Rockfield: The Studio On The Farm
BBC4, 9.15pm
Apart from being multi-million-selling bands with an international following, what do the likes of Black Sabbath, Queen (right), Oasis, Coldplay and Manic Street Preachers have in common? The answer is, all of them have recorded at Rockfield Studios.
Founded in 1963 by brothers Charles and Kingsley Ford in a Monmouthshire farmhouse, it was the world’s first independent residential recording studio; many found the peace and seclusion conducive to creativity, resulting in them producing some of their finest work.
The first major hit made there was Dave Edmunds’ I Hear You Knocking. More recently, Kasabian, The Proclaimers and Pixies have made it their temporary home.
Among those offering recollections in this revealing documentary are Black Sabbath’s Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi, Liam Gallagher and Chris Martin.