His father, Percy Greenfield, was a manager in a labour exchange, while his mother, Mabel, was a clerk.
[1] He went to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, to study modern languages,[1] but ended up graduating in law.
He contributed to Gramophone magazine from 1960, and was joint editor of The Stereo Record Guide after 1960.
[2] A regular broadcaster on the BBC, he presented classical music programmes on the World Service, including his selection of music and requests on The Greenfield Collection,[1] and was a regular contributor to the Building a Library feature of Radio 3's Record Review for many years.
[4] In 2010, Greenfield entered into a civil partnership with Paul Westcott, a press officer at Chandos Records.