Rolling Stones Record 'Satisfaction' After Keith Richards Dreams Guitar Riff (1965)

The Rolling Stones, inspired by an fiery buzzsaw riff that guitarist Keith Richards wrote in his sleep and captured on a cassette player, recorded their iconic rock anthem “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” on May 12, 1965. The riff by Richards is widely considered one of the greatest hooks of all time. The song lyrics refer to sexual frustration and commercialism.

The Stones first recorded the track on May 10th at Chess Studios in Chicago, Illinois, which included Brian Jones on harmonica. The band lip-synched to a dub of this version the first time they debuted the song on the American music variety television program Shindig! The group re-recorded the track two days later at RCA Studios in Hollywood, California, with a different beat and the Maestro fuzzbox adding sustain to the sound of the guitar riff.