The Carol Kaye thread...

[Jonas]

Lots of speculation from her statements and such...lets clarify them here!

I read (or dreamt that I did) that Carol has claimed (or still does claim) that Brian has never done drugs...or maybe she said something that it wasnt the drugs that screwed him up. Any truth to this?

[Andrew G. Doe]

Lots of speculation from her statements and such...lets clarify them here!

I read (or dreamt that I did) that Carol has claimed (or still does claim) that Brian has never done drugs...or maybe she said something that it wasnt the drugs that screwed him up. Any truth to this?

Don't think she ever claimed Brian never did drugs, just that she never saw him using them, as stated here (edit of two interviews):

"Never saw drugs or booze in the studio (one beer one time that's all) and don't know where the dumb books and terrible lying TV stories get their stuff (probably from the same garbage the other music bio book writers get their dirt, so the public will spend good money to read trash), but it was so unlike Brian I almost laughed. You can believe that news media hype if you want to...  I never saw drugs with Brian, not even booze. (That's not to say that he didn't do drugs. He says he did some.) One time a beer. Hear that you sleaze rags out there?!!"

[Jonas]

she cracks me up...I wanna see more!

[Pretty Funky]

Hear that you sleaze rags out there?!!"   


So who's drinkin and druggin again Carol ?

[MBE]

I have heard it insinuated that she is nuts but I want to hear some stories. All I know is that in a book I helped write about Elvis she got very mad because my publisher wasn't home when she called him back 1-2 times. I had to smooth things over but she did give me the info I needed once I did.

[Rocker]

I have heard it insinuated that she is nuts but I want to hear some stories. All I know is that in a book I helped write about Elvis she got very mad because my publisher wasn't home when she called him back 1-2 times. I had to smooth things over but she did give me the info I needed once I did.

You wrote a book about Elvis? Which one? Maybe you could pm me. I asked her one time about the session for "A little less conversation", where she said to have played bass on, though she isn't credited and I never got an answer about the sessions. Only about Elvis and that he was the greatest entertainer.  So I guess she wasn't there....

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

Her part in one of the BBoys docu's where she plays "California Girls" and "Good Vibrations" on her bass reminds me of Ray Charles talking. She has sunglasses on and is bobbing her head and seems very happy.

"Ya see...this is a jiiive feel right here....this is a jaazzz feel right here....now Brian may not have known it....but this was a jaaazzzz feel right here."

[Andreas]

Her part in one of the BBoys docu's where she plays "California Girls" and "Good Vibrations" on her bass reminds me of Ray Charles talking. She has sunglasses on and is bobbing her head and seems very happy.

"Ya see...this is a jiiive feel right here....this is a jaazzz feel right here....now Brian may not have known it....but this was a jaaazzzz feel right here."

It's just odd that she plays the jazz part of Good Vibrations that she did not play originally.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

No, she played on the choruses, and Ray on the verses.  She does attempt to play the verses on a clip on her website though.

[Jeff Mason]

I have heard it insinuated that she is nuts but I want to hear some stories. All I know is that in a book I helped write about Elvis she got very mad because my publisher wasn't home when she called him back 1-2 times. I had to smooth things over but she did give me the info I needed once I did.

You wrote a book about Elvis? Which one? Maybe you could pm me. I asked her one time about the session for "A little less conversation", where she said to have played bass on, though she isn't credited and I never got an answer about the sessions. Only about Elvis and that he was the greatest entertainer.  So I guess she wasn't there....

According to Ernst Jorgenson ,Carol Kaye never did an Elvis session.  She was scheduled to do one but it got cancelled.  She did NOT do ALLC, and she certainly did not do Suspicious Minds.

[MBE]

She played on the movie Change Of Habit but not the record session proper.

[TigerManHI]

I have corresponded with Carol many times over the past three years or so.  I have always found her to be very courteous and very helpful.  She has sent me hundreds of pages of articles she has written.  I have encouraged her numerous times to write a book about her career.  She says she's working on it. 
I'm just a nobody -- I have no idea if all this material is true or not.  Let's face it -- she must be close to 80 now.  I'm over 20 years younger and I don't remember all the details of the 60s any more, so how can we expect her to remember everything?  Brian called her "the best damn bass player in the business."  That's good enough for me.
But it wasn't until after viewing Pet Stories on the Brian Wison DVD Pet Sounds Live In London, that I really began to understand what she was talking about.  What the recording sessions were really like and how different it was working for Brian.

[Rocker]

I have heard it insinuated that she is nuts but I want to hear some stories. All I know is that in a book I helped write about Elvis she got very mad because my publisher wasn't home when she called him back 1-2 times. I had to smooth things over but she did give me the info I needed once I did.

You wrote a book about Elvis? Which one? Maybe you could pm me. I asked her one time about the session for "A little less conversation", where she said to have played bass on, though she isn't credited and I never got an answer about the sessions. Only about Elvis and that he was the greatest entertainer.  So I guess she wasn't there....

According to Ernst Jorgenson ,Carol Kaye never did an Elvis session.  She was scheduled to do one but it got cancelled.  She did NOT do ALLC, and she certainly did not do Suspicious Minds.

Did she claim to have played on Suspicious minds ? That where the "American"-guys. I believe Mike Leech was on bass....
Anyway she told me a little about Elvis and it seemed like she did do a session, but I don't know which which one she did. MBE said it was for "Change of habit" but maybe it was also for "Live a little love a little" (just not for ALLC)

[Andrew G. Doe]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK, may as well be the one to bring it up.

so how can we expect her to remember everything?

The problem is twofold. One, when her recollections are awry, and anyone corrects her, however mildly, she plain flies off the handle and can be appallingly rude. Many people on this MB can attest to that.

Two, and more importantly, her major mis-recollection concerns her claims to playing on records which are not supported by one single particle of documentary evidence - and that includes her own, meticulously kept, studio sessions log.

For those interested in the details, go here:

http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/magic/kaye/

[Jeff Mason]

She played on the movie Change Of Habit but not the record session proper.

Which is fine -- the sessions book doesn't list non-vocal sessions.  I can give you movie music.  But that still doesn't mean she ever played on an Elvis vocal track.  Jorgenson is exhaustive on who did play per session documentation and raw tapes.  And yes, she claims Suspicious Minds. 

[Rocker]

And yes, she claims Suspicious Minds. 

I think that may be one of the easier facts to disprove...

[MBE]

AGD thanks for posting the link. I find this info very important.

[I. Spaceman]

That's a stunning document, AGD, even though I knew of the situation.
I love how he still respects her accomplishments, even after her sullying his reputation. Classy guy, great author and historian.