BassRoad music magazine for
lovers of bass guitars
May - June 2014
Cort GB5CUSTOM electric bass p5
Hofner Contemporary Series Verythin Bass
The Verythin bass makes a welcome return! p8
9 of Flea’s funkiest basslines
Red hot pickings p10
Myung Interview p20
tone and technique
Guthrie
Govan
answers your asks and question p24
Carol Kaye Profile p28
Contents
05 07
Cort Guitars announce GB5-CUSTOM
08
Hofner Contemporary Series Verythin Bass
10 20
best 9 of Flea’s funkiest basslines
24 27
Guthrie Govan
28
Carol Kaye
GB5 Custom is one of the top models in the GB line of electric basses.
Even Bassists Are Going Green
Anything is green now – either eco-green or just plain green-green... Fender released the Starcaster guitar in 1976, but a bass version didn’t follow.
The Verythin bass makes a welcome return. There was a time when Hofner basses were extremely popular in the UK and it started way before Paul McCartney was seen wielding his Violin bass.
Red hot pickings from funk rock’s bass guru
John Myung
John Myung is (as you know) the bassist for the progressive band Dream Theater and his side band Platypus aka The Jelly Jam.
One of the greatest guitarists on planet Earth answers your asks on tone and technique!
TOP 10 Best Bassists Ever
Criteria: These are the guys where the bass gets to show their full tallent. The best bass performancers. Ever and ever.
Legendary Female Bassist. Carol Kaye (born March 24, 1935) is an American musician, best known as one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists in history, playing on an estimated 10,000 recording sessions in a 55-year career
BASS ROAD MAGAZINE
Hello Bass Readers!
The “Blues” is my name, does not refer to the genre of blues music (though I have nothing against it).
M
taught guitar player y mission is to enlighten people on AND will also explorie the differences in how the many female guitarist in the world and a male and female rebring more light to us hearses and what motivates. as a whole. I’d like to encourage those of us freelance guitarist out there that have and writer, I love only had male role all types of music and models in this particu- am constantly educatlar field. It’s a shame ing myself and trainthat amazing female ing in my craft. I aim players to travdon’t el the get more world „It’s a shame that shine. enterI’ve per- amazing female players taining formed massdon’t get more shine“ es and several searchempowes online for female ering people to move guitarist during my toward their wildest own musical journey dreams. I am a reliaand have mostly found ble, open and loving the focus to be on how soul – who’s word is “hot” she is as opposed her bond. I love all to how she delivers as types of music and peoa musician. With this ple. My friends tend site, I will to provide to describe me as edgy, resources for the self determined, unique.
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Cort Guitars announce...
GB5-CUSTOM G
B5 Custom is one of the top models in the GB line of electric basses. Cort dedicates this series to the production of Jazz and Precision models for the intermediate class of the market and players who are looking to get a good bass and save a dollar, or two. GB5 Custom kicks off with a solid, double-cut body made of ash back and spalted maple top (ash and maple is a very popular tonewood combo, rising in popularity in recent years). GB5 Custom is made in one color option, the Natural with satin finish and chrome hardware. On the top of the body, Cort installs a five-saddled hardtail bridge and a pair of pickups in H/S arrangement. Maple neck is bolted to the body and topped with a bound 22-fret fingerboard made of rosewood. The neck is very solid with no dead spots that I can find. The frets are a little ragged on the edges and will need to be filed down a bit where they come through the white neck binding. This is not uncommon for more expensive basses too. Particularly here in Colorado where it’s pretty dry. Necks tend to shrink a little as they dry out and it exposes the ends of the frets. It’s an easy fix IMO. The pickups sound great individually and together. They each seem to have the same output (volume) when soloed which is usually not the case. This pickup combination is similar to what Lakland uses on their 55-94 and 55-02 basses. I like what is gives me tone-wise as it’s different from what my 5 string basses with jazz pickups give me. This bass has a BIG voice that is well suited for rock and metal stylings.
