Here’s a bit of trivia: Who is the most recorded band of all time?
You’d probably guess someone like the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. People who made a lot of records and were around for a long time (which is certainly true for the Stones, 6 decades later… plus the Beatles were around for nearly a decade, a long time for pop bands back then).
But you’d be wrong. The band that recorded the most hits was a band most people have never heard of: The Wrecking Crew.
They were an LA-based bunch of freelance session musicians who played on EVERYTHING during the 1960s and 70s. The Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Monkees, Sonny and Cher, Phil Spector. If you heard a hit on the radio back then, there was a really good chance it was them playing.
Glenn Campbell was probably the best known of them. A world-class guitarist, he went on to win fame and fortune as a solo country artist. So did one of their keyboardists, Leon Russell.
But you know those lovely bass lines that permeate all through the Beach Boys’ seminal “Good Vibrations”? That was played by the great Carol Kaye.
Carole was a regular fixture around the early 1960s LA jazz scene, playing guitar. But as it turns out, she was also a single mom, so she didn’t want to do the late night jazz gigs anymore. To make ends meet, she got some daytime work as a session musician.
One day she turned up for a gig, but the bass player hadn’t turned up. The producer asked her to fill in. She agreed, and the rest is history.
Six decades in, she has played on over 10,000 tracks. On her website, she mentions:
The Beach Boys, Ray Charles, TheRighteous Bros., Johnny Mathis, Nancy Sinatra, Sam Cooke, Glen Campbell, Lou Rawls, Jan & Dean, Henry Mancini, The Lettermen, Paul Revere & Raiders, Monkees, Buckinghams, April & Nino, Sonny & Cher, Chris Montez, Andy Williams, Quincy Jones, Joe Cocker, Ike & Tina Turner, Mel Torme, Bobby Darin, Frank Zappa, Wayne Newton, Herb Alpert, O.C. Smith, Don Ho, Al Martino…
…but that’s just scratching the surface. Like we said, 10,000 recordings.
She never became a household name, but her music certainly did, in spades. Not to mention, she had the unwavering respect of some of the most esteemed musicians in the business.
Today being International Women’s Day, we thought she’d be a great person to celebrate. Usually on this day, we highlight great politicians and leaders, like Supreme Court Justices, or great authors and scientists. But Carol Kaye’s more low key, blue collar (yet world-class) excellence is not only just as inspiring to us, but far more relatable.
She never had the rock and roll lifestyle. She just saw herself as a mom, going to work, feeding and raising her kids. And then doing it again the next day.
She didn’t want to be glamorous, she just wanted to be good. And so she was. A great lesson for us all.
