Glyn Johns

Glyn Thomas Johns (born 15 February 1942) is an English recording engineer and record producer.

He has worked with many of the most famous rock recording acts from both the UK and abroad, such as the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Who, Led Zeppelin, the Kinks, Eagles, Bob Dylan, the Band, Eric Clapton, the Clash, the Steve Miller Band, Small Faces, the Ozark Mountain Daredevils and Joan 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".

Johns was born in Epsom, Surrey, England, on 15 February 1942, and is the older brother of Andy Johns.

In his autobiography, Glyn Johns recounts that at the age of eight he joined a local church choir as a boy soprano.

Felton Rapley, considered one of the leading pipe 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.

Johns attributes his experience in the choir, particularly hearing and watching Rapley play the organ, as having a profound impact on his musical direction.

As he approached adolescence, Johns left the choir after his vocal cords began to change.

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 saw Jimmy Page play guitar.

Johns became a fan of traditional jazz and joined a local ragtag jazz band on tea chest bass.

He cites the record "Little Rock Getaway" by Les Paul and Mary Ford as an influence.

Les Paul was one of the first musicians to experiment with tape multi-tracking and sound effects.

Lonnie Donegan's skiffle hit version of Lead 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".

He soon bought his own guitar and was introduced to blues and folk recordings by a neighbour, who lent him records by artists such as Snooks Eaglin, Brownie McGhee, Sonny Terry, Woody Guthrie, and Burl Ives.

Johns began to keep company with a group of friends interested in music, whose ranks included Ian Stewart (later in the Rolling Stones).

Johns is the father of Ethan Johns, and the older brother of Andy Johns (1950–2013), both 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 1959 at the age of 17, Johns left school, and with Mayhew and Golding formed the band the Presidents.

Over a long career as an engineer and/or producer, Johns has worked with numerous successful musical acts in the industry.

Johns has also recorded as a solo musical artist.

In 1959, Johns began his career as an assistant recording engineer at IBC Studios on Portland Place in London.

IBC was an independent recording studio and had no affiliation with a label.

Johns recounts that his early duties included odd tasks and providing basic support for the experienced engineers.

His first session as a recording engineer was for the popular skiffle singer Lonnie Donegan.

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 in mono (except for classical music).

During Johns's first year at IBC, the popularity of rock and roll increased and demand for records that sounded more American.

Engineers were confronted with the challenge of capturing louder music.

Younger engineers were more apt to try new approaches, and Terry Johnson, another young engineer at IBC, convinced Johns to move in this direction.

Johns recounts that Jack 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.

They engineered pre-recorded tracks for the Oh Boy! television programme, which featured leading British rock and roll performers of the day, such as Joe Brown, Marty Wilde, Billy Fury, Wee Willie Harris, and others.

Johns recounts that in the early 1960s, he was signed to Decca Records as a solo musical performing artist at the urging of Jack Good.

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 operate freelance 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 as Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed by the Rolling Stones, Who's Next by the Who, and Led Zeppelin's debut album.

Johns was the chief engineer during the Beatles' Get Back sessions for what became the Let It Be album, as documented in the films Let It Be (1970) and The Beatles: Get Back (2021).

Since 1984 Johns has continued to be active in the industry.

In 2012, Johns was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, receiving the Award for Musical Excellence.