S P E C I F I C AT I O N S : CONSTRUCTION: Bolt-on BODY: Swamp Ash with Spalted Maple Top NECK: Canadian Hard Maple BINDING: N/A FRETBOARD: Rosewood, 15 3/4” Radius (400mm) FRETS: 22 / Large (2.7mm) SCALE: 34” (864mm) INLAY: Rectangular White Pearl TUNERS: Hipshot lic. BRIDGE: EB12(5) PICKUPS: Seymour Duncan SJ5-3N & SMB-5D ELECTRONICS: Duncan designed BEQ-3 EQ, 1 volume, 1 blend, 3band, mid frequency toggle HARDWARE: CR (Chrome) STRINGS: D’addario EXL 170-5(XL 045~130) LONG SCALE 5ST COLORS: GB5-Custom NAT - Natural Glossy
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The controls are well laid out and quiet. I find that the midrange knob is particularly useful when I want to dial in a tone that has more authority. Also the toggle switch is quite useful as it seems the change the overall character of the bass. I feel that the controls are easy to use and work very well. The bass is a little on the heavy side weighing in at just under 11 lbs. I was surprised when I weighed as I thought it was more like 10.5 lbs from the way it felt when I was standing with a strap. I really like the GB5 with it’s weight being the only negative that I can see. For the price I paid ($525.00 shipped) it’s a real bargain.
GB9-Custom 6
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BassRoad
Even Bassists Are Going Green Anything is green now – either ecogreen or just plain green-green.
T
he chara c te r f u l bass makes its debut Fender released the Starcaster guitar in 1976, but a bass version didn’t follow. Until now. This is one stylish fully bound offset semi-hollowbody with f-holes, and along with the distinctive upswept headstock it’s more assertive-looking than the Coronado bass. It features long shank opengear tuners, and although it’s slightly headstock-heavy, this is easily countered. The bolt-on neck has familiar Fender proportions, but the body has a feel of its own. The Starcaster sports a pair of fat Fender humbuckers and a new-generation solid Fender bridge. It’s light and comes in natural and aged cherry burst at this price, and in black at £862, all with maple fingerboards. From the moment we plug in, we’re instantly aware that this sounds like no other Fender bass. It’s big and fat-sounding, as those humbuckers are extremely powerful. And with individual tone and volume controls for each one, plus a threeway selector switch, the range of tones is fantastic. Either pickup produces a solid, beefy sound; mixing the two adds texture and superior clarity. Like any hollow-bodied bass, at high volume the sound can run away with you - and with this level of output you need to be aware of that - but tonally it’s sublime. Well conceived and typically well made, the Starcaster bass is not only a delightful playing experience, but offers a full and rich sound that is a whole new tool in the Fender bass collection. Just when you thought that you didn’t need another bass...
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BassRoad
Hofner Contemporary Series
Verythin Bass The Verythin bass makes a welcome return. There was a time when Hofner basses were extremely popular in the UK and it started way before Paul McCartney was seen wielding his Violin bass. With a tone and volume pot per pickup, blending options are just about as good as it gets. The passive tone circuit is limited by modern 8
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standards, but there’s still a good degree of variation for old-school stuff. Feedback would doubtless creep in at mega volumes but we found no such issues at normal pub/club-type levels. The Verythin bass has a feel and sound all its own. If you want a hard rock or heavy metal bass then look elsewhere - this doesn’t have the means or the attitude to cut it in those circumstances, obviously. If what you seek, however, is a good all rounder that’s warm and distinctive in sound then the Verythin bass is well worth investigating.
NINE of Flea’s funkiest
basslines
Ask anyone to list their Top 5 favourite modern bass players and chances are Flea’s name will crop up. As the wild haired, super energetic and endlessly creative bassist for Red Hot Chili Peppers, what this man doesn’t know about writing a killer bassline you could put on the back of a postage stamp.
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Red hot pickings from funk rock’s bass guru
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9 of Flea’s funkiest basslines
1. Higher Ground
An adrenaline shot straight into the veins of the iconic Stevie Wonder classic, Flea opens the track with an urgency that recalls his punk roots. BASS ROAD MAGAZINE
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9 of Flea’s funkiest basslines
2. The Power Of Equality
What better way to kick off your biggest album to date than with a monstrous four string workout, and a furious outro? Still one of Flea’s finest bass moments
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9 of Flea’s funkiest basslines
3. Give It Away
Flea’s neck spanning riff created air bassists out of all of us and made this a benchmark rock track of the 90s. Its omission would be criminal. BASS ROAD MAGAZINE
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9 of Flea’s funkiest basslines
4. Mellowship Slinky In B Major
The chemistry between Flea and John Frusciante was the Peppers’ secret weapon. Here guitar and bass intertwine instinctively on the verses and lock in like cement on the chorus.
