It's A Feel
Cris Cohen: To me, rhythm guitar kind of influences people without them knowing that it's influencing them. The solo gets a lot of attention, and all eyes go toward one person during that moment, but it's usually the rhythm part that people end up humming or singing to themselves when they're thinking about the song. And so, it's almost more -- I don't know if “insidious” is the right word -- but it's the kind of thing that really makes contact with the listener.
John Hall: It's a feel. And I would say the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, neither of those bands would have probably existed were it not for Chuck Berry. And they would say the same thing. They have said the same thing. I was definitely influenced by Chuck. The Beach Boys wouldn't have… listen to “Surfing USA” or any of their early songs and you just hear Chuck Berry all over the place.
I also came to appreciate rhythm section work. When I was in my teens, I was listening to the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Mitch Mitchell and thinking, “Wow, that's a great rhythm section.” And Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce. And then as I grew up a little bit and decades went by, I started to think Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn and Booker T and the Muscle Shoals guys, who produced Barry Beckett and Roger Hawkins and who produced the first Orleans album in Muscle Shoals in that studio. We were big fans of theirs, which is why we had them produce us instead of a couple of other people who we could have had.
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