Did the “Let’s Dance” session in 1962 feel momentous to you?

One of my first regional hits was a ballad, and I really wanted to do that style; the “Let’s Dance” situation didn’t feel right to me at first. There was a female bass player [Carol Kaye] and that made me uncomfortable, I’d never seen one before. So I said to her, “I want that bouncy bass sound like Ritchie Valens,” and she said, “I just did his whole album.” I said, “You gotta be kidding,” and I just fe...