Martin Birch

Martin Birch is a British rock and heavy metal music producer, who became renowned for engineering and producing albums by the British rock bands Deep Purple and Iron Maiden.

Birch has also produced and engineered albums for numerous artists, such as Deep Purple-related projects (Rainbow, Paice, Ashton & Lord, Whitesnake, Roger Glover, Jon Lord), but also Fleetwood Mac, Black Sabbath, Wayne County & the Electric Chairs and Blue Öyster Cult. On Fleetwood Mac's album Mystery to Me (1973) he is also credited playing acoustic guitar.

The song "Hard Lovin' Man" from the Deep Purple album Deep Purple in Rock is dedicated to him : "For Martin Birch - catalyst".[2]

He retired in 1992, after producing Iron Maiden's Fear of the Dark album. Birch appears on Iron Maiden's music video "Holy Smoke".

Selected discography

Sources:, Discogs

For 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)

For 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)
• 1973 - Who Do We Think We Are (engineer)
• 1974 - Burn (engineer, mixing)
• 1974 - Stormbringer (producer, engineer, mixing)
• 1975 - Come Taste the Band (producer, engineer, mixing)
• 1976 - Made in Europe (producer, engineer, mixing)- recorded live in April 1975
• 1977 - Last Concert in Japan (producer, engineer) - recorded live in December 1975

For Wishbone Ash

• 1970 - Wishbone Ash (engineer)
• 1971 - Pilgrimage (engineer)
• 1972 - Argus (engineer)

For Rainbow

• 1975 - Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (producer, engineer, mixing)
• 1976 - Rising (producer, engineer, mixing)
• 1977 - On Stage (producer, engineer, mixing) - recorded live in 1976
• 1978 - Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (producer, engineer, mixing)
• 1986 - Finyl Vinyl (producer) - collection

For Whitesnake

• 1978 - Snakebite (producer)
• 1978 - Trouble (producer)
• 1978 - Live at Hammersmith (producer)
• 1979 - Lovehunter (producer, engineer)
• 1980 - Ready an' Willing (producer, engineer, mixing)
• 1980 - Live...In the Heart of the City (producer, engineer) - recorded live in 1978 and 1980
• 1981 - Come an' Get It (producer, engineer, mixing)
• 1982 - Saints & Sinners (producer, engineer, mixing)
• 1984 - Slide It In (producer)

For Black Sabbath

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

For Blue Öyster Cult

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

For 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)
• 1986 - Somewhere in Time (producer, engineer, mixing)
• 1988 - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (producer, engineer, mixing)
• 1990 - No Prayer for the Dying (producer, engineer, mixing)
• 1992 - Fear of the Dark (producer, engineer, mixing)

For 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 Jon Lord - Gemini Suite (engineer)
• 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 Flash - In the Can (engineer)
• 1973 Gary Moore - Grinding Stone (producer, engineer)
• 1974 Tony Ashton & Jon Lord - First of the Big Bands (engineer)
• 1976 Jon Lord - Sarabande (producer, engineer, remixing)
• 1977 Paice, Ashton & Lord - Malice in Wonderland (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 E.P. (producer)
• 1978 Roger Glover - Elements (producer)
• 1979 Cozy Powell - Over the Top (producer)
• 1982 Michael Schenker Group - Assault Attack (producer, engineer)

References

Martin Birch other artists, Mainland title Exposure 1979 1979 Mainland Exposure Producer

[2] Deep Purple In Rock inlay

1970 - Harvest / EMI Records Inc.

External links

• Martin Birch discography at Discogs
• Martin Birch discography at MusicBrainz
• Martin Birch at the Internet Movie Database