CANADIAN MUSICIAN’S 2018 BASS SPECIAL
By Jason Raso
T
here are so many amazing bass players in the world,
and now more than ever, a great number of them
are women.
If you find this surprising, you should probably
get out more. Current events have shone a light on
decades of inequality in the entertainment idus-
tries and others. Although attitudes appear to be
moving in the right direction, change can’t come
quickly enough.
In some ways, great progress has been made
since Carol Kaye stepped into a studio. On the other hand, sexist
attitudes still linger.
Kaye is a pioneer of the electric bass. A top call session
player from 1964 to 1973, she would go on to become a leader
in music education. She began her recording career in 1957 as a
session guitarist.
“In late 1963, when the Fender bassist didn’t show up for a
record date at Capitol Records, I was asked to play someone’s bass
and liked it, liked its role, and liked creating good Latin-funk lines
of my own. I had been a successful pro musician since 1949, play-
ing all styles of music, so playing bass was easy as I knew what bass
should sound like. [I’d] been there doing the guitar dates for five
years always thinking, ‘I’d have played the bass parts differently,’
and so now I had my chance. It was fun to groove, and feel that
power and responsibility as the basement of the band, so I started
an even heavier work schedule playing electric bass from 1963 on.”
Kaye would go on to take thousands of record dates and film
calls. She recorded countless hits with the likes of Sam Cooke, Ray
Charles, The Beach Boys, and many more. Her TV and film credits
include Mission: Impossible, MASH, and The Planet of the Apes, to
name only a few.
Although Carol declined an interview for this story, she did
send a wealth of reference material. This quote stood out:
“Would I advise women to be working musicians today? Of
course, but just be aware, today especially (worse now than in
my earlier times) there’s a few men who will just love to conve-
niently attack you (misogyny and/or prejudice) because of their
own personal problems with women as soon as you get a sort of
a “name.” But for every one of those, there are hundreds of others
who will be your biggest fans. They’re there. Look for them – real
men proud of a talented woman who doesn’t
let ego run the show. It’s always been the
fine male musicians who admire and
respect the fine women musicians.
The rest? Ignore them. Have a few
clever retorts handy for the few times
someone says something petty, and
walk with your head high.”
Canadian Musician had the great
opportunity to talk about bass and the
music industry with five wonderful musi-
Carol Kaye
cians who just happen to be women.
C A N A D I A N M U S I C I A N • 49