Glyn Johns | |
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.jpg) Johns, 1979 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Glyn Thomas Johns (1942-02-15)15 February 1942 (age 84) |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instrument | Guitar |
| Years active | 1959–present |
Glyn Thomas Johns (born 15 February 1942) is an Englishrecording engineer and record producer. He has worked with many of the most famous rock recording acts from both the UK and abroad, such asthe Rolling Stones,the Beatles,the Who,Led Zeppelin,the Kinks,Eagles,Bob Dylan,the Band,Eric Clapton,the Clash,Steve Miller Band,Small Faces,the Ozark Mountain Daredevils andJoan Armatrading. Throughout his career, he has generally preferred a live, natural approach to recording in the studio, and developed a method of recording drums sometimes referred to as the "Glyn Johns method".
The years 1964–1984 marked Johns's peak era of activity in which he engineered or produced numerous hit records. In 1965 Johns became one of the first independent British recording engineers to operatefreelance rather than under the hire of a particular record label or studio. He was involved in making some of the most influential albums of the rock era such asBeggars Banquet andLet It Bleed by the Rolling Stones,Who's Next by the Who, andLed Zeppelin's debut album. Johns was the chief engineer during the Beatles'Get Back sessions for what became theLet It Be album, as documented in the filmsLet It Be (1970) andThe Beatles: Get Back (2021). Since 1984 Johns has continued to be active in the industry.
Johns is the father ofEthan Johns, and the older brother ofAndy Johns (1950–2013), all three of whom shared the same career. In addition to his work as an engineer and producer, Johns has recorded as a solo musical artist. In 2012, Johns was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame, receiving the Award for Musical Excellence.
Johns was born inEpsom,Surrey, England, on 15 February 1942,[1] and is the older brother ofAndy Johns.[2] In his autobiography, Glyn Johns recounts that at the age of eight he joined a local church choir as a boy soprano.[3] Felton Rapley, considered one of the leadingpipe organists in the UK at the time, became the choirmaster, and as Johns progressed, Johns was given occasional solos and eventually rose to head chorister at the age of eleven.[4] Johns attributes his experience in the choir, particularly hearing and watching Rapley play the organ, as having a profound impact on his musical direction.[5] As he approached adolescence, Johns left the choir after hisvocal cords began to change.[6]
Johns recounts that his next-door neighbour lent him a Guild electric guitar, which sparked his interest playing guitar. At this time Johns was attending the church's Wednesday night youth club, where for the first time he sawJimmy Page play guitar.[7] Johns became a fan oftraditional jazz and joined a local ragtag jazz band ontea chest bass.[8] He cites the record "Little Rock Getaway" byLes Paul andMary Ford as an influence.[9] Les Paul was one of the first musicians to experiment with tape multi-tracking and sound effects.[10]Lonnie Donegan'sskiffle hit version ofLead Belly's "Rock Island Line" was also influential—according to Johns, "I had heard nothing like it and rushed out to buy it the next day".[9] He soon bought his own guitar and was introduced to blues and folk recordings by a neighbour, who lent him records by artists such asSnooks Eaglin,Brownie McGhee,Sonny Terry,Woody Guthrie, andBurl Ives.[11] Johns began to keep company with a group of friends interested in music, whose ranks includedIan Stewart (later inthe Rolling Stones).[12] In 1959 at the age of 17, Johns left school, and with Mayhew and Golding formed the band the Presidents.[13]
Over a long career as an engineer and/or producer, Johns has worked with numerous successful musical acts in the industry.[1] Johns has also recorded as a solo musical artist.[1]
In 1959, Johns began his career as an assistant recordingengineer atIBC Studios onPortland Place in London.[14] IBC was an independent recording studio and had no affiliation with a label.[15] Johns recounts that his early duties included odd tasks and providing basic support for the experienced engineers.[16] His first session as a recording engineer was for the popular skiffle singerLonnie Donegan.[17]
