Rockfield: The Studio On The Farm
Dir: Hannah Berryman BBC
Lighthearted but insubstantial look at the renowned Welsh recording studio.
Just what is it about dairy farmers and music? From Woodstock’s Max Yasgur to Glastonbury’s Michael Eavis, the lure of rock’n’roll has proved strong. But brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward went that one step further. Having been bitten by the rock’n’roll bug in the 1950s, the pair left behind the agricultural life and their own attempts at making music and converted their family farm into Rockfield Studios, the world’s first residential recording studio, located in the glorious surrounds of rural Monmouthshire.
With contributions from Black Sabbath, Dave Brock, Simple Minds, The Charlatans and Oasis’s Liam Gallagher and Bonehead, Hannah Berryman’s charming documentary is rich in anecdote but light in revelation. So while the bands are happy to share stories about their time at the studio, the sense of what makes Rockfield such a special space is never explored in any great detail. The closest we get to that is from the ever-erudite Robert Plant, who explains how the charms of the countryside helped him re-calibrate his career following Led Zeppelin’s untimely demise. Also of interest is producer John Leckie, who knows a thing or two about working with bands at Rockfield, having done Simple
Minds’ Real To Real Cacophony and Empires And Dance at the celebrated studio, as well as working there with Thee Hypnotics and the Stone Roses.
Indeed the lack of input from major players such as the Stone Roses, who spent 14 months in residence at Rockfield, is frustrating. Offering no insight into why it took them so long to make The Second Coming, we’re instead offered a yarn by Liam Gallagher recounting the pre-fame night he and Bonehead stole a combine harvester to get to Rockfield to hear what the Roses were working on. Likewise, the absence of Queen’s surviving members talking about the making of Bohemian Rhapsody is made up for by some delightful animations, which are also used to fill the lack of archive footage throughout.
Yet for all that, the film has some genuine moments of pathos. It would take a heart of stone not to be moved by The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess recounting the night that keyboard player Rob Collins was killed in a car crash while returning to the studio.
Although Rockfield: The Studio On The Farm is fun, with laughs aplenty, it remains more sweet confection than savoury nutrition. ■■■■■■■■■■