The Riff That Came From a Dream: Satisfaction Turns 60

August 3rd carries a wonderfully loud piece of music history, because it was on this day in 1965 that the Rolling Stones released their scorching single I Can't Get No Satisfaction in the United Kingdom, following its American debut a couple months earlier. Keith Richards has told the story many times over the years, saying the famous fuzzy guitar riff actually came to him in his sleep. He apparently woke up in a hotel room, recorded a rough version onto a cassette tape recorder he kept by his bed, played the riff for a few seconds, then promptly fell back asleep. When he woke up the next morning and rewound the tape, most of it was just the sound of him snoring, but that little snippet of riff was still there, and it became one of the most recognizable guitar hooks in rock and roll. Mick Jagger wrote the lyrics poolside at a hotel in Clearwater, Florida, channeling a very real frustration with consumerism, advertising, and the general phoniness he felt bubbling up in American culture at the time. The song's rebellious energy and driving beat turned it into an anthem, though it wasn't without controversy. Some radio stations were hesitant to play it because of its suggestive lyrics, and Jagger himself once admitted he was stunned by how huge it became, since he considered it almost a throwaway riff at first. Satisfaction shot to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and helped transform the Rolling Stones from a popular British Invasion band into global superstars who could go toe to toe with the Beatles in terms of cultural impact. The song has since been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and regularly appears near the very top of lists ranking the greatest songs of all time, including a number two spot on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the five hundred greatest songs ever made. What makes this particular anniversary so fun is thinking about how something so massive, so era defining, practically fell out of a half asleep guitarist's brain in the middle of the night. Richards has said he almost didn't think much of the riff at first, viewing it more as a placeholder idea he'd build on later, kind of like a musical version of a sticky note. Instead it became the backbone of a song that still gets blasted at parties, used in commercials ironically enough given its anti advertising message, and covered by everyone from Otis Redding to Devo. So today, if you're looking for a little musical trivia to share, remember that on August 3rd back in 1965, one of rock's most iconic songs made its way into British record shops and radio waves, forever changing what a three minute pop song could sound like and proving that sometimes the best ideas really do come to us in our sleep. Some great Deals https://amzn.to/49SJ3Qs For more check out http://www.quietplease.ai