At the time IBC had a busy schedule. Coats and ties were required to be worn by recording engineers (and white lab coats for technical engineers). Most recordings were done then inmono (except for classical music).[18] During Johns's first year at IBC, the popularity ofrock and roll increased and demand for records that sounded more American.[19] Engineers were confronted with the challenge of capturing louder music.[18] Younger engineers were more apt to try new approaches, and Terry Johnson, another young engineer at IBC, convinced Johns to move in this direction.[19] Johns recounts thatJack Good, one of the UK's early successful television rock and roll producers, made regular use of IBC Studios, and did many of his recordings with Johns and Johnson engineering sessions.[20] They engineered pre-recorded tracks for theOh Boy! television programme, which featured leading British rock and roll performers of the day, such asJoe Brown,Marty Wilde,Billy Fury,Wee Willie Harris, and others.[20]
Johns recounts that in the early 1960s, he was signed toDecca Records as a solo musical performing artist at the urging of Jack Good.[21] Johns's first single, "Sioux Indian", was produced by Jack Good[21] and the next two produced by Tony Meehan.[22] Johns later went on to record forPye Records[22] andImmediate Records,[23] but none of his solo records became hits.[1]
During this time, Johns was playing in the Presidents,[24] who, according to Johns, began to put the phrase "Featuring Decca Recording Star Glyn Johns" on their posters.[25] Johns realised that he could invite musicians to IBC on Sundays, when the studio was not booking sessions—letting musicians play in the sound room whilst he honed his engineering and producing skills at the console.[26] The makeshift sessions attracted many of the best young musicians in London, such asJimmy Page,Ian Stewart,Alexis Korner,Brian Jones, andNicky Hopkins.[25] Johns recounts that his first session as chief engineer was for a recording by Joe Brown, which was produced by Tony Hatch.[27][a] In 1962, Johns entered into an arrangement with George Clouston, the manager at IBC studios, to let him produce records by certain artists.[28]
Johns's friend,Ian Stewart was playing piano with the Rolling Stones.[29] The two lived for a while in a house nicknamed "the Bungalow" with one of Stewart's friends, Brian Wiles, who played in a group withJeff Beck.[30] It was through Stewart that Johns became involved in recording the Rolling Stones on their earliest recordings.[29] Johns mentions that in March 1963, he brought them to IBC to record several tracks.[31] AfterAndrew Loog Oldham became the Rolling Stones' manager, Stewart was asked to leave the group, and Oldham took over the role as producer of the group's recordings.[32] Oldham moved the Rolling Stones' sessions to other studios, such as Regent Sound, using other engineers, and for more than a year Johns was not involved with the Rolling Stones recordings.[33]
In 1963, Johns made arrangements to produce and record a session withGeorgie Fame,[33] but was paired, only as engineer, with producerShel Talmy.[34] Initially he was skeptical, but unexpectedly enjoyed working with Talmy, and the two formed a successful partnership on many recordings for the next couple of years, recording hit songs for acts such asthe Kinks andthe Who.[35]
During the mid 1960s, Johns worked with several of the popular Britishbeat groups of the era. With producer Shel Talmy he engineered many of the early records bythe Kinks andthe Who,[34] such as "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night" by the Kinks, and "My Generation" by the Who.[36]
In 1965, Johns left IBC studios to further pursue his solo career as a singer and performer and promote his latest record "Mary Anne", but the record failed to chart.[37] At the urging of Talmy, Johns began working freelance as an independent producer and engineer—one of the first independent engineers in the UK.[34] Subsequently, he did sessions at various studios such as Decca, Pye, Marble Arch, and Olympic.[34]
In 1971, Johns reunited with the Who for the first time since the mid-1960s, this time as a co-producer, to work on what became the albumWho's Next.[13][b] According to Pete Townshend in his autobiography:
Glyn was my model of what a good producer should be—someone who guides the music and creates the right sound—and there was a great mutual respect and fondness between us. We were both perfectionists in the studio who worked quickly. It was his work as an engineer on the early Who sessions ... that made them sound so great.[40]
Johns continued to work with the Who throughout the 1970s as an engineer on parts ofQuadrophenia in 1973.[13] He produced and engineeredThe Who by Numbers[41] (1975) and produced early sessions forWho Are You (1978) with engineer John Astley, who later took over as producer.[42] Johns returned to work with the group, producing and engineering 1982'sIt's Hard.[43]
