Martin Birch

Martin Birch (* 27. December 1948 in Woking ; † 9. August 2020 ) was a British rock - and heavy metal - producer and sound engineer , who through his work with Deep Purple and Iron Maiden became known.

Birch also produced Deep Purples for musically related bands such as Rainbow , Paice, Ashton & Lord , Whitesnake , Roger Glover , Jon Lord , The Michael Schenker Group / MSG , but also Fleetwood Mac , Black Sabbath , Wayne County & The Electric Chairs and Blue Öyster Cult . He also played acoustic guitar on Fleetwood Mac's 1973 album Mystery to Me .

The song Hard Lovin 'Man from the Deep Purple album Deep Purple in Rock is dedicated to him: “For Martin Birch - catalyst”.

In 1992, after producing Iron Maiden's Fear of the Dark , he stopped producing. Birch also starred in Iron Maiden's Holy Smoke music video .

Martin Birch generally gave no interviews, which is why nothing is known about his private life.

Discography (selection)

For Fleetwood Mac

• 1969: Then Play On (sound engineer)
• 1970: Kiln House (sound engineer)
• 1972: Bare Trees (sound engineer)
• 1973: Penguin (producer, sound engineer, mix)
• 1973: Mystery to Me (producer, sound engineer, guitar)

For Deep Purple

• 1969: Concerto for Group and Orchestra (sound engineer)
• 1970: Deep Purple in Rock (sound engineer)
• 1971: Fireball (sound engineer)
• 1972: Machine Head (sound engineer)
• 1972: Made in Japan (sound engineer)
• 1973: Who Do We Think We Are (sound engineer)
• 1974: Burn (sound engineer, mix)
• 1974: Stormbringer (producer, sound engineer, mix)
• 1975: Come Taste the Band (producer, sound engineer, mix)
• 1976: Made in Europe (producer, sound engineer, mix)
• 1977: Last Concert in Japan (producer, sound engineer)

For Wishbone Ash

• 1970: Wishbone Ash (sound engineer)
• 1971: Pilgrimage (sound engineer)
• 1972: Argus (sound engineer)

For Rainbow

• 1975: Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (producer, sound engineer, mix)
• 1976: Rising (producer, sound engineer, mix)
• 1977: On Stage (producer, sound engineer, mix)
• 1978: Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (producer, sound engineer, mix)
• 1986: Finyl Vinyl (producer)

For whitesnake

• 1978: Snakebite (producer)
• 1978: Trouble (producer)
• 1978: Live at Hammersmith (producer)
• 1979: Lovehunter (producer, sound engineer)
• 1980: Ready an 'Willing (producer, sound engineer, mix)
• 1980: Live… In the Heart of the City (producer, sound engineer)
• 1981: Come an 'Get It (producer, sound engineer, mix)
• 1982: Saints & Sinners (producer, sound engineer, mix)
• 1984: Slide It In (producer)

For Black Sabbath

• 1980: Heaven and Hell (producer, sound engineer)
• 1981: Mob Rules (producer, sound engineer)

For Blue Öyster Cult

• 1980: Cultösaurus Erectus (producer, sound engineer)
• 1981: Fire of Unknown Origin (producer, sound engineer)

For Iron Maiden

• 1981: Killers (producer, sound engineer)
• 1982: The Number of the Beast (producer, sound engineer)
• 1983: Piece of Mind (producer, sound engineer, mix)
• 1984: Powerslave (producer, sound engineer, mix)
• 1985: Live After Death (producer, sound engineer, mix)
• 1986: Somewhere in Time (producer, sound engineer)
• 1988: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (producer, sound engineer, mix)
• 1990: No Prayer for the Dying (producer, sound engineer, mix)
• 1992: Fear of the Dark (producer, sound engineer, mix)

For other artists

• 1969: Jeff Beck - Beck-Ola (sound engineer)
• 1970: Peter Green - The End of the Game (sound engineer)
• 1970: The Groundhogs - Thank Christ for the Bomb (sound engineer)
• 1971: Stackridge - Stackridge (sound engineer)
• 1971: Canned Heat , John Lee Hooker - Hooker 'n Heat (Mixdown (sound engineer))
• 1971: Jon Lord - Gemini Suite (sound engineer)
• 1971: Skid Row - 34 Hours (sound engineer)
• 1971: Toad - Toad (sound engineer)
• 1971: Faces - Long Player (sound engineer)
• 1972: Silverhead - Silverhead (producer)
• 1972: Toad - Tomorrow Blue (sound engineer)
• 1972: Flash - Flash (sound engineer)
• 1972: Flash - In the Can (sound engineer)
• 1973: Gary Moore - Grinding Stone (producer, sound engineer)
• 1974: Tony Ashton , Jon Lord - First of the Big Bands (sound engineer)
• 1976: Jon Lord - Sarabande (producer, sound engineer, mix)
• 1977: Paice, Ashton & Lord - Malice in Wonderland (sound engineer)
• 1978: The Electric Chairs - The Electric Chairs (producer)
• 1978: Wayne County & The Electric Chairs - Storm the Gates of Heaven (Producer)
• 1978: Wayne County & The Electric Chairs - Blatantly Offensive EP (Producer)
• 1978: Roger Glover - Elements (producer)
• 1979: Cozy Powell - Over the Top (Producer)
• 1982: Michael Schenker Group - Assault Attack (producer, sound engineer)

Web links

• Literature by and about Martin Birch in the bibliographic database WorldCat
• Martin Birch at Discogs (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Legendary Iron Maiden And Deep Purple Producer Martin Birch Dead At 71. In: Blabbermouth.net . August 9, 2020, accessed on August 10, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Martin Birch. (No longer available online.) In: artistdirect.com. Formerly in the original ; accessed on August 10, 2020 (English).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  
3. ↑ Rock Hard , May 2010, p. 80.