How the Fuzz-Tone on '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' Almost Kept It From Being Released

Keith Richards woke up with that riff in his head in a Florida motel, recorded it on a cheap Philips cassette player, then realized he had two minutes of dead air before the actual noodling started. To get the sound he wanted – something that mimicked a horn section – he ran his Gibson through a Maestro Fuzz-Tone FZ-1, a pedal that was still new enough that RCA Studios engineers had to figure out how to make it work with their recording console. The result was the most accidental, abrasive, and perfect pop hook of the decade.

The band didn’t want to release it as a single. Mick Jagger thought the fuzz sounded like a novelty gimmick, like one of those “frat rock” records that had a two-week shelf life. Andrew Loog Oldham, their manager, had to fight to get it pressed. The Stones only relented because they needed something to fill out an upcoming tour of America.