The Carol Kaye Bass Sound & Technique | Reverb Bass Tricks 

I was lucky enough to be mentored by Carol back in the early 1980s. She kept journals of her sessions, and sometimes we would look though them (she was not only coaching my bass playing, but studio practicality, how to play well with others, etc). There were working titles of songs, sometimes no titles, but just who the session was for, etc. That's better than most of us have, but still can be misinterpreted even by Carol herself. A lot of people get pissed at Carol for making claims on songs she didn't play on, but we do know for a fact that she DID play on a lot of major stuff, so while she doesn't NEED to claim those disputed tracks, she was in the fray, and sometimes memory can be a funny thing. Plus, the nature of studio work back in the day was that you had a 2 or 3 hours max to create the track, then you moved on to the next gig. You didn't spend days or weeks doing something, it was just "play this", get paid, and leave. I played on a lot of tracks in the '80s that I have no idea which parts might be me, or not, just know I worked with that artist around that time and can't tell just by listening - wild as that may sound to some people, I just can't recognize my own playing from decades ago. Look at some of the Anthology interviews with the 3 surviving Beatles and George Martin going through old recordings - even when tracks are isolated, George H, George M, and Paul are constantly asking each other "Did you play that, or is it me?"

Carol IS a living legend, every one of her interviews is money.

Hey guys, First of all, thanks so much for checking out the video and all the positive feedback. It’s truly humbling for me to play these iconic lines and know that people are enjoying them and finding them informative. Second, let me apologize for not being upfront about the controversy around I Was Made To Love Her. I truly love JJ’s AND CK’s playing and despite how it may appear in the video, my intention here was NOT to “pick a side”. Looking at the evidence I believe each has a good claim to it but the truth is that I wasn’t there and it’s not my call to make - so it’s really up to you who you choose to believe. I think we can all agree that it’s a great line regardless of who did it, and that JJ and CK have both contributed a ton to the music world. I know they both continue to inspire me! Peace, Love, and Basslines, Jeremy Kay

Wow that is one beautiful Precision Bass

Despite the "controversial" song choice toward the end, you really captured the Kay sound here. Nicely done.

I was told she volunteered to play bass, rather than being given it, so she had no previous experience of it when it was given to her. The felt idea came from pianos that she had seen in studios with front or top removed - showing that the string still sounded with the felt contact so tried it out against the bass strings, loved the tone and kept it. Truly the top bass player of all time.

Carol is an unsung hero of music. Shes the musician your favorite musicians admired

The thing that everybody forgets to mention is that I suspect she is a good reader as well. So many guys can't read. Limited options.

Jeremy you absolutely made my day. Terrific video. Informative and fun. And you NAIL her techniques!!

Don't forget Joe Osborn. I bought so many records only to later discover that it was the same bass player - Joe Osborn! I think he actually had a more distinctive sound, and I certainly respect Carol and all the great bass players. Met Victor Wooten at NAMM a year ago and he is phenomenal too.

Yeah! Thats an amazing precision sound! Thanks for sharing this Reverb!!! Now I'm going to look up everything by Carol kaye.

Sonny Bono only had an E-minor guitar vamp for "The Beat Goes On" until Carol added that iconic walking line. Kaye, Joe Osborne, and Paul McCartney had such a distinctive, clearly defined mix space through cheap 3"-6" paper speakers; it defined the burgeoning Prog-Rock sound of bassists like John Lodge, Chris Squire, Greg Lake, and Jon Camp.

Carol Kaye was not only a MONSTER, but she's super NICE !! I ordered her lesson and she signed it to me.

This guy needs to come back, he always did great videos

I just love your reviews!!! I can't get enough. I love the level of detail and that its all about bass. You're awesome!