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9 of Flea’s funkiest basslines
5. Under The Bridge
This track might be more about the vocal and guitar, but scratch the surface and you’ll reveal a bass performance tailored immaculately for the song, every note perfectly placed. BASS ROAD MAGAZINE
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9 of Flea’s funkiest basslines
6. Naked In The Rain
Just when you thought Blood Sugar Sex Magik had peaked, track 12 throws up this slab of glorious filthy funk, complete with greezy bass solo. Stick that up ‘yer Billboards.
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9 of Flea’s funkiest basslines
7. Around The World
Another monstrous album opener, this time from Californication. Flea’s overdriven opening riff lifts the entire track before his staccato plucks punctuate Frusciante’s quirky two-note verse lick.
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9 of Flea’s funkiest basslines
8. Look Around
Despite gradually moving away from their funkier roots, the bassline on this standout track from I’m With You is a nod to the Flea of old, gliding and skipping around the main guitar riff in his inimitable style. 18
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9 of Flea’s funkiest basslines
9. The Adventures Of Raindance Maggie
Stripped back drums and Flea’s throbbing bassline underpin everything that’s great about this Number One hit from the Chilis’ most recent album. BASS ROAD MAGAZINE
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Interview
John Myung 20
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Interview
J
ohn’s main influences include Chris Squire, Steve Harris and Geddy Lee and their respective bands Yes, Iron Maiden and Rush. He also listens to bands like Jane’s Addiction, King’s X and The Red Hot Chili Peppers as well as classical and blues.
John is the only member of Dream Theater still living on Long Island, with his wife Lisa. When not on the road, John enjoys reading, exercise, and fishing.
John Myung talks touring, technique and tone
A rare interview with the Dream Theater bassist After 30
years in the game, many bands would be content to rest
on their laurels.
Not so Dream Theater, the progressive metal titans
who have spent the last three years going from strength to strength, releasing critically acclaimed albums and garnering Grammy nominations for hard hitting tracks such as The Enemy Inside.
We sat down with bassist John Myung before the band’s recent show at Wolverhampton Civic Hall to discuss the group’s self-titled 12th album and the killer bass tone that powers it...
Dream Theater are riding high at the moment. Why do you think this is? «Things tend to go in cycles. We were able to write a really satisfying record and that, coupled with the enthusiasm of the label and our touring seems to be working. It seems like we’re always taking it up another level.»
What are your favourite bass moments on the new album? «There’s a lot of cool bass breaks in Enigma Machine, Illumination Theory, and Behind the Veil - lots of moments where you get to hear the real tone of the bass. The bass sound was also a big part of it this time. I found a really cool tone that kind of dictated the sort of lines I played.If you work with a really resonant tone, you don’t have to play that much to feel satisfied with what you’re hearing. Also working with Rich Chycki - who has done a lot of work with Rush - was a very big part of it.»
What is your contribution to the Dream Theater writing process? «It could be a riff that sparks the journey of a song, or a suggestion of how to develop a certain part. It’s different with each song, some of it just happens magically and there were a lot of cool moments where we would stumble upon something without thinking about it.
John Myung is (as you know) the bassist for the progressive band Dream Theater and his side band Platypus aka The Jelly Jam.
«Sometimes I’ll be jamming with Mike [Mangini, drums] and John [Petrucci, guitar] and we’ll play something that hits us the right way and we’ll record it, listen back and develop it. But some ideas are things we might have had kicking around for a while, and some might be spontaneous things that have happened in the studio.»
How would you describe your fingerstyle technique? It’s a fluid motion of going right to left and becoming comfortable with that. Some lines might seem really fast and busy, but when you utilise the proper technique they’re actually relatively easy to
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Interview
play. But it’s not all about playing with three fingers because when I’m not playing a part that’s busy, I’m also thinking about attack and how I want it to sound.Different finger combinations will produce different sounds because each finger will attack the string differently. «But once again, the coolest thing about the sound that I had on this record was that it was able to breathe and I wasn’t having to run effects or try too hard to make it sound a certain way.Then when I did lay into the bass and play louder it would break up and develop this ‘fiery’ overtone which would fill the track with energy while still supporting everything up on top. Then I could lay back and it would disappear and just become a nice round tone. That’s definitely what I’m going to continue aiming for in the future, that element of breath, where you don’t have to try too hard to sound good.»
