20THE ROLLING STONES (I CAN’T GET NO) SATISFACTION

(1965)

Enter the fuzz box…

We begin our top 20 with the man famed as the ‘Human Riff’... Keith Richards famously did not have great expectations for Satisfaction. In his mind, the riff was a horn part, one idea among many. But often ideas require a little kismet before they blossom. Finding a tone in the studio was not happening, but Ian Stewart, the Stones’ pianist at the time, presented Richards with a Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-tone, and the riff came alive. Of course, listening to Otis Redding’s cover proved that Richards was right all along – it did make an excellent horn part – but Satisfaction consecrated the fuzz pedal on record, forever changing rock guitar tone.