@Reverb Jeremy- Hi, great video on Carol Kaye! Love her! My husband @Steve Dockendorf was lucky enough to have a few private lessons from Carol in 1973. One thing he told me could be added to the video was that Carol advised to tap your foot twice as fast when you get to the sixteenth notes. Thank you for creating this video and giving Carol well deserved acknowledgement. :-)

Back in 2005, I was applying for music school in Los Angeles and thought I would contact Carol Kaye to see if she was available for lessons, so I wrote her an email asking her opinion. In that email I also asked about "I Was Made to Love Her" thinking she would just write it off with a comment about how no one kept track of things back then, the way they do now, as I've heard other people explain it. In her response, she began criticizing the school I was applying for, saying it's a scheme to take away people's money (I've since graduated from there, learning that while it did cost me some tuition, they weren't cheating anyone). She went on to express her annoyance - not so much with my question about the song, but that she believed that her valuable work had been accredited to Jamerson because that fit the story better. I then had the opportunity to ask Bob Babbit (R.I.P.) about "I Was Made to Love Her". He then referred to "Standing In the Shadows of Motown", stating that while some aspects of the movie are perhaps romanticized for the sake of film, the events described were all true and indeed, Jamerson played the bass track to "I Was Made to Love Her". What I conclude is that Jamerson played bass on "I Was Made to Love Her". When people defend their position with lashing out, they're usually trying to cover something up. Please don't misunderstand - I truly respect Carol Kaye for her work and especially with the Beach Boys, but I cannot imagine she went through life without some scrutiny about being "a woman in a man's world" back then. Also - ALL of the music coming out of Motown back in the 60s was recorded in Detroit. It wasn't until years later when they open up studios in California that other players than the Funk Brothers began appearing on the recordings - Carol Kaye wasn't even affiliated with Motown - She's from Washington (state) and played for The Wrecking Crew in California. It just doesn't add up. Also - listen to ALL the songs with her bass lines, then listen to I Was Made to Love Her. From an analytical perspective, the choices made in "I Was Made to Love Her" is not Carol Kaye. Also the sound is softer and muffled unlike the picked sound of Carols guitaresque style. But, what do I know?

Hey, can anyone tell me if the bass line from "I Was Made To Love Her" is actually James Jamerson's? I've only read it in the comments a million times... And if I'm being honest, Kaye's bass on Mel Tormé's "Games People Play" is far more impressive and memorable to me than anything else being debated in these comments. Just enjoy the video, folks. It was very informative with regards to her style and technique.

I can see that flatwounds & higher action combine to help eliminate string noise, but the bigger factor is your careful, accurate fretting & picking, which is probably a lot harder than it looks, and especially if a player is gonna do a five-hour-long gig or an all-day session. You really do it justice, and that's no small feat. I'm impressed by the wonderful audio capture in this video, too. It makes my Bluetooth sound like a real speaker. I take my P-bass to jams and use Dean Markley stainless in a very light gauge, with moderately-stiff action and I usually bring my Vibrolux Reverb. I palm-mute. A lot of the other players bug me to turn it up, and they may be on to something, as I feel that the bass shouldn't too often be strident or commanding, but just covering the low end in the perimeter of the musical landscape. I always set the amp on a padded riser to kill floor-coupling. I think the folks who want me to crank it are too habituated to working with bass players who are generally way too loud and who set their amp right on the floor. But I insist the music doesn't need all that throbbing & boominess, and that listeners tend to turn off to it. The bass isn't the star of the show, and shouldn't be competing for attention or drowning out the band. Carol is admired for her craftiness & her wicked-sharp musical intellect, not for being able to play circles around Stu Hamm. She knows when to lay out and when to lay it on, and she's never too busy in the mix. You made a gem of a video. Short & sweet & to the point, and very much fun to watch. Thank you. Great job!

She's the best, her playing and licks made me love bass, and play it since my 14 y.o. Then I started guitar at 15, and still play both.

Good video. I’ve played guitar for decades and used lots of Carol’s material for guitar. Now I’ve taken up the bass and will work w her bass books. Such a great and creative player.

This "Bass Tricks" series are awesome. Keep them coming! =D

Thank you! More more is right. Hope to see many more vids like this. Beautiful Fender too! Nothing better than for us all to learn from the "greats".

I know her from taking lessons too. You got it! I buy Thomastik flatwounds wounds from her for my 68 P Bass and my 74 Jazz Bass. They last forever had she has the best price. Goes without saying she is the best and quite a task master to say the least. Truly blessed to know her.

