I don't change ink carts either. I just buy a new printer. 
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Carol Kaye's string changing method !
- Thread starter BazzTard
- Start date
OK, well I'm sure you were there and saw the whole thing go down. Me, I'll take her words at face value because I wasn't there.
What would be the purpose of stretching the truth about swapping out basses every couple years? The stuff she played on...yes, there could be some sort of payoff for her on that and I do believe she either has fuzzy recollections or is fudging her resume. But what's in it for her to lie about swapping basses?
Seriously?! "Most players' would crap themselves if they found themselves in the studio environment she thrived in.
One time I ran out of dogfood..so I shot the dog. 
j/k to those who are quick to offend.
j/k to those who are quick to offend.
I don't know about her purpose or motives, but fudging the truth seems to be part of her character. Makes me question anything she says.
She can say about anything she wants. She earned the right to. Oh and add to the fact she was a woman in a VERY mans world of the 60's and 70's and she can be as snarky as she wants as far as I'm concerned.
I have no reason not to believe her. Another interesting quote from her in the book "The Wrecking Crew" (which is a great read about that studio gang's period) was after she caught a cab to the studio and had to borrow money from one of the other musicians (I don't remember why). The cabbie told her she should get a real job, to which she replied, "Why, I make more money than the President!" And I believe it. Read the book, you might be surprised at some of the recordings that you've heard that was her and the Wrecking Crew, oftentimes (but not always) working for Phil Spectre.
As for "anybody" being able to sit in her spot, there may be a lot of people who could, but no, not "anybody". A lot of folks can't even read a chart, a lot of people aren't able to play (or maybe wouldn't want to play) so many styles (genres) of music. Crazy or not, prone to exaggeration or not, I have to give her respect for making a lot of the music I grew up listening to.
As for "anybody" being able to sit in her spot, there may be a lot of people who could, but no, not "anybody". A lot of folks can't even read a chart, a lot of people aren't able to play (or maybe wouldn't want to play) so many styles (genres) of music. Crazy or not, prone to exaggeration or not, I have to give her respect for making a lot of the music I grew up listening to.
What ? like you never heard an old GUY embellish his story to make it more exciting, she's old, and has a place in music history, if she wants to embellish a bit Im not gonna hold it against her. Let her spin her war stories, who amongst us might not do the same.
Really? So, if most good players were somehow placed in that chair they would have simply put down the bass and ran out? Come on. What she did was good, but it wasn't a miracle. Half of this forum has written bass lines for songs. Sure, she did it on the fly. That's great. I have done that too. I do fill-in gigs all the time with nothing but a book of charts. And I have to do it LIVE! I get ONE TAKE to NAIL a bass line for a song I may have never heard before. And I'm nothing amazing myself. I'm just a bass player. It's what I do. So, when the song starts, I play a BASS LINE that sounds good, and I do it IMMEDIATELY. How many guys on this very forum have done that dozens or hundreds of times?
The bass line she played was good enough so they printed it. It's no different from my bass lines being good enough to get called back to fill in again with the same act. And, again, in no way am I putting myself on some sort of pedestal. I'm just taking her off of one (for me anyway). Meh. She was a musician who got paid to do her job and did it. She was not a musical God of some sort.
She was not a once-in-a-lifetime artist who single-handedly secured anything she played on a spot in the top ten. I would think the writers and vocalists had something to do with it too. Maybe I'm just nuts. :***: You give me a band like she recorded with, and songs writers like she worked with, and STARS like she worked with, and I'll give you a printable bass line every time. So would many others.
She adopted the "Fender" bass long before some of her male counterparts. In other words, that was a sound producers were looking for that few were willing to take on the task of creating. Her timing was great. She was willing to do something most wouldn't do. Many URB players looked down their noses at electric bass. She grabbed one and said "Heck yeah. Let's do it. Count it off." And a legend was born. She knew music theory up and down and was in the right place at the right time. Good for her. I'm happy for her. But I don't have a Kaye tat on my butt.
Yeah, who wants those grapes anyway? They're probably sour.
Yep, she sight-reads, she plays well, she delivered what producers and artists wanted, but she sucked. Makes perfect sense.
Yep, she sight-reads, she plays well, she delivered what producers and artists wanted, but she sucked. Makes perfect sense.
She wasn't joking - exaggerating a little maybe, but she actually did exchange her basses pretty regularly.
And you're right she and most studio players of the time kept strings on till they fell off as they didn't like to break them in. This may also be part of the "exchange basses" philosophy as the basses on the wall would have the strings a little more broken in than new ones from a package.
CK has said some controversial things about her gear over the years, that's for sure. With her talent and jam packed schedule, she enjoyed the luxury of focusing on making hit records, and NOT wasting time fussing over her gear. She was one of the busiest session players in the history of session players. She's a winner, big time. Despite her idiosyncrasies, I'd love to pick her brain. I'd love to take personal lessons from her, just to gain perspective on her "approach" to playing. Her mindset, which seems to have had very little to do with "gear".
Oddly, Jamerson never seems to get dissed for not changing strings, or the crazy high action he liked on his P bass. Or his zany antics, in and out of the studio.
Oddly, Jamerson never seems to get dissed for not changing strings, or the crazy high action he liked on his P bass. Or his zany antics, in and out of the studio.
Ummm - she did turn her (only 2 year old) Fender in when she got a new one! Yeah, it's extravagant, but she was literally running from session to session and then to gigs and she was doing so in the music district so the stores weren't that far out of the way. No doubt the store she frequented gave her a better than average deal in exchange since they knew her.
Well Carol does herself no favors, for sure. The problem I have with this thread is the amount of people who can't separate what's important from the nonsense.
And don't forget she was asked to sit in on bass originally when someone didn't show up. That wasn't even the instrument she learned to play first.
Yeah, who wants those grapes anyway? They're probably sour.
Yep, she sight-reads, she plays well, she delivered what producers and artists wanted, but she sucked. Makes perfect sense.
I think the reason people rip on Carol is because she's made outrageous claims (I've read somewhere that the artists and engineers that were on certain recordings she claims to have been on have no recollection of her being there), she says outrageous things (the whole people-don't-teach-musicality thing), she gets defensive when questioned, etc. The point is, she's a controversial figure so she sort of invites criticism. I personally find it absolutely ridiculous that someone who claims to be this amazing bass player can't be bothered with changing her strings. So, yeah, she deserves to be ridiculed for that. If I didn't know how to change strings, could only play with a pick and ripped on people who could play different ways, claimed I played on a bunch of famous songs that no one remembers me playing on, flew off the handle at the slightest criticism etc... I would be inviting a backlash and criticism too.
Just my 2 cents.
