<P> "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was written and sung by lead guitarist Buck Dharma and produced by David Lucas, Murray Krugman, and Sandy Pearlman . The song's distinctive guitar riff is built on the "i - VII - VI" chord progression, in an A minor scale . The riff was recorded with Krugman's Gibson ES - 175 guitar, which was run through a Music Man 410 combo amplifier, and Dharma's vocals were captured with a Telefunken U47 tube microphone . The guitar solo and guitar rhythm sections were recorded in one take, while a four - track tape machine amplified them on the recording . Sound engineer Shelly Yakus remembers piecing together the separate vocals, guitar and rhythm section into a master track, with the overdubbing occurring in that order . </P> <P> Mojo described its creation: "' Guys, this is it!' engineer Shelly Yakus announced at the end of the first take .' The legendary once - in - a-lifetime groove!'...What evolved in the studio was the extended solo section; it took them nearly as long to edit the five - minute track down to manageable length as it did to record it ." </P> <P> The song features prominent use of the cowbell percussion instrument, overdubbed on the original recording . Bassist Joe Bouchard remembered the producer requesting his brother, drummer Albert Bouchard, play the cowbell: "Albert thought he was crazy . But he put all this tape around a cowbell and played it . It really pulled the track together ." However, producer David Lucas says that he played it, a claim supported by guitarist Eric Bloom . </P> <P> The song was on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 20 weeks, reaching number 12 for the weeks beginning November 6 and November 13 in 1976 . It was BÖC's highest - charting U.S. song and helped Agents of Fortune reach number 29 on the Billboard 200 . "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" charted even higher in Canada, peaking at number 7 . The single edit was released in the UK in July 1976 (CBS 4483) but failed to chart . However the unedited album version was released as a single (CBS 6333) in May 1978, where it reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart . </P>

Is there really cowbell in don't fear the reaper