Cooder's roots-rock guitar tone emerged early in his career, but his palette as a producer has evolved over the decades. The use of reverb and organ on the 2005 album Chávez Ravine shows a keen awareness of ambient styles, and the percussion on “Waitin' for Some Girl” shows an appreciation for hard-driving boom-bap sonics—a trend that continued on the political songs of 2012's Election Special.