![](\"https:\/\/www.platinumsamples.com\/images\/Andy-Working-1.jpg\")
British record producer and sound engineer Andy Johns, who like his older brother Glyn Johns worked with some of the biggest rock bands of the 1960s and ’70s, including the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, has died at age 62. British newspapers reported that Johns passed on after suffering from a liver ailment. <\/p>\n
Andy Johns started his career as a tape operator at London’s Olympic Studios during a period of exceptional musical ferment. He later recalled that “in those days, you could go into one studio and Joe Cocker was working, and then you’re working with Jimi Hendrix in Studio One, or down the corridor Eric Clapton is doing something.”<\/p>\n
He worked as an assistant producer with the Stones during recording of their landmark 1972 album,\u00a0 “Exile On Main St.” He also was involved with two of the band’s follow-up albums, “Goat’s Head Soup” and “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll.” During his career, Johns also helped capture the studio sound of Free, Jethro Tull and Humble Pie, among other groups.<\/p>\n
Later in the 1970s, Johns relocated to Los Angeles and became a go-to producer for heavy metal stalwarts such as\u00a0 Van Halen and Cinderella.<\/p>\n
As one might hope from a man of his unique vantage point, Johns had many anecdotes about his studio sessions with various rock legends. He shared some of them in a 2009 interview with music historian and author Harvey Kubernik. Here’s an edited sample of one of their exchanges, from a transcript that Kubernik provided to Pop & Hiss:
You had a recording history and personal history with the Rolling Stones before you engineered \u201cExile on Main St.\u201d You were a tape operator at Olympic Studios for \u201cTheir Satanic Majesties Request\u201d sessions, and knew the band even earlier owing to your brother Glyn engineering their sessions from the beginning of their career.<\/p>\n
Well, I was aware of them when Glyn did their first demos at IBC. They didn\u2019t even have a record deal. I remember him bringing that stuff back to the house. They soon started making records…. I remember Bill Wyman had this bass that he\u2019d made himself. Hand-made bass that used to be under [Ian Stewart\u2019s] bed. And there was a copy of \u2018Satisfaction\u2019 in 1965, and it hadn\u2019t come out in England yet. So, here I am this teenager with a copy of the latest Stones single, which just happens to be \u2018Satisfaction.\u2019 And I started banging around on Bill\u2019s bass and that\u2019s when I really got interested in playing bass.<\/p>\n
And then at Christmas time, Glyn said, \u2018What do you want for Christmas?\u201d And I said, \u2018Well, there\u2019s that bass underneath Stu\u2019s bed, you know. I wouldn\u2019t mind that.\u2019 And he said, \u2018Oh, Bill is not gonna get rid of that \u2018cause he made it himself.\u2019 And I didn\u2019t think anymore about it. And then Christmas Day came and I didn\u2019t get very much for Christmas \u2018cause I\u2019d already weasled my stuff before Christmas. Everyone else is opening gifts and they\u2019re getting watches, Christmas stuff.\u00a0 And I\u2019m not getting anything. So, I was a bit downhearted, you know. And at the end, Glyn says, \u2018Guess what? I forgot I\u2019ve got something for you.\u2019 And he went out and came back and I could see it was a bass guitar. And I opened it up and it\u2019s this gorgeous little bass that Bill used to use on the \u2018Top of the Pops\u2019 program. So that knocked me for six\u2026And I couldn\u2019t believe it….So, obviously, I never looked back.
