Carol Kaye, probably considered the most respected bass players in our modern musical history has refused induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The 89-year-old visionary was awarded Induction into the Musical Excellence Award, which recognizes the effective influence of artists and musicians within the industry. The 89-year-old musician-composer-producer then said she will decline, as she finds it misleading and trivializes the collaboration that is involved in the studio.
Kaye played on hundreds of hit songs and worked, in succession, with The Beach Boys, The Monkees, and Simon & Garfunkel, encompassing the most distinctive bass lines of an era that is famously defined by youthful individualism. For Kaye, the individual honor of a Hall of Fame recognition is inconsistent with the spirit of team play that her career has always been about.
At the heart of her objection is the labeling of those musicians as "Wrecking Crew," a pejorative term that has often been used to connote an informal group of studio musicians in Los Angeles during that time. Kaye has publicly bristled at the assignment of the term for decades, calling it "an insult." The main reason is, as she has occasionally pointed out, there was never a formalized "Wrecking Crew;" the musicians were simply independent professionals working in different recording sessions.\
Kaye's refusal to accept the honor sheds light on a larger conversation about how the music business often overlooks the contributions of behind-the-scenes players in our rapidly evolving music industry. Kaye shared with the Toronto Star that her principal concern was that by acknowledging her, it discounts and downplays the roles of the arrangers, producers, and other musicians who had equally valid roles in creating any and all of the final tracks.
In Kaye's eyes, it was the Hall of Fame's "Wrecking Crew" moniker that trivialized the teamwork that studios music is collectively made from. Kaye felt that instead of accepting individual recognition, the work/focus needs to shift to the collective effort that went into creating music!
Even though Kaye declined the honor, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced that they still plan to give it to her in their ceremony this November. But Kaye's decision has focused attention on how session musicians are remembered and raises questions about just who gets credit for creating the music that defines the generations.
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