Birch started his music career as an audio engineer for Fleetwood Mac, where he worked on the album Then Play On. Later he started working for Deep Purple, for the band he has produced eleven albums. Later he produced the successful Black Sabbath album, among other things Heaven and Hell.
Heavy metal aficionados remember him as the mastermind behind the Iron Maiden albums of the 80s. In 1992 he delivered his last album: Fear of the Dark.
The producer was also not a deserving musician himself. On the album Mystery to Me from Fleetwood Mac he played on his acoustic guitar. Nevertheless, he remained modest. In an interview he called his work “quite simple”. “The fact that I’m used to the bands I’ve worked with helps me know what they want right away.”
This archive image shows Birch in action in the studio with Deep Purple:
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