Roger Glover Reveals the ‘Sixth Member’ of Deep Purple Who Shaped the Band’s Legacy
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Remembering Martin Birch
Martin Birch is widely regarded as one of the greatest heavy metal producers of all time. He engineered or co-produced every classic Deep Purple album of the 1970s and later worked with Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Whitesnake, Blue Öyster Cult, and the Michael Schenker Group. From 1981 through 1992, he produced all of Iron Maiden’s albums, further cementing his influence across hard rock and metal.
During an interview with Eddie Trunk, longtime Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover described Birch as a guiding force in the studio. Glover recalled how Birch quietly became a teacher for anyone curious about the recording process. “I learned a lot from Martin,” Glover said. “I mean, I went on to be a producer as well, especially when I got kicked out of the band [in 1973].”
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Lessons From a Master
Glover explained that Birch never held back when asked technical questions. “A few years later, I found myself being in the position of being a producer of a hit, so…but I think I learned a lot from Martin. I used to question, ‘Why do you do this? What does compression do?’ and all these things. And he happily sort of pointed it out. So, I owe him a great deal, really.”
Glover’s own production career soon took off. In the 1970s and 1980s he worked on multiple albums for Nazareth and Rainbow, and co-produced Judas Priest’s early classic Sin After Sin. His work carried forward many of the techniques he had picked up under Birch’s guidance.
First Meeting in the Studio
Host Eddie Trunk noted during the interview that Birch was actually younger than most of the Deep Purple members he worked with, a fact that surprised him. Glover then shared how the band first crossed paths with Birch while recording their 1970 album In Rock.
“We needed to get out on the road as well. So, we might spend one or two days in a studio and then go away for three or four days on the road, and then come back and do another two days in the studio. And so we used different studios,” Glover recalled. “We started off in IBC in London, went to Abbey Road, and then we needed to get some more time, and they were all booked up. So, this place called De Lane Lea Kingsway became available, and he was the house engineer. That’s how we met. He worked for the Kingsway De Lane Lea people.”
Lasting Influence
Birch passed away on August 9, 2020, at the age of 71, with no cause of death publicly revealed. To Glover and many others, his technical skill and quiet mentorship made him a “sixth member” of Deep Purple and a lasting influence on rock music.
