Queen, Bowie and other residents of Rockfield Studios remembered by the cook’s daughter

Rockfield is a converted farmhouse in the Welsh countryside where, for over 50 years, bands have lived while recording. In the ‘70s Tiffany Murray’s mum was the in-house cook, filling Motorhead to the brim with boeuf bourguignon and Black Sabbath with salmon en croute. Her touching memoir My Family And Other Rock Stars – hailed as “a rock and roll Cider With Rosie” – sees a succession of visiting bands though the wide eyes of a child and in a wholly new light - Freddie Mercury is the man who “smelt of sweet wood and oranges” and was nice to her dog, Julian Cope is “pretty and dressed in a white sheet”. It’s a movie waiting to happen. We loved this highly original and revealing book and our conversation with Tiff which involves … … the ‘Saffy from Ab Fab’ relationship she had with her mum who began her professional life spying on the Duchess of Argyll from a wardrobe. … floppy hats, Biba dresses and a purple beach buggy. … the only woman who recorded at Rockfield in the ‘70s. … the realisation that the men singing “Galileo” repeatedly in the stables were the same people later on Top Of The Pops. … her mother’s Book Of Rules for visiting rock stars, “a matron in the body of Julie Christie in Darling”. … ample proof that rock music allows a life of extended adolescence. … shelved albums and unpaid bills. … Tiff’s stepfather and in-house Rockfield producer Fritz Fryer. … Nick Lowe through the eyes of a 10 year-old – “tall, kind and looked like a bird”. ... Graham Parker’s trout in almonds and how the cook was paid extra “just to get food into Lemmy”. … and mentioned in despatches – Squeeze, the Tyla Gang, Showaddywaddy, Van Der Graaf Generator and Dr Feelgood. Order ‘My Family And Other Rock Stars' here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Family-Other-Rock-Stars-groundbreaking/dp/0349727538Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

Mark Ellen and David Hepworth have been talking about and writing about music together and individually for a collective eighty years in magazines like Smash Hits, Mojo and The Word and on radio and TV programmes like "Rock On", "Whistle Test" and VH-1.Over thirteen years ago, when working on the late magazine The Word, they began producing podcasts. Some listeners have been kind enough to say these have been very special to them. When the magazine folded in 2012 they kept the spirit of those podcasts alive in regular Word In Your Ear evenings in which they spoke to musicians and authors in front of an audience. Over these years they've produced hundreds of hours of material. As of the Current Unpleasantness of 2020, they've produced yet hundreds of hours more with a little help from guests kind enough to digitally show them around their attics such as Danny Baker, Andy Partridge, Sir Tim Rice and Mark Lewisohn. For the full span of the Word In Your Ear world, visit wiyelondon.com. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.