Tell me about Jimmy Miller as a producer and a mate. Spencer Davis once said, “Jimmy Miller was the first genius producer I ever worked with.”<\/p>\n
Well that\u2019s easy. Jimmy was an extremely talented man. His main gift I think was his ability to get grooves. Which for a band like the Stones is very important. Look at the difference between \u2018Beggar\u2019s Banquet\u2019 and \u2018Satanic Majesties.\u2019 He put them right back on the rail. So he was quote influential then and came up with all sorts of lovely ideas for them. In fact, that\u2019s him playing the cowbell at the beginning of \u2018Honky Tonk Woman.\u2019 He sets it up. He was somewhat of a frail individual and they got to him like they got to everybody. Sooner or later you lose your mind. By the time we got to \u2018Exile on Main St.\u2019 they weren\u2019t really listening to him anymore. So he felt a bit like a fifth wheel. He was being squeezed out a bit and I was watchin\u2019 that go down.<\/p>\n
Jimmy was mad keen and sort of halfway in control of \u2018Sticky Fingers,\u2019 but his grip was slipping a bit. On \u2018Exile,\u2019 they sort of stopped listening to him and by the time we got to \u2018Goat\u2019s Head Soup,\u2019 it was like he wasn\u2019t there. That was a very tough record to make. I love \u2018Winter\u2019 from that. <\/p>\n
You know, Mick and Keith back then could be pretty [expletive] ruthless. It\u2019s a defense mechanism,\u00a0 because people forget how big a deal they were. So everybody and their uncle is trying to grab the hem of their coat. They always want something, you know. \u2018Listen to this song. You should really do this song.\u2019 \u2018I\u2019ve got this great idea for a hotel. Give me the money.\u2019 Constantly. And the dope dealers and the groupies. So I guess that hardens you to a certain extent. I know it has to me a little bit. <\/p>\n
On \u2018Exile,\u2019 Keith would play after the fact. We\u2019d have some time and Keith would say, \u2018I want to re-do the bass.\u2019 In front of Bill, you know. They were really cruel.<\/p>\n
The guitar contributions of guitarist Mick Taylor were apparent to you over your working relationship with the Stones in the studio. And he received a co-write on the track \u2018Ventilator Blues.\u2019 You have said it got quite steamy in Keith\u2019s basement, \u2018cause there was one small window and an electric fan blowing in the summer. So you all had the \u201cVentilator Blues.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Mick Taylor in the studio in France or Sunset Sound was just a shinning light. As a person, somewhat taciturn. When he plays his guitar and we\u2019d do 100 takes on something he would come up with something slightly different every time. Faultless. Every once in a while he\u2019d drop a note. I mean, that\u2019s expected. His slide playing. He\u2019s put a bottle on his little finger and then he\u2019d do chords with the rest of his hand. So he could do both at once. Usually, it\u2019s a separate deal, but that was part of his style. His sense of melody was unbelievable.
And pianist Nicky Hopkins is all over the \u201cExile\u201d album.<\/p>\n
Nicky is on everything. He was the best and the greatest. God bless Nicky Hopkins. He added so much to that band. Sometimes you wouldn\u2019t really notice it. But if you take the piano out then the house of cards collapses a bit. He was always coming up with gorgeous little melodies. Earlier, \u2018She\u2019s a Rainbow.\u2019 That\u2019s Nicky. Of course he was doing a lot of things like that. Plus he was extremely rhythmic. People don\u2019t remember him for being rhythmic. But he was.<\/p>\n
What was the food like at Keith\u2019s villa [in the south of France, while “Exile on Main St.” was being recorded]?<\/p>\n
This French chef would put out these lavish spreads for lunch and you\u2019d walk out to a big table of artichokes, stuffed tomatoes, sauteed asparagus, salads and lobsters. Wonderful stuff. Big luncheon on the terrace overlooking the Mediterranean and these big yachts. It\u2019s France. Keith would come down the steps and go, \u2018I wanna cheeseburger.\u2019 I used to kid Nicky, \u2018Guess what? We\u2019re having liver and onions, steak and pie.\u2019 He had a hole in his stomach. Very frail.\u00a0 After two or three months, the chef just [left]. He left and Keith got these cowboys who hung around town. A big guy who became the cook who then preceded to set fire to the basement kitchen.\u00a0 We then had a long weekend and Mick went off to Paris. And these cowboys stole and nicked most of the equipment, Keith\u2019s guitars, Bobby Key\u2019s saxophone. Another wise friendship that Keith had going.<\/p>\n
Source: The Los Angeles Times<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
British record producer and sound engineer Andy Johns, who like his older brother Glyn Johns…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2894\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}