When I was growing up, my ears were “fed” a healthy and eclectic diet of 60’s music.
It was everything from the Beach Boys, to Motown, to Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound… and everything in between. I used to love getting my mum’s records out and playing them as loud as I could.
As the music danced in my ears… I used to tap along with the song. But it seems I was a bit weird (no surprises there!) … because I didn’t tap along with the drumbeat. Instead, I was tapping along with the bassline.
I love the bass.
But the funny thing is, although the music involved many different genres, artists, and bands… it turns out the bassline was mostly played by the same musician.
Hard to believe, isn’t it? That one bass player could play so many different types of music and songs.
It’s not so hard to believe when you know that the bass player was a studio musician who played in over 10,000 sessions.
Not many people know that although the artists’ recording happened in New York City, Detroit, Nashville, and Memphis… the music track they sang to was recorded in a studio in Los Angeles by studio musicians. (Almost none of the popular “band” members were able to play their instruments. They were the original Milli Vanilli.)
But here’s something most people don’t know… the bass player I was talking about is a woman called, Carol Kaye. That’s right… a woman!
You may not have heard of her… but I can absolutely guarantee that if you have ears, you’ve heard her distinct, and delicious basslines.
Here are a few of the popular tunes she played on:
Good Vibrations, California Girls, Heroes and Villains – Beach Boys (Carol helped to create the distinct “surfing” bassline with Brian Wilson)
Galveston, Rhinestone Cowboy – Glen Campbell (Glen Campbell was a studio musician with Carol Kaye)
Homeward Bound, Scarborough Fair/ Canticle – Simon and Garfunkel
I’m a Believer – The Monkees
River Deep – Mountain High – Ike and Tina Turner
Something Stupid – Frank and Nancy Sinatra
These Boots Are Made For Walking – Nancy Sinatra
The Way We Were – Barbara Streisand
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Diana Ross
Love Child, Baby Love, Stop In The Name Of Love, Reflections – Supremes
My Guy – Mary Wells
Bernadette – Four Tops
And then we have some soundtracks she played on…
Batman Theme, M*A*S*H, Mission Impossible, Hawaii 5-O, Brady Bunch, Hogan’s Heroes, and Wonder Woman…
And the list goes on. Actually, there’s one I forgot… And The Beat Goes On – Sonny And Cher.
That’s an impressive body of work. But it’s just a small sample of her work.
Now, if you get the idea that I’m probably a ‘fangirl’ of Carol Kaye… you’d be right.
But it’s about way more than the delicious bass she’s graced my ears with… she is the epitome of an artist and a professional!
Carol Kaye didn’t start as a Bass Player.
She started her career as a jazz guitar player in the LA jazz and club circuit. But after being invited to a studio session, she realized that there was more money to be made as a studio musician. (And she did very well for herself.)
Then one day, the bass player didn’t turn up, and Carol Kaye was asked to play the bass. So, she did, and she took to it like a duck to water. She loved playing it. And as they say, the rest is history.
She went on to play with the best of the best and became the best of the best. And this isn’t just my opinion…
Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys called her “the greatest damn bass player in the world.”
Now, as impressive as this history lesson is, you know me well enough by now to know I don’t interrupt your life with nonsense.
So, what’s Carol Kaye’s career got to do with copywriting or marketing?
Heaps! There are always parallel lessons if you’re open to seeing them.
The group of studio musicians Carol Kaye played with was commonly known as “The Clique” (also later known as the Wrecking Crew. But Carole Kaye says they were never called that). And she was the only female.
As a female, she was a rarity in the industry. But that never concerned her.
“A note doesn’t have sex to it: you either play it good or you don’t.” – Carol Kaye
And this is a point I’ve shared about the copywriting industry before. It doesn’t matter if you have an “inny” or an “outy” (you know… your private parts) … it’s the words and the writing that matter.
Carol Kaye came up against the same kind of resistance that many female copywriters experience. She said she needed to develop a salty edge to clap back at a few alpha males who underestimated her abilities.
She said, “They want to think that it was a man who played the bass because of the sexual thing –– but when you hear somebody with balls, that’s me!” I love that she has that healthy level of self-belief. There is no ego there… just the facts.
She didn’t play the bass like a bad ass because she was a woman though… she did it because of her dedication, discipline and because she was Carol Kaye!
For me, it’s the same in copywriting. Good copy is good copy. And it usually comes from a copywriter who has a good level of self-belief.
And gender has nothing to do with it. You can either write good copy… or you can’t. That’s it!
Carol Kaye was able to play a wide variety of music. She was a true musical chameleon, as were the rest of “The Clique.” But the music was always convincingly authentic to the artist. The Four Tops didn’t sound like the Beach Boys… and The Supremes didn’t sound like Simon and Garfunkel.
Great copywriters can do the same thing. They can write copy in the voice of their client… but in a way that resonates with their market. There is no one-size-fits-all format.