Pete Townshend recruited Johns to engineerEric Clapton's Rainbow Concert in 1973.[44] Johns produced and engineeredEric Clapton's 1977 album,Slowhand,[45] which featured hits such as "Lay Down Sally", "Wonderful Tonight", and his version ofJ. J. Cale's "Cocaine",[46] and Clapton's next album,Backless in 1978, which contained another hit "Promises".[47] In his autobiography Eric Clapton wrote about Johns:
He was a disciplinarian who did not like people mucking about or wasting time. When we were in the studio we were expected to work and he'd get frustrated if there was any goofing off. Even though we were all getting stoned or drunk we responded to that quite well. He brought out the best in us, and as a result that album [Slowhand] has great playing and a great atmosphere."[48]
Though Johns briefly ceased recording the Rolling Stones in late 1963 and 1964, in 1965 he returned to the role as chief engineer on their British sessions and assisted the group with much of their most famous material.[c] That year, with producer Andrew Loog Oldham, Johns engineered the group's hit "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"[51] and the albumsDecember's Children (And Everybody's)[52] andOut of Our Heads.[53] Johns worked with the Rolling Stones regularly, though not exclusively, as engineer for the remainder of the 1960s and up through the mid-1970s.[54][d]
Starting with the sessions forBetween the Buttons in late 1966, Johns and the Rolling Stones began to record extensively atOlympic Studios.[56] Olympic Studios became Johns's preferred studio for many years,[57][e] and it became one of the most in-demand recording facilities in England.[60]
In 1968 the Rolling Stones expressed the desire to work with an American producer and Johns recommendedJimmy Miller, who he had seen working withTraffic.[61] Johns stayed on as engineer, and with this team the group recordedBeggars Banquet (1968)[13] andLet It Bleed (1969).[13] Glyn Johns engineered some of the tracks onSticky Fingers (1971),[62] andExile on Main St. (1972),[63] both produced by Jimmy Miller. On these two albums his brother,Andy Johns, also worked as an engineer.[64][f] His brother engineeredGoat's Head Soup, the last Rolling Stones album produced by Jimmy Miller.[67] Glyn Johns contributed to certain tracks onIt's Only Rock 'n Roll,[68] and returned as chief recording engineer during the earlier sessions forBlack and Blue, but became frustrated with delays in progress and left following a bitter disagreement with Keith Richards.[69][g]
In the 1960s, Johns engineered many of the records made bythe Small Faces,[71] such as "Whatcha Gonna Do About It"[71] "Tin Soldier",[72] their 1967 hit, "Itchycoo Park",[73] which featured the use of bizarre phasing effects[72] Johns learned from another Olympic engineer,George Chkiantz.[74][h] Johns engineered the Small Faces' 1968 LP,Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake.[76]
After the group's breakup, guitarist and lead vocalistSteve Marriot formedHumble Pie, whose membership includedPeter Frampton—Johns produced and engineered their third and fourth albums,Humble Pie[77] andRock On.[78][i] The other former Small Faces,Ronnie Lane,Ian McLagan, andKenney Jones, joined withRod Stewart andRonnie Wood, both fromJeff Beck Group to formthe Faces, and Johns engineered and co-produced (with the band) the albumsA Nod Is as Good as a Wink... to a Blind Horse[80] andOoh La La.[81] During the 1970s, after leaving the Faces, Ronnie Lane worked on several projects including theRough Mix album withPete Townshend, which was produced by Glyn Johns.[82] Lane began to experience health problems and was diagnosed withmultiple sclerosis.[83] In 1983, Eric Clapton and Johns helped organize theARMS Charity Concerts to raise money for Lane's medical bills and research for the disease,[84] and assembled a cast of musicians for the show, which included Clapton, Jimmy Page,Bill Wyman,Charlie Watts,Steve Winwood and others.[85]
Johns engineeredLed Zeppelin'sdebut album recorded in October 1968. Though Jimmy Page was credited as producer, Johns was involved in the production during the making of the album.[86] According to Johns, when working on the album, he developed his method of using three microphones to record drums for stereo mixes.[87]
