Something to Talk About

Bonnie Raitt
Reverb: The drums throughout this tune sound live and open, exquisitely recorded by one of the greats: Ed Cherney. But note the extra room sound added to the drums in the breakdown after Bonnie's slide solo (at about 2:30). The ear-grabbing room ambience is helped(...)
Rock Steady

Aretha Franklin
Echo: Aretha's vocal gets a rather surprising special effect in this recording, in the form of a regenerating echo. Those Aaahs/Ooohs get a bit of ear grabbing spin, adding motion and support and interest to her long sustained single syllables. Such an effect risks being(...)
Can’t You Hear Me Knocking

Rolling Stones
Distortion: Keith Richards plays his Les Paul Custom Black Beauty with exquisite distortion, in open G tuning, for the iconic opening riff, panned hard right. This is very much in contrast to Mick Taylor's clean tone from his walnut brown Gibson ES-345 on both rhythm(...)