It sucks when people make comments that are negative, he's just trying to help people. If you don't like it click on.

One of my all time favorites. Thank you.

YOU replicate Carol Kay with her Superlative tecnique and chordal under- standing. Thank You, Always, Dr

I love these bass videos. Great work!

Great Vid, THX! Even though Carol is very familiar with music theory she says that playing and knowing the modal scales is overestimated: "You only have to play the notes that fit to the chords." Bam! You know... She's the living legend! Thank you for endless inspiration and great mentorship, Queen Kaye!

Well done Jeremy. Thank you!

The key to her success was her jazz training.

Great work. Very detailed research and teaching. 👍

Woah, I was made to love her is defo Jamerson, it sounds like finger style on the record and the whole approach cries out in Jamerson's language. Great respect for Carol Kaye all the same, and some kool insights into her sound, thanks for the vid!

another vote for Jamerson on "I was made to love her". it's a classic example of his style.

She is the absolute best session musician and awesome jazz player of her time, and our time

Excellent video! Thanks! I've ordered some of Carol's books. Looking forward to their arrival.

really great tone on the bass and really enjoying the playing here!

Thanks for this post! Grateful for RU-vid! I took a few Bass Lessons from this Amazing Musician! She is Such A Cool Cat!

She played on Good Vibrations but she played a line that Brian Wilson wrote out for her. There are several YT videos of talking about that. She respected that he knew what he wanted to be played.

Just need to mention She also plays up near the neck like you were doing. A lot of pick players play down near the bridge or also rest there had on the bridge, you sounded just like her but you didn't mention it. She also holds the pick with a thumb over finder grip which is a little firmer than you were holing it. Great video loved that you featured her and your sound approach and attack was spot on. chordal tones

great video! she played nothing like most Rock bassists as her lines were built out of chords, not the usual runs. i've been playing bass for 42 years and i couldn't play like Carol if u put a gun to my head. she's just so amazing.

awesome video thanks

Thanks for doing this! Everyone really needs to hear more about the phenomenal Queen of the bass!!

Thanks great vid Nice playing, great technique as well! For info, Jamerson used the mute that was installed under the bell cover. He only muted un-sounded strings with his RH thumb. And, yes, IIWSM was Jamerson all the way, like the many other iconic Jamerson lines she erroneously claimed were hers.

Nice very informative......good job

yes! great player, and good to see a pick player who knows what's what. Kaye and Joe Osborn are huge heroes of mine.

Carol is one of the best to ever live. Thank you for putting up this video.

Great vid!

Great tribute!!!

Fascinating with the upstrokes on the upbeats

Thank you my good man. I’ve been trying to figure out the Carol Kaye/ The Byrds / The Animals type bass sound. I have a Fender Jazz Bass but I should be able to make it work. Thanks!

Great vid. I dig Carol.

Loving these bass videos! Jeremy rules. Also had no idea bass could sound so great through a Super Reverb... *rethinks everything*

Great video!

When I was trying to learn bass back in the 60s the only tutor book I could find was by Carole Kaye. Unable to read music it was way over my head. What on earth was a beguine anyway?! So I resorted to learning by ear and watching bass players in local bands. Now I am much more knowledgeable and realise what a great player and influence she was.

The beach boys did a version of I was made to love her as well, he is probably referring to that

Woof! Nice work!

These are great, more please! Pino maybe?

Only 8 minutes and 3 seconds! Great video!

really wish Jeremy led lick of the week! props, dude! xo

This and the Jamerson video were great introductions for me to start learning from some classic players. Would be cool to see some more, maybe a Bootsy Collins video? Or Jaco Pastorius?

Excellent!

Great Video, I love that vintage P Bass you are playing. I have a 1963, and that one looks much older than mine. Yours is in gret shape. What year is it. I always loved Carol's work. Like Jamerson and McCartney, her bass defined much of rock music and the greatest hits of all times.

