The Open-Tuned Guitar Through a Leslie Speaker on 'Monkey Man' — and How Glyn Johns Mic'd It

Keith Richards played his open-tuned guitar (likely open G or open D) through a Leslie rotary speaker cabinet for the grinding, wobbling rhythm on “Monkey Man.” The Leslie was normally used for Hammond organs, but Richards loved the way its spinning baffles and rotating horn gave the guitar a watery, phasing texture that fits the song’s drunken swagger.

Engineer Glyn Johns had to capture that sound without letting the Leslie’s loud, rotating speaker bleed into other microphones in the room. His solution was simple: he moved the Leslie cabinet into the hallway outside the control room, placed a single microphone (likely a Neumann U47) about six inches from the speaker grille, and closed the door. The isolation killed the bleed, and the close miking kept the swirling effect intact — the hallway just added a touch of natural ambiance that made the guitar sound even wider.