Tiffany Murray’s new memoir is a glorious, rattling bank holiday charabanc ride of a story of growing up at the elbows of some of the most influential musical artists of all time (and Horslips). My Family and Other Rock Stars tells of her childhood growing up as the daughter of the cord en bleu chef at Rockfield Studios just outside of Monmouth, a farmhouse that also housed the legendary recording facilities where the likes of Queen, Bowie, Iggy Pop, Graham Parker and many others made some of their most loved albums (perhaps most famously, it is where Queen recorded “Bohemian Rhapsody”).
Murray’s telling of it sticks closely to the innocent perspective of her childhood self, and is, at its core, a love letter to her mother who struggled and strove to bring up her fearless and sensitive daughter, often as a single parent (although it’s clear of the importance of the close community that Rockfield nurtured to Murray’s formative years).
It is, simply, a most wonderful read, particularly made rich and ribald by the cast of megastars and geniuses who float across the stage. The book is punctuated with her mother’s famous recipes (Graham Parker kept coming back for the trout), and each section begins with a “set list” of music to soundtrack the following chapters. And so, I’ve pulled all those songs together, along with the track listing from a mix tape detailed in the final pages, into a playlist to brighten your bank holiday.
And here it is… the Tiffany Murray Rockfield Playlist.
And Tiffany will be a guest on the Radio Wales Arts Show this Friday to discuss the book live at the Hay Festival.
Gary Raymond is a novelist, author, playwright, critic, and broadcaster. In 2012, he co-founded Wales Arts Review, was its editor for ten years. His latest book, Abandon All Hope: A Personal Journey Through the History of Welsh Literature is is out now with Calon Books.