Peter Frampton Interviewed Alive!

spend 1/2 hour with the great Peter Frampton

I interviewed Peter Frampton via ZOOM about his newest project, a recently announced 3 LP box set (as well as on SACD) to be released by Intervention Records, cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering from analog tape. The 3 records can be described as a "donut hole" solo period for the guitarist/singer-songwriter.

He'd been in Humble Pie with Steve Marriott, but left to start a solo career. Eventually it paid off hugely with "Comes Alive" superstardom, but previous to that, he released a series of excellent albums, including "Winds of Change", "Frampton's Camel" and "Frampton", the three records included in this Intervention Records AAA box set.

Despite the music, the sound, and the outstanding production by the biggest names, at studios like Olympic and Electric Lady, two of these records ("Winds of Change" and "Frampton's Camel") charted poorly. "Framton", the breakout that went Gold, includes highlight songs later performed live on the double LP album that at the time everyone seemed to own.

I spoke with Frampton about his long career, starting with The Herd, then about his Humble Pie musical relationship with Steve Marriott and then about going solo and staying with A&M Records.

Finally, we got to the new box set, and he discusses the muscular degenerative condition with which he's afflicted, and the Peter Frampton Myositis Research Fund he's set up with Johns Hopkins . You're sure to enjoy this 1/2 hour interview!

Comments

2023-03-30 10:06:59 PM

Matt wrote:

Thanks Michael. What a nice guy. Will have to check out the new release...happy to have the sound/convenience of SACD too!
2023-03-31 06:37:22 PM

HiFiMark wrote:

For my 15th birthday in February 1976 my older brother gave me a copy of "Comes Alive." He had heard it in its entirety on KNAC in Long Beach, a station that would often play full albums, particularly new releases, and thought I'd like it. I missed FCA but did hear Yes's Going For The One on KNAC the day it was released the following year.

But I digress.

So my brother heard FCA, gave me that magical flat square package for my birthday, and I loved it from the first spin. I immediately began to tell all my water polo and swim team mates about it and, to a person, they all wondered who I was talking about and why they should drop the money it took in that day on a double live of a guy they didn't know.

Fast forward a couple of months, EVERYONE had a copy and I was hailed as a genius for "discovering" it. By this time is was ALL OVER the radio and all my buds, whether fans of Genesis, Yes, Queen, Doobies, Beach Boys, Zep, and so on were digging Pete Frampton.

It's up there for me as one of the great "lives" ever along with Yessongs, Welcome Back My Friends, 4 Way Street, Seconds Out, Beach Boys Live in London, and I could go on and on with great live jazz albums...
- 2023-03-31 09:16:06 PM
  
  Silk Dome Mid wrote:
  
  As I recall from my earliest record store days, FCA came out at a lower price than a typical 2 LP release. Wikipedia says "The double album was released in the US with a reduced list price of $7.98, only $1.00 more than the standard $6.98 of most single-disc albums in 1976." Smart move.
  - 2023-04-01 01:11:17 AM
    
    HiFiMark wrote:
    
    Interesting fun fact SDM. For my 15-year-old self back in that day, even $8 was a lot of shekels; nearly 3 hours work at my summer job. A few years earlier, buying a copy of Yessongs for $8.50 was a major stretch. Mom was a bit stunned... The best was a small record shop in my Orange County hometown that sold new releases for $3.50 for the first week. Keeping on top of what was coming was a constant pursuit, primarily daily scans of the LA Times to make sure I wasn't missing anything...
    - 2023-04-01 04:00:21 AM
      
      Silk Dome Mid wrote:
      
      Same here, except for location. You had to be really devoted to keep up, and make a lot of tough choices about what to buy. I would talk to a couple of friends and decide who would buy what.
2023-04-02 05:55:13 PM

Michael Kimsey wrote:

Why was the third album, Something’s Happening omitted?
2023-04-03 10:10:32 PM

bruce59 wrote:

Nice to see these excellent albums getting a box set treatment. My older brother had all of them in the pre “Comes Alive” days, and that led me and a few of my friends to be in the audience for the Marin Vet’s show in ’75, where some of Frampton Comes Alive was recorded (and the cover photo taken).

Incredible show, the album does not really do it justice. Frampton was absolutely at the height of his powers. What a year for live music in the Bay Area 1975 was.