Introduction to a Legend
The legendary studio musician Carol Kaye has long been known for not enjoying fooling around. Recently, it was announced that she will boycott her introduction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame due to objections to the language used to characterize her illustrious history.
The "Demolition Crew" Nickname
In particular, Kaye has never made a secret of how much she hates the nickname "demolition crew", which has long been lovingly applied to the loose confluence of studio musicians who played on some of the biggest hits of the 1960s. The fact that in 2008 there was a popular documentary called "The Wrecking Crew", which brought many of these musicians (including herself) into the public eye, only served to increase her antipathy towards the name.
Boycotting the Hall of Fame
"People asked: No, I won’t be there," wrote Kaye, 90, in a Facebook post. "I reject the RRHof award ceremony… not because it did not reflect and do the work, the studio musicians in the golden era of the 1960s recording hits." Her aversion to any language relating to "the demolition crew" is crystal clear: "I was never a ‘wrecker’," she writes. "This is a terrible insulting name."
A Surprise Announcement
Kaye’s explanation that she was planning to be honored personally in October was a total surprise for anyone who could keep an eye on her social feed. In April, when she was announced for the first time as one of the Rock Hall inductees in 2025, she immediately revealed mixed feelings. As far as a trip to Cleveland is concerned, she was not sure whether she could put up with her "Wrecker ‘ID card to go there," she said in April.
Objections to the Honor
Kaye also seems to have objections to being honored, apart from the larger collective, which she prefers to refer to only as a "studio musician". "You are always part of a team, not a solo artist at all," she writes. "In the busy 1960s, 350-400 studio musicians (AFM Local 47 Hollywood) always worked and described this only in the 1930s in the 1930s. I refuse to be part of a process that is something else and not what I believe in the benefit of others and not to think about the truth-we all enjoyed working with each other."
A Legacy of Greatness
This is not the first time that Kaye has made something meant as a compliment sound patronizing, if not humiliating. If Kaye can be a little rough around the edges in deflecting would-be homages, that will not put any dents in her reputation as one of the great studio musicians of all time-a legacy that can stand up again in the wake of the death of Brian Wilson, who she worked with on “Pet Sounds” and many other classic Beach Boys records.
A Pioneer in Music
Kaye is one of the most famous studio musicians of all time, partly because of her pioneering work in an exclusively boys’ club, but above all because she played unforgettable parts on an excessive amount of the greatest plates of all time. She was part of the studio teams put together by Motown, Phil Spector, and Quincy Jones. She contributed to classic cuts by Frank Sinatra, Sonny & Cher, Simon & Garfunkel, The Monkees, Glen Campbell, Barbra Streisand, Elvis Presley, Joe Cocker, and Ray Charles.
Specializing in Bass
Kaye used her message on Wednesday to give a short summary of how she specialized in bass, even though she was a jazz guitarist for the first time. "Just so that you know that I was working as a working jazz musician (solo jazz guitar work) in the 1950s since 1949, I was accidentally asked to ask by producer Bumps Blackwell in the recording of Records Records to record good music. Simply inventing good bass lines."