But there may be a signature tone that shines through the copy that makes it pop!
Something else I admire about Carol Kaye’s story is… she was happy to be behind the scenes. At the height of her session musician career, she said she was earning more than the President. But she didn’t tell everyone about it. Instead, she simply got on with the job.
In fact, no one knew she was the sound behind the sound. She lived in anonymity.
Many of the best copywriters I know are “making money in the dark” and just getting on with the job. They don’t make a big deal about it. They enjoy their anonymity.
In my experience, it’s usually the ones who aren’t busy doing the “thing” that are talking the most about it. The real professionals and artists are too busy doing the “thing” to talk about it.
Another parallel is… as I said, Carol Kaye started as a guitar player (she played on the iconic song La Bamba by Ritchie Valens), and her guitar credentials are as impressive as her bass cred. But when she played the bass, she used a pick like she did with the guitar.
Now many people would say that you don’t play the bass with a pick… but the sound Carol Kaye produced was exactly what the studio and producers were looking for. And her improvised basslines often defined the song she was playing on. So, playing the bass with a pick was the right thing for her to do.
Too often in the copywriting industry, I see new copywriters start out with one type of copy, and they’re afraid to try something different. You never know what you’re good at until you try it.
I also see people giving up and giving copywriters bad advice. They try to impose their restricted view of the world and methods upon others. And that stops copywriters from finding their own groove.
Years ago, I overheard a conversation some industry veterans were having. They were saying that the chances of finding another Gary Bencivenga, Jim Rutz, or Mel Martin were zero.
But what they didn’t realize is that they were making it impossible for themselves to find such a unicorn. These veterans were “changing the industry”, interfering with the process of the new copywriters becoming who they were destined to be.
They were moulding the copywriters into something that would never be remotely close to the level of those 3 great copywriters. So, they were actually “changing the industry “… but not for the better. And definitely not for the newer copywriters in it.
Now, imagine if Carol Kaye had been told to get the pick out of her hand and play the bass “properly?” Instead, she may have hated it and gone back to the guitar. What a loss!
But that was never going to happen because… I watched an interview with her where she said that when the electric bass came out, it was played with a pick. So, she knew her history and stuck to her guns!
No matter what our industry is…
Knowledge Nugget #308:
We Need To Know Our History!
Something I love about my copy cub training with Parris is, he makes us know the history of our industry.
Knowing what has happened in the past can help us to know how to move forward in the future. But it’s more than that for me… I also like to be able to attribute things to the right people.
Also, when I say, “Know our history”, I also mean the history of things we are interested in.
Carol Kaye’s career and story have been a huge source of inspiration for me. She’s a woman who has thrived in a male-dominated industry… and has totally kicked ass!
She is known as one of the best bass players ever. And there is no… “female” in front of that title!
Event when petty men have taken cheap shots about her success being the result of her being a woman and getting an “easier” ride to success… she simply lets her skills and track record do the talking. There was nothing easy about her path to success!
As I continue to level up my skills and advance in my career… I find myself looking for influences outside my industry. Not because I’ve surpassed the people in mine… I’m not that arrogant!
It’s because I know that success leaves clues… and the clues are the same regardless of our specialty or industry.
And there are also success clues embedded in our history.
Success comes to people who work hard… and do things in a certain way. And that my friend is the difference that makes the difference.
Until next week, stay awesome, and be certain : )
Pauline x x x
Pauline Longdon
a.k.a. “The Copy Alchemist”
P.S. My partner Rae is learning to play the bass, and I love it! It was her 50th a few months ago, and I struggled to get her a great gift because what do you buy someone who has everything (she does have me after all… lol! Kidding). Anyway,
I did some research, and I found out that Carol Kaye has a book about her life and if you request her to… she’ll autograph it for you.
So, I ordered the book, and it arrived yesterday. Rae was so surprised! I want to help and inspire her to get into her own groove!
P.P.S. There was a time in the ’60s when you couldn’t listen to the radio for 20 minutes without hearing one of the hits Carol Kaye and The Clique had worked on. They were absolutely prolific. Many of them were happy to be “behind the scenes” and stayed away from the limelight.
I like to be the secret weapon behind people’s success. Whether that be my mentees, my clients, or my business partners. It’s nice to get recognition when it happens… but that’s not why I do what I do. I have so many ideas that I can’t do them all myself. If I share them… more of them have a chance of coming to fruition.
P.P.P.S. Carol Kaye is a highly disciplined professional musician. She reads music, mastered her instrument, and is a pioneer in playing the electric bass. She is a master at music. She knows exactly what makes technically great music, and that allows her the freedom to improvise… and experiment.
And that improvisation and experimentation added depth and dimension to otherwise ordinary music. Here’s a quick clip about how she made the bassline on The Beat Goes On pop!
If you’re a copywriter, you need to give yourself the best chance to channel your awesomeness. Build a firm foundation of skills… and you can make your writing pop!