I’m a big John Entwistle fan. He really helped me to listen to music in a different way than had I never know of him. That said, I love Carol Kaye’s playing. Her focus was on recording obviously, and as far as I know, not so much live performance, so these are two different styles. But the notes that Carol Kaye chose in her recordings was, to my ear, always the perfect choice. I’m so glad that the Wrecking Crew is recognized. I love Glen Campbell too. 👍🏼

Great Carole !! Cool Vid Bro!

Your BASS is beautiful and sounds fantastic!

she’s been cool for a long time. anyone that is irreplaceable to Phil Spector & Brian Wilson has to be the greatest.

Great thank you 😀👍🏻

One of the most prolific musicians ever. The beat goes on!

AWESOME!

Great video! I started out with Fender amps in the 60`s but they would distort bad at high volume. I never went back. Your sound was great here. Maybe an experiment is in order. Thx!

More of these!

Wow this is brilliant you are great

She was amazing the sounds the style and things she did that , man I would kill to play like her.

You got a great sound. Nailed CK!

Carol Kaye claims to have played on the Stevie Wonder session for "I Was Made to Love Her" - but Motown veterans present at the session tell a different story. Refuting Carol's claims is Allan Slutsky, author of "Standing In The Shadows of Motown." His research shows that James Jamerson, who was the bass player of the Motown house band The Funk Brothers, played the bass on this track. All Motown associates he contacted, including the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team, said it was Jamerson. Hank Crosby, who co-wrote and did production on this song, signed an affidavit saying that the bass line was performed by Jamerson. The only way Kaye's story is true is both somehow played sessions for the same number. The style of the bass-line is consistent with Jamerson, and not with Kaye. Also, it is not played with a pick, but instead features the warmer fatter tone characteristic of the playing finger(s) on the strings. The lines played in the song are utterly consistent with Jamerson, and have no antecedent in Kaye's style on other known recordings. The studio logs cannot be located or no longer survive, so the dispute isn't likely to be settled soon. Wrong-doing isn't necessarily involved, either - after the passage of so many years, memories can become garbled or grow dim. It is enough to know that both are giants of electric bass.

more . . . more!

Good video, man.

I’m jealous of her she plays real good

add on to my previous post - she didn’t bother with sticking to down & up strokes when she played guitar - in her own words she said “I just made sure I got the note, it didn’t matter to me whether it was up or down stroke. Working on Good vibrations I got told the best advice I got, “play your way, it’s awesome” when asked about being a woman in music at that time she said “no one cared it was can you play or not”

I love that tone

Jeremy! Great sound, playing and presentation. You sound so great! Can you tell us what kind of flats are on that beautiful P bass?

Hey Reverb, do one on McCartney's bass playing.

She's the type of player that Leo actually had in mind with the invention of the electric bass; a guitarist who could double on bass. I'm also pretty sure she mentioned many times about using Thomastik flatwounds, which are anything but big and beefy.

We in the AV love carol and Peter.. Awesome people ...

Milestone Bass Player. My top 5 favorite bass player ever.

I think a episode on Paul McCartney is in order!

Awesome player

Can't believe you didn't mention that she played bass on Witicha Lineman by Glen Campbell ❤️🎶

I miss this dude, is there a chance he comes back for more videos?

Dude, I just fallen in love with your bass, Sexy vintage, and nice demonstration also lool

great video , why you speak of her in the past :) she still with us,.

That’s not how Carol taught me to use a pick. Your thumb should be across the pick at a 90 degree angle with your index and middle fingertips pointing towards the point of the pick. It’s in her book “How to Play the Electric Bass”. Great video!

I wish I could take lessons from Carol!

Boy that Carol Kaye sound is so sweet, buttery and smooth. Like a fine after dinner port.

If someone tells you bass players shouldn't use a pick, just say "Carol Kaye" and walk away. In fact, so many legendary bass players have been pick players.

Kaye and Kay, I'm assuming unrelated. Great video!

I was made to love her was jamerson!

I love your videos and I love Caril Kaye, but I Was Made to Love Her was recorded at Hitsville USA. That's a Jamerson line.

Very nice. I'd read somewhere that she eschewed the use of open strings (I don't.) I guess some of those licks would be pretty difficult to play otherwise...