Martin Peter Birch (27 December 19489 August 2020) was a British music producer and sound engineer. He became renowned for engineering and producing albums recorded predominantly by British rock and metal bands, including Deep Purple, Rainbow, Fleetwood Mac, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, and Iron Maiden.

Biography

Birch was born on 27 December 1948 in Woking, Surrey. he was called upon by Black Sabbath for Heaven and Hell. The band's previous albums had been self-produced and they were happy to let Birch, who had worked with Ronnie James Dio before, produce them. His "bright midrange" on the album is especially noted.

Birch also produced and engineered albums for numerous artists. These included Deep Purple-related projects (Rainbow, On Fleetwood Mac's album Mystery to Me (1973) he is also credited playing acoustic guitar.

Birch retired in 1992, after producing Iron Maiden's Fear of the Dark album. He appeared in Iron Maiden's music video "Holy Smoke" two years before his retirement. Birch died on 9 August 2020, at age 71. The cause of death was undisclosed. Initial tributes were paid by David Coverdale and Geezer Butler.

Selected discography

<small>Source: AllMusic</small> unless otherwise stated.

Fleetwood Mac

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

Deep Purple

  • 1969 – Concerto for Group and Orchestra (engineer)
  • 1970 – Deep Purple in Rock (engineer)
  • 1971 – Fireball (engineer)
  • 1972 – Machine Head (engineer)
  • 1972 – Made in Japan (engineer)
  • 1986 – Somewhere in Time (producer, engineer, mixing)
  • 1988 – Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (producer, engineer, mixing)
  • 1989 – Maiden England (producer, engineer, mixing)
  • 1990 – No Prayer for the Dying (producer, engineer, mixing)
  • 1992 – Fear of the Dark (producer, engineer, mixing)

Other artists

  • 1969 – Jeff Beck – Beck-Ola (engineer)
  • 1970 – Peter Green – The End of the Game (engineer)
  • 1970 – The Groundhogs – Thank Christ for the Bomb (engineer)
  • 1971 – Stackridge – Stackridge (engineer)
  • 1971 – Canned Heat and John Lee Hooker – Hooker 'N' Heat (Mixdown Engineer) – recorded in 1970
  • 1971 – Skid Row – 34 Hours (engineer)
  • 1971 – Toad – Toad (engineer)
  • 1971 – Faces – Long Player (engineer)
  • 1972 – Silverhead – Silverhead (producer)
  • 1972 – Toad – Tomorrow Blue (engineer)
  • 1972 – Flash – Flash (engineer)
  • 1972 – Nick Pickett – Silversleeves (engineer)
  • 1973 – Gary Moore – Grinding Stone (producer, engineer)
  • 1978 – Wayne County & the Electric Chairs – Storm The Gates Of Heaven (producer)
  • 1978 – Roger Glover – Elements (producer)
  • 1979 – Cozy Powell – Over the Top (producer)
  • 1982 – Michael Schenker Group – Assault Attack (producer, engineer)

References