What changes have you made in terms of equipment since the last album? «The basses that I’m using now, we’ve been working on for a few years. I tend to live with each prototype for an album or a tour and then think about what I need to change. Going into this record, I had been working with a prototype that was a Bongo with a six-string body and the neck that they would normally use on a five-string. I had it modified to have a natural wood finish on the neck and a more generous neck contour, which feels better in my hands. «In the studio I had two basses with different pickup configurations - one a single humbucker, one a dual humbucker. I don’t really mess around with the tone controls on my basses, but I do have a four-way selector switch that enables me to change the pickup wiring. Actually, the HS bass just has a volume, no tone controls at all. I like to limit the amount of change that can come from the instrument so that if something doesn’t sound right, I at least know that the bass is stable.»
How did your relationship with Music Man basses start? «Going into the Systematic Chaos album, I wanted to
“There are a lot of books and teachers out there, but the real teacher will always be yourself” change things up so I talked to Music Man about making a sixstring. I never really know what I want beforehand, it’s only after living with something for a while that I think about what I need to change. I really appreciate the instrument I have right now and I can’t thank Music Man enough for getting me a bass that I feel really at home with.»
Can you talk us through your rack? «The main component live is a Demeter HPB1 Bass Preamp, which I use to generate a little bit more air in the sound. In the studio I had that going through a Monoblock power amp, a JDX direct box, and a Demeter cabinet. I had an MXR compressor and a Mesa 22
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Boogie Grid Slammer pedal which gave the sound that ‘fire’ that I was talking about earlier. «In the studio I used a Demeter VTMP-2B valve pre-amp which gives me a resonant, warm tone that is like the cohesive glue. I also have the Fractal Audio Axe-FX, which I use for amp modelling as it enables me to carry around multiple sounds that come from pieces of gear that I can no longer accommodate in my rig, like the Pearce BC1.»
Looking back at your beginnings, what can you tell us about how you got started on bass?
Interview
«I
Monday through Friday - that’s a lot of hours! We knew what we wanted, but we knew we had to put the time in.»
You’re well known for practising a lot, particularly before shows. What exercises do you do? «What I do works for me. It’s mostly trilling between different fingers and playing through all the different possible combinations of how your fingers might move. After an hour and a half of that I feel really warmed up and able to play anything I might be having problems with. It doesn’t sound musical, but it works for me.»
How does it feel to have been an inspiration to so many young players? «It’s great that we’re reaching a lot of people, it makes me think that we shouldn’t change what we’re doing! As time goes on, they’ll take it and do their own thing with it and that’s the best part about it. Where’s music going? Pay attention to what the young kids are doing with it today.» ============================================ Interesting «little things» Favorite Drink - Raspberry-Cranberry juice Favorite Food - Pasta Favorite Movie(s) - 2001 A Space Odyssey & The Deer Hunter Favorite Actor - Robert DeNiro Favorite Actress - Meryl Streep Favorite TV Show - Discovery Channel Favorite Book - Power Of Myth grew up in Kings Park, Long Island, along with John [Petrucci]. We went to school together, but were mostly in different bands. From the age of 12 or 13 we had a strong interest in forming bands and playing music. A lot of my friends had older brothers and sisters and we would always go through their record collections, checking out groups like ELP, Yes and Rush - that was a really big influence on us.
Bassist John Myung résumé
«There was also a lot of jamming and learning cover versions after school - I played along to a lot of Black Sabbath and Rush records. Looking back, I feel really fortunate that I lived where I lived and that I had the friends I had.»
Any advice for young players? «You have to put time into your instrument. More than anything else it’s about time, there’s no replacing that. There’s no magical riff, pattern or scale, it’s all just twelve notes and a persons imagination. There’s a lot of books and teachers out there, but the real teacher will always be yourself. «Even as kids, John and I would have a rule that we would practice six hours a day. That carried on at Berklee too. We would play from six in the evening through to midnight
FULL NAME - John Ro Myung BIRTHDAY - January 24, 1967 John Myung was born on January 24, 1967 in Chicago, Illinois, and moved to Long Island, New York, with his family when he was a young boy. John says that his mother always listened to classical music and so at age 5 he began violin lessons. When John was 15 his next door neighbor approached him to play bass for his band, assuming that since it had four strings like a violin he could learn it easily. Although it turned out to be a totally different instrument, John took to bass very quickly and has never picked up a violin since.
