Andy Johns 

January 1, 1952 – April 7, 2013

“For a four-piece, hell, for a three-piece with some guy standing up singing

 they made a BIG old sound.”      Andy Johns talking to me about Free in 1998 

It is with immense sadness I find myself writing to cover the death of Andy Johns who passed away on Sunday, April 7. He was 61. Andy had been admitted to hospital some days previously and his health had been an issue for some time. He was working right up until his death. No cause was immediately available, although Johns had apparently been hospitalised for liver problems.

Without Andy Johns the musical soundtrack to my life would have sounded so very different and his engineering and production graces many of my favourite records. Andy Johns truly ROCKED my world. He undoubtedly rocked your world too. Obviously for anyone who loves Free Andy Johns should be held in high esteem. It was his talent for getting fantastic sounds down onto tape that make records like ‘Highway’ sound so incredible even now some 40+ years down the road. Just take ‘The Stealer’ with its wonderful tones and warm vibes. The guitar sound alone is sensational and its all very well Kossoff getting the amp to perform but someone had to catch that perfectly on tape. It was in that context that Andy Johns should be remembered as one of the great studio technicians of our time.

I was very pleased to speak to Andy in 1998 when I was doing interviews for ‘Heavy Load – The Free Story’ and being as he worked with the band right through their career (‘Fire And Water’ and ‘Free At Last’ are the only albums without him included in some context) his insight was immensely valuable.  Andy Johns started his career at Olympic Studios and he had only been working at Morgan Studios briefly when Free came through the door in October 1968. He was only six months older than Andy Fraser and yet he’d found himself pretty much ‘in charge’ of the studio when the owner decided to go and live in Canada! When asked about the sessions for ‘Tons Of Sobs’ he said; “Morgan was a good little studio and Free made a very tight sound. That’s why they were fun to record, because it was easy to do.”

At the time Chris Blackwell had negotiated a deal at Morgan Studios that give him so many hours recording every month. This means that Andy Johns is securely wrapped up with the history of the Island Records label, and he worked with many of the bands as they were put through their paces at Morgan. He was the resident engineer and his name is on many of those important 1968 - 1970 Island Records releases. Chris Blackwell eventually invested in his own studios at Basing Street and Andy Johns became freelance, working with anyone who was anyone. Even then he was one of Chris Blackwell’s ‘go to’ guys.  After ‘Fire And Water’ Johns was brought back to work with Free on ‘Highway’ and when Blackwell thought the band were struggling to complete the ‘Heartbreaker’ record Andy Johns was again called to give the album a final mix.

Its not just Free though is it. Andy Johns worked on albums by Jimi Hendrix (Tape Op on ‘Axis Bold As Love’), Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Queen, Humble Pie, Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Jethro Tull, Blodwyn Pig, West, Bruce & Laing, Hughes/Thrall, Spooky Tooth, Blind Faith, Van Halen, Television, Steve Miller Band, Joe Satriani, Chickenfoot, the list just goes on and on - and lets not forget Mott The Hoople! If you love your Rock music from the late 60s to the present you certainly have something with the Andy Johns name on the cover. I’ve seen it mentioned elsewhere that albums on which Andy Johns worked have reportedly sold more than 160 million copies. Now THAT is a serious contribution to our recorded musical history.

If I had ever wanted someone to work on an album for me Andy Johns would have been top of the list. He was funny, friendly, self-effacing and knew exactly how to record music. He was the real deal. God bless you Andy. You were taken from us far too soon.

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Speaking to John Bundrick today he recalled “When Andy came in to mix ‘Heartbreaker’ he wouldn’t let us into the control room. He was in there with a bottle of Southern Comfort standing on the chairs and having a ball and it was LOUD man, I mean it was really pumping in there. He’d occasionally let us in to hear something and turn it down a bit but when he was working it was full on. He made it sound enormous. He was a talented guy.”

From Andy Fraser to me via email today.

“Andy Johns was one of my favourite people. Only a year older than me, we worked in the studio on a lot of FREE recordings both as teenagers. I loved his energy, always up, keen, ready to go, full of enthusiasm. He was the engineer the night we wrote, recorded and mixed ‘The Stealer’ in one session. Then ran up to the top floor where Chris Blackwell of Island Records had an apartment, woke him up, and said ‘you gotta get down and hear this’, which he did, and proclaimed it the next single.” 

“AJ called me only a few weeks ago, and now he's gone. Life is so fragile. Heartbreaking. He will be missed. Not sure if he ever learnt to drive. He would either take a cab, or I would drop him off at his place in St. Johns Wood, London after a session. Known a few like that. Frankie Miller, Robert Palmer - it's like “Me drive? with my habits - I don't think so.”

 http://bit.ly/145kwUQ 

Richard Digby Smith - April 19, via email

"When you worked with Andy on a record, you were made aware how “cool” the gig of being engineer/producer could be. The way he drove the desk, so stylishly attaching a cigarette to one of the small insert switches of the Helios desk. His gentle, humorous and altogether pleasant nature on session, never ruffled, always enthusiastic, was an inspiration to me.

 

Most importantly, the sound on tape. With Led Zep and earlier with Free, the benchmark was set. I don’t think it’s been bettered since".