ROCK LEGENDS BOOK in the South Wales Echo
ROCK LEGENDS AT ROCKFIELD by JEFF COLLINS out now in UK/Europe. Out in the US/Canada in November.
Oz Fest rocks Jeff’s book with laughs
Sep 21 2007
by Gavin Allen, South Wales Echo
THEY say you should never meet your heroes but first-time author Jeff Collins met at least three of his and loved every minute of it.
Collins drank Lemmy’s Jack Daniels, reunited Robert Plant with his old band and fielded calls from Geddy Lee at his Llandaff home as he researched Rock Legends At Rockfield, a history of the world- famous recording studio just outside Monmouth.
“Before I started the book I knew Rockfield had a fantastic reputation but I didn’t realise how big it was – particularly in America,” said Collins, who launches the book at the Old Nags Head pub in Monmouth at 6pm tonight.
“I think part of the reason for that is because the artists love it so much, and the artists love it so much because Rockfield is so guarded about their privacy and their stories.
“What I found was that, while the Rockfield staff and owners still wouldn’t disclose a lot of that stuff, the artists were so happy to talk about Rockfield that they all told me those things themselves.”
Among the raft of rock star stories, Collins, 40, discovered that one band consistently stole the limelight – Black Sabbath, and in particular their crazed frontman Ozzy Osbourne.
“The funniest story was when one of the producers told me that one day he saw Ozzy running towards him screaming ‘he’s going to kill me’ and the producer thought there was a gang of people chasing him,” said Collins, who lives with his partner Yvonne and their three-year-old son Bryn.
“But then behind Ozzy waddled this swan.
“Ozzy being Ozzy, he always kept a shotgun in his car and he came back blasting away at this poor swan which, thankfully, he missed.
“But you can imagine how funny it was to see the Prince of Darkness terrified of a swan. He may have been drinking at the time.”
Rock Legends at Rockfield By Jeff Collins is published by University Of Wales Press and is out on Wednesday September 26, with a recommended retail price of £13.99.
