Rodger Bain (born 1945) is a British

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

, known for producing albums by heavy metal bands such as

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

, Budgie and

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...

in the 1970s. He is greatly associated with

Vertigo Records Vertigo Records is a British record company. It was a subsidiary of the Philips/Phonogram record label, launched in 1969 to specialise in progressive rock and other non-mainstream musical styles. Today, it is operated by Universal Music Group#B ...

, having been the staff producer there in the early-to-mid-1970s.

Career

He was the producer of

's first three albums, Budgie's first two albums,

's first album, '' Rocka Rolla'', and Wild Turkey's debut album ''Battle Hymn''. Bain dominated the production of Priest's first album and made decisions that the band did not agree with, such as leaving fan favourites such as "Tyrant", "Genocide", and "The Ripper" off the album. He also cut the song "Caviar and Meths" from a 10-minute song down to a two-minute instrumental. He also produced the Judas Priest album '' Hero, Hero'' (an album not authorised by the band who, in their split with Gull Records, had had to concede the original recordings of their first albums to them, although they retained the rights to the songs), which contained remixed versions of the tracks on '' Rocka Rolla''. Both of these Judas Priest albums received a great deal of criticism. On Black Sabbath's self-titled debut album, Bain played the

Jew's harp The Jew's harp, also known as jaw harp, juice harp, or mouth harp, is a lamellophone instrument, consisting of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed attached to a frame. Despite the colloquial name, the Jew's harp most likely originated in ...

on the track "Sleeping Village". In the ''Last Supper'' DVD, Black Sabbath bassist

Geezer Butler Terence Michael Joseph "Geezer" Butler (born 17 July 1949) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and primary lyricist of the pioneering Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He has also recorded and performed with Heave ...

describes Bain positively, and claims that he let them record their first album live which was, and still is, an uncommon method of recording, when other producers had refused. This is also how he is said to have produced other albums he worked on. Bain subsequently went on to work with

Barclay James Harvest Barclay James Harvest are an English progressive rock band, which following a split in 1998 now exists as two successor bands. They were founded in Oldham, in September 1966 by bassist/vocalist Les Holroyd (born 1948), guitarist/vocalist John ...

, producing their first two albums for

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

: '' Everyone Is Everybody Else'' (1974) and ''Barclay James Harvest Live''. Although he reportedly did not get on with the band, the albums are highly regarded.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

noted that Bain seemingly left the music industry in the mid-1970s. However in 1981, Bain briefly returned and formed his own record label called Blue Chip/Cygnet Records and signed bands such as The Kicks, releasing their single "If Looks Could Kill" in 1982.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bain, Rodger 1945 births Living people British record producers