CAROL KAYE

If you’ve ever wondered what connects Frank Zappa to Frank Sinatra, Burt Bacharach to The Beach Boys or Ray Charles to The Righteous Brothers, the answer is simple: Carol Kaye. We discover the story behind the legendary bassist’s iconic sound

- Denny llett

If plucking a ripe plum from a tree had a sound, it would resemble Carol Kaye's signature tone - a tone that made her a 'first-call' bassist in the highly competitive studio session world. It wasn't just that, though. Kaye is arguably the first bassist to exploit the instrument in a truly melodic fashion, a nod perhaps to her early days as a jazz guitar prodigy. Her ability to invent memorable and influential bass and guitar parts on the spot in a high-pressure situation took her to - and kept her at the very top of the studio scene and onto more than 10,000 recordings.

Carol Kaye was born into a musical family in Washington state on the Pacific Northwest in 1935, with both parents professional musicians. In 1942, they relocated to California and by the age of 13, she took possession of her first guitar. Incredibly, within a year she was proficient enough to take on students of her own alongside playing gigs in the local jazz clubs.

"I turned professional in 1948 after working with a fine jazz guitar teacher on the West Coast," Carol says. "Within a few months I'd learned enough to be out playing jazz gigs. Almost everyone in those days had a musical instrument. If you think of how many people today have cell phones and computers, that's how many people had instruments and how popular music was then. You heard real music everywhere: on the radio, TV and in the movies."

The Jazz Scene

In the 1950s Carol worked for the jazz saxophonist Teddy Edwards. While in his band, she came to the attention of producer Robert 'Bumps' Blackwell who is best remembered for producing and co-writing with Little Richard on a string of rock'n' roll classics such as Tutti Frutti, Long Tall Sally and Good Golly, Miss Molly.