everything we did, it was such an inspiration.

“We played our hearts out on that song, and we nailed a great take. Then an engineer told us that we had to do it again – somebody had forgotten to roll the tape! [laughs] Oh, my goodness! You're kidding me, right?

"Well, we did it again and got it just as good. No, we got it really good. But you know what? There was something about the version that didn’t get recorded, the one that nobody will ever hear - it was THE take! [sighs] Oh, well..."

http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/c...ime-508956

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Some recordings where she played bass:

Midnight Confessions

The song was recorded by the Wrecking Crew as were all Grass Roots songs, the band only added vocals later, the group of LA studio-musicians known as the Wrecking Crew, including Carol Kaye playing the opening and full track bass-line, it has been argued that Joe Osborn played the bass on this track, however if you go to Carol Kaye's website and go to library and then photo's and scroll down you will see a picture of one of her royalty checks for playing on Midnight Confessions's, consider that case closed

Wiki

The Beach Boys [Pet Sounds] - Sloop John B


Games People Play -- Mel Torme'


Can't Help Myself


Joe Cocker - Feelin' Alright

“We played our hearts out on that song, and we nailed a great take. Then an engineer told us that we had to do it again – somebody had forgotten to roll the tape! [laughs] Oh, my goodness! You're kidding me, right?

"Well, we did it again and got it just as good. No, we got it really good. But you know what? There was something about the version that didn’t get recorded, the one that nobody will ever hear - it was THE take! [sighs] Oh, well..."

skippymaroo 1 year ago
Carol Kaye on bass - makes that tune move .

The Doors - Light My Fire


The Marketts - "Batman Theme"


The four tops - Bernadette


The Crystals - Da Doo Ron Ron


Cher - Gypsy's tramps & thieves


Played guitar on these:

La Bamba - Ritchie Valens


I Got You Babe


YOU`VE LOST THAT LOVIN` FEELIN`