Carol Kaye  

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Carol Kaye (born March 24, 1935) is an American musician, known as one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists, playing on an estimated 10,000 recording sessions in a 55-year career.

As a session musician, Kaye was the bassist on many Phil Spector and Brian Wilson productions in the 1960s and 1970s. She played guitar on Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba" and is credited with the bass tracks on several Simon & Garfunkel hits and many film scores by Quincy Jones and Lalo Schifrin. One of the most popular albums Carol contributed to was the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds.

Electric bass credits

Credits for recorded singles on bass

• "Soul Reggae" (Charles Kynard)
• "Andmoreagain" (Love)
• "Homeward Bound" (Simon and Garfunkel)
• "California Girls", "Sloop John B", "Help Me, Rhonda", "Heroes and Villains" (The Beach Boys)
• "Natural Man" (Lou Rawls)
• "Come Together" (Count Basie)
• "Feelin' Alright" (Joe Cocker)
• "I Think He's Hiding" (Randy Newman)
• "Games People Play" (Mel Tormé)
• "Cantaro" (Gene Ammons)
• "Wait 'Til My Bobby Gets Home" (Darlene Love)
• "Goin' Out Of My Head/Can't Take My Eyes Off You" (The Lettermen)
• "Little Honda" (The Hondells)
• "Hikky Burr" (Quincy Jones & Bill Cosby & TV theme)
• "I'm a Believer" (The Monkees)
• "Indian Reservation" (Paul Revere & the Raiders)
• "In the Heat of the Night", "I Don't Need No Doctor", "America The Beautiful", "Understanding" (Ray Charles)
• "It Must Be Him" (Vikki Carr)
• "Little Green Apples" (O.C. Smith)
• "Midnight Confessions" (The Grass Roots)
• "Mission: Impossible Theme" (Lalo Schifrin)
• "Mannix Theme" (Lalo Schifrin)
• "Out of This World" (Nancy Wilson)
• "Wichita Lineman" "Galveston" "Rhinestone Cowboy" (Glen Campbell)
• "River Deep - Mountain High" (Ike & Tina Turner)
• "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" (Simon and Garfunkel)
• "Sixteen Tons" (Tennessee Ernie Ford)
• "Somethin' Stupid" (Frank and Nancy Sinatra)
• "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" (Nancy Sinatra)
• "This Diamond Ring" (Gary Lewis & the Playboys)
• "The Twelfth of Never" (Johnny Mathis)
• "The Way We Were" (Barbra Streisand)
• "Soul & Inspiration" bass, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" guitar (The Righteous Brothers)
• "Carry On" (JJ Cale) - JJ Cale Styles Book

Album credits on bass

Selected highlights include:

• Pet Sounds (The Beach Boys, 1966)
• Neil Young (album) (Neil Young)
• Light My Fire (Gábor Szabó and Bob Thiele)
• Music from Mission: Impossible (Lalo Schifrin, 1967)
• Song of Innocence (David Axelrod, 1968)
• Songs of Experience (David Axelrod, 1969)
• Release of an Oath (The Electric Prunes, 1968)
• There's a Whole Lalo Schifrin Goin' On (Lalo Schifrin, 1968)
• More Mission: Impossible (Lalo Schifrin, 1968)
• Mannix (Lalo Schifrin, 1968)
• Bullitt (soundtrack) (Lalo Schifrin, 1968)
• The New Don Ellis Band Goes Underground (Don Ellis, 1969)
• Dirty Harry (score by Lalo Schifrin, 1971)
• Northern Windows (Hampton Hawes)
• Big Man (Cannonball Adderley)
• Reelin' with the Feelin' (Charles Kynard)
• Charles Kynard (Charles Kynard, Mainstream, 1971)
• Cameo (Dusty Springfield, 1972)
• Joe Williams Live (Joe Williams, 1973)
• Hugo In Wonder-land (Hugo Montenegro)
• Your Good Thing (Lou Rawls)
• You've Made Me So Very Happy (Lou Rawls)
• The Funky Organ-ization of Henry Cain (Henry Cain)
• The Zodiac : Cosmic Sounds
• Pride (Pride) (1970)
• Thumbs up (Ray Pizzi, Carol Kaye, Mitch Holder)(1999)
• Picking Up On The E-String (Carol Kaye) (1995)
• Freak Out! (Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention)1965
• Absolutely Free (Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention) 1966
• Cosmic Brotherhood (Bill Plummer, 1968)

Recorded credits on guitar

• "Then He Kissed Me" (The Crystals)
• "Danke Schoen" (Wayne Newton)
• "Johnny Angel" (Shelley Fabares)
• "La Bamba" (Ritchie Valens)
• "Let's Dance" (Chris Montez)
• "Needles and Pins" (Jackie DeShannon)
• "The Beat Goes On" (Sonny & Cher)
• "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" (The Righteous Brothers)
• "The Birds and the Bees" (Jewel Akens), with a Leslie speaker effect
• "Mannix Theme" (Lalo Schifrin)
• "The Daily Planet" (Love)

Disputed credits

Kaye claims to have played guitar on the 1963 number one hit "Surf City" by Jan and Dean despite the AFM contract of the session not listing her presence. Despite the belief that Kaye played on the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" single, a session list compiled by Craig Slowinski for The Smile Sessions box-set liner notes reveals that, although she unquestionably played on several sessions for the song, none of those recordings made the final edit as released on the single.