Martin Birch, the British record company that sonically led an era of heavy metal, helming albums for Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Whitesnake, Deep Purple and more, died on Sunday (August 9) at the age of 71.
The cause of death was not confirmed on deadline.
Berch was born in 1948 in Woking, Surrey, and Birch got a start in his career as an engineer in the late ’60s and early’ 70s with Jeff Beck, Deep Purple and on five early Fleetwood Mac LPs.
When Birch worked with a band, he typically recorded in volumes. Throughout his career, he was occasionally re-invited to record with bands.
When he finally left the office, he compiled a list of production and engineering credits that read like a who’s who of British heavy metal, with multiple albums by Iron Maiden, Whitesnake, Rainbow and Deep Purple, and projects for Blue Öyster Cult, Gary Moore, Faces, Skid Row and many more.
Birch retired in 1992 after producing Iron Maiden’s Afraid of the dark album, his tenth consecutive LP with the legendary heavy metal outfit.
His contribution to rock and metal was enormous, but Birch remained grounded.
‘I do not consider myself a supertechnician,’ he told Best Magazine in 1983, ‘what I do is quite simple to me, but the fact that I’m used to the bands I’ve worked with helps me instantly. know what they want, or even what they can achieve, even if they themselves do not realize it clearly. Or maybe bands trust me over long periods of time just because they find me a particularly fun character. ”
Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale paid tribute to Birch, who he said was’ a big part of my life … helping me from the first time we got through to Slide It In. ”
Geezer Butler of Sabbath remembers Birch as a “brilliant producer.” Read here the reaction to Birch’s passing.
