20 Best Classic Rock Guitar Riffs Of All Time

There's no such thing as the first riff. Ever since the dawn of rock music, listeners have become fixated on instrumental nuances that have become integral to the song's construction. However, "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones was where rock started moving past the blues and into something entirely unique.

For as classic as it sounds today, the riff would have been lost to history if Keith Richards had gotten enough sleep. As Keef explains, he was asleep in his hotel room while on tour when he got this idea for a tune in his head that he just couldn't shake. Growing more and more frustrated, Richards woke up, stumbled over to his guitar, and recorded a quick demo of the song before going back to bed.

Though the band loved the lick, Richards originally felt that the little idea would be better used if it were played by a horn section. Instead of coming in with a brass ensemble, the band returned to the studio and found brand new fuzz boxes, whose distortion made the riff have the distinct sound you know today. We may have lost out on a soulful cut from the Stones, but the absolute menace in "Satisfaction" opened up the entire rock scene to a new world of sonic possibilities.