How the Stones Stacked Slide Guitars on 'Can't You Hear Me Knocking'

The wild, layered slide guitar on “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” came from Keith Richards and Mick Taylor playing off each other in open G tuning. Keith ran his riff through a Leslie rotating speaker cabinet (the one normally used for Hammond organs), which gave it that swirling, almost seasick wobble. Mick Taylor doubled the part on a separate track, adding more sustain and a slightly different voicing, creating that thick, rubbery texture.

That extended solo after the main riff drops out? That’s all Mick Taylor, stretching out over a Latin-jam section the band cooked up on the fly. He played it on a Gibson ES-355 through an Ampeg amp, using a Coricidin bottle as a slide. The whole second half of the track — the congas, the sax, the loose groove — was an accident. The band just kept playing after the planned ending, and producer Jimmy Miller kept the tape rolling.