Carol Kaye – Queen of bass, not ‘just somebody’s girlfriend’

That intro to Wichita Lineman that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up, Good Vibrations and the seminal Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys, Sam Cooke’s Wonderful World – all of them graced by the impeccable bass playing of the most recorded bassist of all time – who just happened to be a woman. Why is Carol Kaye not better known? From the 1950s and into the