The Rolling Stones: When Glyn Johns handed off production duties to Andy Johns
Formidable families in the world of rock and roll are nothing new. For every volatile pair of siblings like the Davies or the Gallaghers, there are more easy-going pairs like Paul McCartney and his brother, Mike McGear. Plenty of brothers cohabit in the same musical scene without stepping on each others’ toes, but they usually both appear at the front of the stage. When it comes to behind-the-scenes family powerhouses, it’s hard to get any more impressive than brothers Glyn and Andy Johns.
As the older of the pair, Glyn got an eight-year head start on Andy when it came to engineering and producing classic records. His resume is one of the most illustrious in the history of rock music: Johns is one of the only individuals who have worked with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. On top of that, everyone from Led Zeppelin to The Who to the Eagles to Bob Dylan hired Johns to make their albums sound incredible.
Glyn’s role as The Rolling Stones’ engineer came to an abrupt halt after the 1970 live album Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out. Johns was in the middle of his transition out of engineering and into producing, a promotion that didn’t always get afforded to him by some of his biggest clients. The Stones had established Jimmy Miller as their producer by that point, and as he was unwilling to accept a demotion to his previous role as engineer, Johns bid the band a farewell. He did, however, set up a replacement.
“I did a couple days of mixing with the Stones and announced that that was it, recommending my brother Andy to take over from me as their engineer,” Johns wrote in his memoir Sound Man. “He was eight years younger than me and left school with a burning desire to follow in my footsteps.”
Glyn was willing to help his brother get a job at his former stomping grounds, but the assistance ended there. Glyn and Andy never worked on a project together, and other than that initial bit of help, Glyn left Andy to his own devices in the music world. Where Glyn was one of the most influential engineers of the 1960s, Andy would go on to become one of the most influential engineers of the 1970s.
“I managed to get him a job at Olympic [Studios], which did not last long, as his timekeeping proved to be less than reliable. However, he moved on and quickly established himself as a formidable engineer, making wonderful-sounding records with, among others, Led Zeppelin, Blind Faith, Jack Bruce, Free, Ten Years After, Jethro Tull, and Cat Stephens.”
Check out Glyn’s work on Led Zeppelin I and Andy’s subsequent work on Led Zeppelin II down below.