Glyn Johns worked as the chief recording engineer onthe Beatles'"Get Back" sessions, which were both taped and filmed.[88] The project resulted in theLet It Be album[89] and thedocumentary filmsLet it Be (1970)[90] andThe Beatles: Get Back (2021).[91] In 1969, Paul McCartney called Johns and asked him to assist with sessions.[92] George Martin, though officially listed as the producer, only made occasional appearances.[93] During taping and shooting,John Lennon in jest referred to him as "Glynis" (referring to the apparently unrelated actressGlynis Johns).[94]
Johns says it was he who suggested the band playlive on the rooftop of theirApple Studio building inSavile Row, London; setting up the recording equipment for their last live performance.[95][13] He also recommended that the album be structured as an "audio documentary" with talk and banter included between each track.[95] Johns helped the band compile several versions of the album,[96] all of which got shelved[97] before the project was turned over to producerPhil Spector in 1970, who reworked it and released it as the albumLet It Be.[98] Johns was critical of Spector's re-produced version, calling it "a syrupy load of bullshit".[99]
Johns engineered early recorded parts of the song "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" atTrident Studios[100] on 23 February 1969, that in later finished form appeared on theAbbey Road album.[101] ForAbbey Road's remaining tracks, the group returned toEMI Studios and re-united with producerGeorge Martin and a team of engineers includingGeoff Emerick,Phil McDonald, andAlan Parsons.[102]
Johns assisted with early sessions ofPaul McCartney and Wings'Red Rose Speedway.[103][j] Johns quit the project due to what he described as his lack of satisfaction with the material.[104]
Johns also worked with other British acts such asProcol Harum,[105]Joe Cocker,[13]the Move,[106] andFairport Convention.[107] He engineered several songs by Australia'sthe Easybeats,[108] including their 1967 hit "Friday on My Mind", which was produced by Shel Talmy.[109] Johns worked with the French musicianJohnny Hallyday.[110]
In the late 1960s and 1970s, Johns was in demand on both sides of theAtlantic and worked with American acts such asthe Steve Miller Band, and theEagles.[1] Johns did his first work with an American act in 1968 with the Steve Miller Band, whom he had seen perform live atthe Fillmore inSan Francisco.[111] The group came to England to record their debut album,Children of the Future, at Olympic with Johns as engineer.[112] During the sessions, Johns assumed the role of producer.[113] Johns produced and engineered their next three albums,Sailor,[114]Brave New World,[1] andYour Saving Grace.[115]
At the request of producerBob Johnston,[116] Johns engineered the live recordings of Bob Dylan's performance backed bythe Band at theIsle of Wight Festival in 1969,[116] some of which appeared on his 1970Self Portrait album.[117] He later produced and engineered Dylan's 1984 live album,Real Live.[118] Johns also did one of the mixes for the Band'sStage Fright in 1970.[119][k]
Johns engineered and produced the Eagles' first three albums, bringing them to Olympic Studios in London to record theirself-titled debut,[121] followed byDesperado,[13] and the early sessions forOn the Border.[122] During these years they achieved success, recording hits such as "Witchy Woman", "Tequila Sunrise", and "Best of My Love", which became their first number one hit single.[122] Increasingly the group began to develop internal friction and with Johns.[122] They also objected to Johns' ban on use of drugs in the studio.[122] By 1974, singer/guitaristGlenn Frey and drummer/vocalistDon Henley gained control of the band,[122] and sought a more hard-rocking approach.[122] Johns, who preferred their earlycountry-rock orientation,[123] fell out of favour with the group and left during the making ofOn the Border, so they moved the sessions toCalifornia and brought in producer/engineerBill Szymczyk to finish the album.[122] Eventually,Randy Meisner andBernie Leadon departed,[124] and the band recruitedDon Felder,Timothy B Schmit, and formerJames Gang guitaristJoe Walsh.[125]
Johns engineered and co-produced the first two albums bythe Ozark Mountain Daredevils, which provided the hits "If You Wanna Get to Heaven" and "Jackie Blue".[126] Johns worked with others such asSpooky Tooth,[110]Billy Preston,[127] andHowlin' Wolf.[128] Johns engineered the song "A Man Needs a Maid" onNeil Young's 1971Harvest album.[129] Johns has also worked withEmmylou Harris.[1]
