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The Documentary: Carol Kaye: Queen of the bass

Queen of the bass

21/06/2022 GMT

Carol Kaye: Queen of the bass

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Carol Kaye: Queen of the bass

The extraordinary career of rock'n'roll royalty Carol Kaye

The extraordinary career of rock'n'roll royalty Carol Kaye, one of the most highly-skilled and sought after studio musicians of all time.

Rock legend Suzi Quatro introduces us to a hero of hers, Carol Kaye. Carol began her studio career in Los Angeles in 1957, playing guitar on some of Sam Cooke's soul records. At 23, she was already a top guitar player, having toured with big bands and played jazz clubs since she was a teenager. She soon became one of the most in-demand studio musicians in LA, switching to her trademark Fender bass in 1963.

Now 87, Carol is full of stories from her extraordinary career. She was part of a group of highly-skilled session musicians who could not only cut records super fast, but could also invent catchy lines to create a pop hit. Producers hired them to help mould the new sound of pop and rock coming out of Los Angeles in the late '50s and '60s. From her log book, Carol reels off record dates for the Beach Boys, Monkees, Nancy Sinatra, Frank Zappa, The Righteous Brothers, Sonny & Cher, Elvis, Simon & Garfunkel, Quincy Jones - to name just a few. It is estimated she has played on over 10,000 recording dates.

But Carol was not interested in fame or credits. She was a single mom of three who had to provide for a household of six. Then Hollywood became a dangerous place in the late '60s, and she began to concentrate on teaching, book publishing, and Hollywood film and tv scores.

Presenter: Suzi Quatro
Producer: Victoria Ferran
A Just Radio Ltd. production for BBC World Service

(Illustration of Carol Kaye playing electric bass by Linda van Bruggen)

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