==============================
Recordings and Video Releases: Dream Theater Albums 1989 - When Dream And Day Unite 1992 - Images And Words 1993 - Live At The Marquee 1994 - Awake 1995 - A Change Of Seasons 1997 - Falling Into Infinity 1998 - Once In A LIVEtime (2 CD set) 2000 - Metrpolis Pt.2 (Scenes From A Memory) Side Projects 1998 - Platypus «When Pus Comes To Shove» 1999 - Gordian Knot «Sensory» 2000 - Platypus «IceCycles» Video Releases 1993 - Dream Theater «Live In Tokyo» 1996 - Instructional Video «progressive Bass Concepts» 1998 - Dream Theater «5 Years In A LIVEtime» BASS ROAD MAGAZINE
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BASS ROAD MAGAZINE make you sound different, in the same way that “ SO I said ‘ a lot of people Can I have a go?’“ don’t like it when they hear a recording of their own voice. Or you can say well this is something only I can do – maybe I should embrace it.» «He’s playing with a coin, lol» [posted by ronoc931] GG: «Playing with a coin? I have never done that – you’re thinking of Brian May or possibly Billy Gibbons. Playing with a coin will shave your D-string in ten minutes. Also, a coin has no point, so there are a lot of things you can’t do. My thing is, I generally use these Red Bear picks now: I’m actually working on a special pick that has a modification now – it’s something I’ve done for 25 years. «Twenty-five years ago, I would and, such is his popularity, it’s been viewed nearly 300,000 times. The comments section soon filled with your thoughts and questions about his gear and technique. So, seeing as we had Guthrie cornered, they thought put a few of the best to him directly...
One of the greatest guitarists on planet Earth a nswers your asks on tone and technique! He was filmed putting an earlier Charvel prototype through its paces. MusicRadar put it up on Guitarist’s YouTube channel
«I met Guthrie at NAMM this past year: he was an extremely humble and friendly man. His advice to everyone on how to be a virtuoso is: ‘Take it is that makes you, you; and exaggerate it’…» [posted by James Erickson] GG: «I’m intrigued if I said it in exactly those words, because I think Steve Vai said something very similar, so I’m not sure I should take all the credit for that. In some ways it’s an obvious thing to suggest: everyone has certain strengths, and you can either be ashamed of them because they
buy these purply-pink Tortex 1.14mm picks and I would kind of kind of file the point. Because I’ve always hated the blunt thing at the end of a pick: I want something sharp there. So I would file a little bevel, so there was a 30-40 degree angle there. And then at the top on the blunt part, furthest away from the point, I would scratch some little notches. So that when you flip the pick round and scrape the pick, perpendicular to the string you can play high notes. «You can probably get two octaves above the 22nd [by using grooves in the pick’s back edge as a movable ‘nut’ - Ed] provided you’re using the bridge pickup, of course. And there were always shrieking notes way up in the Stratosphere that I liked. I wanted to be able to hear them and I couldn’t do it with the amount of frets provided.
Guthrie Govan answers 24
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«So yeah, that scraping thing has always been part of my pick. It’s kind of fun now with the red bear guys – we’re trying out some stuff where we tell the CNC machine to put these little serrations into the blunt end of the pick so I don’t have to spend all that time with the file.» «Saw him [Guthrie] with Steve Wilson 2 weeks ago, never heard of him before, he couldn’t have played any better, he was like a newer version of Holdsworth…» [Posted by GuyQ1975] GG: «I can understand why someone drawn to Steven’s music might hear someone playing a lot of notes and think: Allan Holdsworth, that’s my reference point, because he’s the obvious guy with a lot of technique who played in that genre of music with Soft Machine. «But Allan has his own planet – he’s really taken everything that’s unique about himself and exaggerated it, to the point where he’s playing scales that he’s invented working over chords that he’s invented. Allan’s world is very hard to adapt to any other music – he’s like this self-contained musical universe. «There are a handful of people in the world now who are doing passable imitations of what Allan was doing 30 years ago. And it’s obviously taken years to do it, and they just sound like Allan clones: I don’t see the point.
on Steven Wilson’s recent album ‘The Raven That Refused To Sing’? [extra question from Guitarist magazine] GG: «That was a guitar that somebody mailed to Steven while we were in the studio – it just turned up in the studio one morning. It was the day on which we were meant to record ‘Drive Home’. So Steven said, this guy’s just sent me this - it looks really well made, isn’t it a pretty thing and it was indeed. Kind of a like a Jazzmaster that’s they’d done strange sculpting things to the surface of the body. I think it was a solid rosewood neck, which is always cool and I’d never used a Sustai-
niac before. So I said ‘Can I have a go?’ and he said ‘Of course – tell me if it’s good or not [laughs]’. I was still getting used to it really when Steven came back and said, I think we’re ready to start tracking the song. And it was just one of those idiotic impulses that we all have from time to time – I said, ‘You know what, I think I might try playing the song with this guitar. And if it doesn’t work after a couple of takes I’ll go back to the known quantity that is my own guitar that I brought’. And I think it was a first take – certainly it’s a flawed take: there’s a part where you can hear the E-string pops out of the saddle towards the end – you start hearing some of the bends are choking a little bit.»