After assessing the disappointing sales ofJoan Armatrading's second album,A&M Records selected Johns to produce her next three albums,[130] beginning in 1976 withJoan Armatrading,[131] followed byShow Some Emotion (1977), andTo the Limit (1978).[132] Providing Armatrading with her first chart hit, "Love and Affection", the eponymous third album cemented her career, and was once described by Johns as his best work.[130]
In 1982, Johns worked withthe Clash during the late stages of making the albumCombat Rock.[133] Initially it was intended to be a double album tentatively under the working titleRat Patrol from Fort Brag.[134] The group's chief songwritersMick Jones andJoe Strummer disagreed on how to proceed, and according to Johns even booked separate studios in New York to do their own competing mixes of the album.[135][l] According to Clash biographer Marcus Gray, the group's managerBernie Rhodes, pushed to bring in eitherGus Dudgeon, who had producedElton John, or Glyn Johns.[133][m] Johns recounts that the chief of London'sCBS RecordsA & R department,Muff Winwood (brother of musician Steve Winwood), having been dissatisfied with Jones' and Strummer's mixes, asked Johns to remix the album.[135] Johns agreed and, upon hearing an acetate of one of the previous mixes, was concerned about the record's apparent self-indulgence, but was also impressed with many of its tracks and realised that there was enough strong material to make a good album.[136] Johns recommended that the album be shortened to one disc, and proceeded to reduce the number of tracks for inclusion, plus he edited down the length of several tracks in addition to remixing all of the songs that ended up on the final release.[137][n]
Though Johns's output slowed in the mid-1980s, he undertook work withMidnight Oil,Nanci Griffith,Belly,[1]New Model Army,[138]Joe Satriani,[139]John Hiatt,[140]Buckacre,[110]Gallagher and Lyle,[141]Georgie Fame,[110]Helen Watson,[110] and many others.[142] Johns produced much ofLinda Ronstadt's 1998We Ran album.[143]
In 2011, after a number of years spent largely away from production, Johns worked withRyan Adams on his album,Ashes & Fire.[144] In February 2012, Johns began work on theBand of Horses album,Mirage Rock.[145] Johns and Clapton collaborated once again for Clapton's 2016 releaseI Still Do.[146]
Johns has stated that he prefers, when possible, to record instrumental tracks with musicians playing together live in the studio as a collective unit, using a limited number of microphones and tracks—in a space suitable for ensemble playing that has unique acoustical characteristics,[147] and he generally prefers recording the basic track from one continuous take of a whole performance, rather than editing together different pieces.[110]
Johns developed an approach for recording drums in stereo, sometimes referred to as the "Glyn Johns Method", that aims to achieve a natural perspective of the whole kit, rarely employing more than three or four microphones.[149] His method consists of using two overhead microphones, with one placed over the snare drum and the other slightly over and to the right of the floor tom (both pointed towards and equidistant from the snare drum), as well as a third microphone set in front of the bass drum. He sometimes uses an additional close mic for the snare drum.[150]
Glyn Johns is the older brother of the producer and engineerAndy Johns (1950–2013),[151] who began as an engineer withJimi Hendrix under the tutelage ofEddie Kramer,[152] and like Glyn Johns, worked with the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.[153] Glyn Johns has two older sisters.[151]
With Glyn Johns's first wife Sylvia, Johns had two children, including a sonEthan Johns, (a producer and engineer who has worked with artists such asPaul McCartney,Kings of Leon, and, like his father,Ryan Adams,[154]) as well as a daughter Abigail Johns.[155]
Glyn Johns is the uncle of the blues musicianWill Johns (son of Andy Johns).[156]
Glyn Johns is recognized as one of the pre-eminent audio engineers and record producers of the rock era. On 14 April 2012, he was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame inCleveland,Ohio. He received an Award for Musical Excellence and was honoured for his work on landmark recordings by many famous artists.[157] He was also the winner of the 2013 Music Producers Guild Inspiration Award.[158]
Johns has written an autobiography titledSound Man, published byBlue Rider Press on 13 November 2014,[159] in which he recounts his experiences working with the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Who, the Eagles, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and others.[159]
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