Carol Kaye Does Not Have Good Vibrations About The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame

So many musicians have been saying it for years. When the group of nominations comes around, fans, fellow players, and even laypeople scratch their heads, not so much over who is nominated (although to be sure, there are often some questionable names on those yearly lists) but as a reminder of who isn’t already in. Nor ever will be getting in.
I’m talking about what most people I know call the “The Rock and Roll Hall of Shame.”
A powerhouse musician, and one who has never been known to mince words, has recently weighed in on her upcoming induction. And thank the rock gods she has. Legendary bassist and studio musician, Carol Kaye, assures those who ask that she shan’t be at the R&R award show. She says she is declining because she feels the accolade doesn’t reflect the work she and her fellows did back in the golden age of 1960s recordings. And this is a lady who knows a great deal about that golden age, having worked with Quincy Jones, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Barbara Streisand, Elvis Presley, and a grand cast of 1960s rock hitmakers. That’s Kaye and her signature pick “clicking real good,” as Brian Wilson said about her playing on the classic “Good Vibrations.” The lady even bristles with the term the “Wrecking Crew” the name her legendary group of CA recording musicians were labeled with by her contemporary and fellow musician on lots of those iconic sessions, drummer Hal Blaine.

As far as Kaye is concerned being singled out does not reflect the team she was part of in making the spectacular music she did. As she said further in a post about the upcoming Hall of Shame celebration:
“I refuse to be part of a process that is something else rather than what I believe in, for others’ benefit and not reflecting on the truth — we all enjoyed working with EACH OTHER. There’s more to it than meets the eye, just so you know.”
Kaye was also upset by a character seeming created on her in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel show. She said it felt like a “putdown to me.”
Here is a lady as serious about her work now as she was back when. And surely, seeing through all the ceremonies of a sham that the yearly hall perpetrates, I think we need to applaud her for speaking out.
Thanks Carol Kaye.