Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Glyn Johns

Glyn Johns is a recording engineer, producer, and mixing engineer on scores of records, and they all sound very good. The music may not always be there, but when it is, and the chemistry is working between Johns and the artist, great things happen.

His early work was engineering several Rolling Stones records in the sixties, but by the early seventies he was producing while continuing his engineering work.

He produced some of the finest recorded rock music ever. In 1971 alone he produced The Faces A Nod Is As Good As A Wink... To A Blind Horse, The Who's Who's Next, and Boz Scagg's Boz Scaggs and Band. That was a good year. All three of those records are sonically flawless, and they are also perfect performances by bands at the peak of their power.

He went on to produce and engineer the first Eagles records, and I know, they're pretty dated now, but they sound great! He produced many of Joan Armatrading's overlooked gems, a few of Clapton's late seventies records (which are quite fine in retrospect), some excellent John Hiatt eighties outings, and The Subdudes' fine Annunciation. The list goes on and on. His list of engineering credits is even longer than that of his production work. As recently as the late nineties, he remained current and vital, producing Joe Satriani and Belly. He's also engineered and produced many excellent box sets and Best Of's.

He had an excellent ear, and he recorded rock music as well as anyone. He seems to have retired about 13 years ago, and should be in his early seventies by now. The picture above is from 2007. Let's hope this entry finds him well. A gentleman and a skilled artisan. A producer with impeccable taste and enormous talent.

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