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Feel one with Frampton
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His good looks, excellent guitar skills and song-writing abilities won Peter Frampton a huge fan following
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THEY SAY when you are successful, people call you names. "Face of 1968" was one among the many names Peter Frampton was called. With his pin-up good looks, excellent guitar skills (both acoustic and electric guitars), singing and song-writing prowess, his fondness for gizmos such as the talk box and his uncanny ability to make the audience feel one with him, endeared him to millions of fans worldwide.
Born on April 22, 1950, in Beckenham, England, Peter Frampton made his professional debut when he was 10 years old and his first major break came in the form of performing with a group called The Herd. This band had several teenybopper hits and, in 1968, Frampton was named "Face of 1968" by many British music magazines. In order to establish himself and earn a reputation as a serious musician, he left The Herd and formed Humble Pie in the society of ex-Small Face artiste Steve Marriott and ex-Spooky Tooth bassist Greg Ridley. This association was moderately successful as most of the material, by way of songs and singing, was done by him. All the while, a solo career beckoned him and he fell prey to that call in 1971.
After a stint of session work with George Harrison and Harry Nilsson, Frampton recorded a solo debut with assistance from Ringo Starr, Billy Preston and others and in 1972 released Wind of Change. This album brought him notice but the need for something permanent (read members) saw him form another band, Frampton's Camel. His cohorts this time being ex-Spooky Tooth Mike Kellie on drums, Rick Willis (later with Foreigner and Bad Company) on bass, and Mike Gallagher on keyboards. The rationale to perform to a wider and larger audience saw him assemble this team and the inevitable move to the U.S. followed.
From then on, he released an album a year. Frampton's Camel was brought forth in 1973 while 1974 witnessed the issuance of Something's Happening, and in 1975 he released Frampton. What set Peter Frampton apart from other artistes was his ability to relate to the public gathered at his shows. Like Jeff Beck, he perfected the voice tube effect and used this gimmick tellingly to communicate with the audience quite often. The road was his first home and performing, according to him, was the best thing for a musician. He also stated that it kept his music alive and breathing, that it was too important for him to give up and he could never stay off the road for very long.
His creative activity reached its apogee in 1976, when he with a band comprising guitarist/keyboardist Bob Mayo, bassist Stanley Sheldon and drummer John Siomos, recorded at Winterland in San Francisco a double set, Frampton Comes Alive which scaled the U.S. chart and stayed on top for 10 weeks. The record became the biggest selling live album in history and, to date, has sold over a staggering 15 million copies. It included the best of Frampton's solo compositions and yielded three hit singles, Show Me The Way, Baby I Love Your Way and Do You Feel Like We Do? By that year-end, Frampton had grossed nearly $70 million in concert fees and royalties. The follow-up album I Am In You was a No.2 hit with the title track, a gushy ballad.
Peter Frampton made his movie debut in Robert Stigwood's disaster, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but even before the movie was released there were rumours that he had succumbed to depression and alcohol abuse. In June 1978, he suffered a concussion, muscle damage and broken bones in a car crash in the Bahamas. The phantasmagoria drawing to a close, Frampton started playing on other's records again. David Bowie, once a student of Frampton's art teacher father, asked the guitarist to play on his 1987 LP Never Let Me Down. In 2000, Frampton contributed to Cameron Crowe's movie Almost Famous by writing two songs, serving as "authentic adviser" and playing the small part of Humble Pie's manager (Crowe had written the liner notes for Frampton Comes Alive).
A. GEORGE ANTONY
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