Uploaded July 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
If there were a bible of women in rock and roll, chapter one, verse one would read: “In the beginning, there was Carol Kaye.” Originally a bebop guitarist, Carol crossed over into rock and roll in 1958, when Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Ricky Nelson, and the Everly Brothers topped the charts. But unlike those who found fame and fortune as headliners, Carol chose to work her magic as a studio musician.
During the 1960s, Carol was a charter member of the small group of Los Angeles-based studio musicians known as the “Wrecking Crew.” At various times, their members included first-call guitarists Tommy Tedesco, Barney Kessel, Glen Campbell, and Al Casey; drummers Hal Blaine and Earl Palmer; saxophonist Steve Douglas; and electric bassists Joe Osborn and Max Bennett. Working alongside these session legends, Carol played guitar or bass on Top-10 hits by the Beach Boys, Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Sam Cooke, the Four Tops, Ike & Tina Turner, Jan & Dean, the Monkees, Paul Revere & the Raiders, the Righteous Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel, Sonny & Cher, Barbra Streisand, the Supremes, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Frank Zappa, and many others. As the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson noted, “Carol played on ‘Good Vibrations’ and ‘California Girls,’ and she was, like, the star of the show. I mean, she was the greatest bass player in the world, and she was way ahead of her time.”
Carol eventually began emphasizing movie and TV dates. Her film credits include Airport, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night, The Pawnbroker, and Walk Don’t Run, to name a few. You can also hear her on reruns of The Addams Family, The Brady Bunch, Hawaii Five-O, Hogan’s Heroes, M.A.S.H., Mission Impossible, and other popular series. In 2000, Berklee College of Music named her “the most recorded bassist of all time, with 10,000 sessions spanning four decades.”
Our interview took place in January 1983. At the time, I was writing a Guitar Player magazine cover story on Women in Rock, and Carol, naturally, was the first person I contacted. I hope you enjoy this unique recording.
To help us continue producing podcasts, please hit the donation link and send some support our way: paypal.me/TalkingGuitar. All funds go toward producing future podcasts.
Thanks to engineer/producer Nik Hunt for enhancing the sound of the 40-year-old master tape. Be sure to check out the other historic interviews on the Talking Guitar YouTube channel. For dozens more guitar-intensive podcasts, interview transcripts, and articles, visit Talking Guitar magazine at jasobrecht.substack.com/.
This podcast is copyright 2023 by Jas Obrecht. All rights reserved.
If there were a bible of women in rock and roll, chapter one, verse one would read: “In the beginning, there was Carol Kaye.” Originally a bebop guitarist, Carol crossed over into rock and roll in 1958, when Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Ricky Nelson, and the Everly Brothers topped the charts. But unlike those who found fame and fortune as headliners, Carol chose to work her magic as a studio musician.
During the 1960s, Carol was a charter member of the small group of Los Angeles-based studio musicians known as the “Wrecking Crew.” At various times, their members included first-call guitarists Tommy Tedesco, Barney Kessel, Glen Campbell, and Al Casey; drummers Hal Blaine and Earl Palmer; saxophonist Steve Douglas; and electric bassists Joe Osborn and Max Bennett. Working alongside these session legends, Carol played guitar or bass on Top-10 hits by the Beach Boys, Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Sam Cooke, the Four Tops, Ike & Tina Turner, Jan & Dean, the Monkees, Paul Revere & the Raiders, the Righteous Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel, Sonny & Cher, Barbra Streisand, the Supremes, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Frank Zappa, and many others. As the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson noted, “Carol played on ‘Good Vibrations’ and ‘California Girls,’ and she was, like, the star of the show. I mean, she was the greatest bass player in the world, and she was way ahead of her time.”
Carol eventually began emphasizing movie and TV dates. Her film credits include Airport, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night, The Pawnbroker, and Walk Don’t Run, to name a few. You can also hear her on reruns of The Addams Family, The Brady Bunch, Hawaii Five-O, Hogan’s Heroes, M.A.S.H., Mission Impossible, and other popular series. In 2000, Berklee College of Music named her “the most recorded bassist of all time, with 10,000 sessions spanning four decades.”
Our interview took place in January 1983. At the time, I was writing a Guitar Player magazine cover story on Women in Rock, and Carol, naturally, was the first person I contacted. I hope you enjoy this unique recording.
To help us continue producing podcasts, please hit the donation link and send some support our way: paypal.me/TalkingGuitar. All funds go toward producing future podcasts.
Thanks to engineer/producer Nik Hunt for enhancing the sound of the 40-year-old master tape. Be sure to check out the other historic interviews on the Talking Guitar YouTube channel. For dozens more guitar-intensive podcasts, interview transcripts, and articles, visit Talking Guitar magazine at jasobrecht.substack.com/.
This podcast is copyright 2023 by Jas Obrecht. All rights reserved.