«There are other players where it’s easier to borrow some of the things that you’ve seen them do, and say: that player has shown me the way. For instance, Eric Johnson made me realise that it’s okay to try and use this sound and play that kind of chord voicing. And that stuff is maybe easier to adapt into your playing. But “and he said ‘Of Allan…I wouldn’t dare.» «Didn’t you play a guitar you’d course – tell me if it’s never even seen before on the good or not “ astounding solo of ‘Drive Home’
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TOP 10
Best Bassists Ever
Criteria: These are the guys where the bass gets to show their full tallent. The best bass performancers. Ever and ever.
1. Cliff Burton
2. Flea
3. Geddy Lee
4. John Entwistle
5. Steve Harris
6. John Paul Jones 7. Georg Listing
8. Les Claypool
9. Mike Dirnt
10. Paul McCartney
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Legendary Female Bassist :
Carol Kaye
Carol Kaye (born March 24, 1935) is an American musician, best known as one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists in history, playing on an estimated 10,000 recording sessions in a 55-year career Carol Kaye was born in Everett, Washington to musician parents, Clyde and Dot Smith, both professionals. She has played and taught guitar professionally since 1949, played bebop jazz guitar in dozens of nightclubs around Los Angeles with top groups (also in Bob Neal’s jazz group with Jack Sheldon backing Lenny Bruce, with Teddy Edwards, Billy Higgins etc.), accidentally got into studio work late 1957 with the Sam Cooke recordings and other big recordings on guitar for the 1st 5 years of studio work in Hollywood. In 1963 when a Fender bassist didn’t show up for a record date at Capitol Records, she picked up the Fender bass (as it was called then) and augmented her busy schedule playing bass and grew quickly to be the no. 1 call with record companies, movie & TV film people, commericals (ads), and industrial films. She enjoyed working under the direction of Michel LeGrand, Quincy Jones, Elmer Bernstein, Lalo Schifrin, David Rose, David Grusin, Ernie Freeman, Hugo Montenegro, Leonard Rosenman, John Williams, etc. as well as the numerous hits she recorded for hundreds of recording artists. Beginning in 1969, she wrote her first of many bass tutoring books, “How To Play
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The Electric Bass” effectively changing the name of Fender Bass to Electric Bass and began teaching 100s of Electric Bass students, many of them now famous themselves. Her tutors are endorsed by such notables as Professor Joel Leach, 10-year winner of the Pacific Jazz Festival Awards with his famous Cal-State Northridge Jazz Bands, and Plas Johnson, jazz/blues studio sax legend (“Pink Panther”). She stepped out to perform live with the Hampton Hawes Jazz Trio in the mid 70s, has given many seminars all over the USA, and is a leader in Electric Bass education. Her musician parents Clyde and Dot Smith, Charlie Christian, Duke Ellington, Howard Roberts, Artie Shaw, Sonny Stitt, Miles Davis, Horace Silver, Hampton Hawes, Ray Charles, Ralph Pena. Kaye performed on several American television themes including the Quinn Martin produced Cannon, The Streets of San Francisco, Mission: Impossible, M*A*S*H, Kojak, Get Smart, Hogan’s Heroes, The Love Boat, McCloud, Mannix, It Takes a Thief, Peyton Place and the Cosby Show. She is credited with performing on the soundtracks of Hawaii Five-O, The
Addams Family and The Brady Bunch along with Ironside, Room 222, Bonanza, Wonder Woman, Alias Smith & Jones, Run for Your Life and Barnaby Jones. Beginning in 1969, she wrote How To Play The Electric Bass, the first of many bass tutoring books and DVD courses. She gave lessons to thousands of students, including John Clayton, Mike Porcaro, Alf Clausen, David Hughes, Tony Sales, Karl E. H. Seigfried, Roy Vogt and David Hungate. Kaye retired from studio work during the 1970s because of arthritis. She later became active again as a session musician, live jazz performer, and teacher of bass and guitar, giving seminars and interviews. Kaye played 12-string guitar on Frank Zappa’s album Freak Out!. She also played on a few songs for his next album but declined to continue, saying she found some of the lyrics offensive. Kaye later said Zappa was good-natured and understanding about her qualms and they remained on friendly terms.