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British record producer and sound engineer (1948-2020)
Martin Birch
Born (1948-12-27 ) 27 December 1948
Woking, Surrey , United KingdomDied 9 August 2020(2020-08-09) (aged 71) Genres Occupation(s)
Record producer
audio engineer
Years active 1968–1992
Musical artist
Martin Birch (27 December 1948 – 9 August 2020) was a British
music producer and
sound engineer . He became renowned for engineering and producing albums recorded predominantly by British rock bands, including
Deep Purple ,
Rainbow ,
Fleetwood Mac ,
Whitesnake ,
Black Sabbath , and
Iron Maiden .
[1]
Biography
Birch was born on 27 December 1948 in
Woking, Surrey .
[1] He began his career in music as an
audio engineer with
Jeff Beck ,
Fleetwood Mac and
Deep Purple , producing and engineering eleven albums for the latter. In 1980, coming from the "Deep Purple camp",
[2] 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.
[3] His "bright midrange" on the album is especially noted.
[4] He began a long tenure working exclusively with
Iron Maiden in 1981, producing and engineering
Killers and retiring from working with other bands for a while.
[4]
Birch also produced and engineered albums for numerous artists. These included Deep Purple-related projects (
Rainbow ,
[1]
Paice Ashton Lord ,
[5]
Whitesnake ,
[1]
Roger Glover ,
[5] and
Jon Lord ),
[5] but also encompassed
Wayne County & the Electric Chairs .
[6] On Fleetwood Mac's album
Mystery to Me (1973) he is also credited playing
acoustic guitar .
[5] The song "Hard Lovin' Man" from the Deep Purple album
Deep Purple in Rock is dedicated to him: "For Martin Birch – catalyst".
[7]
Birch retired in 1992, after producing Iron Maiden's
Fear of the Dark album.
[1] It was the last of the ten records he produced with the group.
[8] He appeared in Iron Maiden's music video "
Holy Smoke " two years before his retirement.
[9] Birch died on 9 August 2020, at age 71.
[10] The cause of death was undisclosed.
[1]
[11] Initial tributes were paid by
David Coverdale and
Geezer Butler .
[8] Members of Iron Maiden offered a lengthy tribute to Birch on their official website, with
Steve Harris ,
Bruce Dickinson and
Rod Smallwood reflecting on his personality and his time working with the band.
[12]
Selected discography
Source:
AllMusic
[5] unless otherwise stated.
Fleetwood Mac
Deep Purple
Jon Lord
1971 –
Gemini Suite (engineer)
1976 – Sarabande (producer, engineer, remixing)
Bernie Marsden
1979 - And About Time Too (producer, engineer)
Wishbone Ash
Rainbow
Whitesnake
Black Sabbath
Blue Öyster Cult
Iron Maiden
1981 –
Killers (producer, engineer)
1982 –
The Number of the Beast (producer, engineer)
1983 –
Piece of Mind (producer, engineer, mixing)
1984 –
Powerslave (producer, engineer, mixing)
1985 –
Live After Death (producer, engineer, mixing)
[15]
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
References
^
a
b
c
d
e
f Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (10 August 2020).
"Martin Birch, producer for Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and more, dies aged 71" . The Guardian . London. Retrieved 10 August 2020 .
^ McIver, Joel (17 November 2009).
Black Sabbath: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath . Music Sales. p. 215.
ISBN
9780857120281 . Retrieved 22 February 2013 .
^ Mudrian, Albert (2009).
Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces . Da Capo. pp. 8–9.
ISBN
9780786749621 . Retrieved 22 February 2013 .
^
a
b
Popoff, Martin (2012).
"The Albums: Killers " . In Neil Daniels (ed.). Iron Maiden: The Ultimate Unauthorized History of the Beast . Voyageur. pp. 38–.
ISBN
9780760342213 . Retrieved 22 February 2013 .
^
a
b
c
d
e
"Martin Birch – Credits" .
AllMusic . Retrieved 10 August 2020 .
^ Smets, Eric (2014).
Mouvance Punk 1976–1978: 100 des meilleurs albums . Camion Blanc. p. 146.
ISBN
9782357796249 .
^ Popoff, Martin (2014).
Deep Purple: De la fumée sur l'eau 1968–1976 . Camion Blanc. p. 77.
ISBN
9782357795457 .
^
a
b
"Martin Birch: Tributes paid to heavy metal music producer" . BBC News. 10 August 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020 .
^ Kaufman, Spencer (9 August 2020).
"R.I.P. Martin Birch, Producer for Iron Maiden, Fleetwood Mac, Deep Purple and More Dies at 71" . Consequence of Sound . Retrieved 10 August 2020 .
^
"Legendary IRON MAIDEN And DEEP PURPLE Producer MARTIN BIRCH Dead At 71" .
Blabbermouth.net . 9 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020 .
^ Chilton, Louis (10 August 2020).
"Martin Birch death: Tributes paid to 'brilliant' Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath producer" . The Independent . London. Retrieved 10 August 2020 .
^
"R.I.P Martin Birch" . ironmaiden.com .
^
"Concerto for Group and Orchestra" . AllMusic . Retrieved 10 August 2020 .
^ Deming, Mark (2007).
"Classic Albums: Deep Purple – Machine Head (2002) " . Movies & TV Dept.
The New York Times .
Baseline &
All Movie Guide . Archived from
the original on 6 November 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2013 .
^
a
b Begrand, Adrien (14 June 2005).
"Iron Maiden's Live After Death " .
PopMatters . Retrieved 22 February 2013 .
^ Padovani, Henry (2009). Secret Police Man . Pen Press. p. 106.
ISBN
978-1-907172-83-0 .
External links
International National Artists