How Don Was and John Paterno Made the Stones Sound Alive on 'Doom and Gloom'

Producer Don Was knew the new tracks for GRRR! couldn’t sound like a museum piece. For “Doom and Gloom,” he and engineer John Paterno set up the band in one room at Studio Guillaume Tell in Paris, recording live with minimal separation. No click track, no vocal booth—just Mick Jagger singing into a vintage U47 while Keith Richards’ amp bled into the same microphones. The goal was the sound of five people playing at once, warts and all.

Paterno ran the tape on a Studer A827 analog machine and kept the drum sound dry, using a single vintage Neumann U67 on Charlie Watts’ kick and a pair of old Coles 4038