Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Frampton Comes Alive...Again!

The first time I saw Peter Frampton in concert he was the opening act for ELO in 1973! I was so impressed I went out and bought both of his solo albums and the ones he did with Humble Pie. Two years later I drove 300 miles with my college girlfriend Mary Blackwell to see him headline at the Marin Civic Auditorium. That show was recorded and some it ended up on an album called Frampton Comes Alive. You may have heard of it since it sold over six million copies to become the biggest selling live album of all time.

After that he made a series of terrible career decisions. He appeared shirtless on the cover of Rolling Stone, took the starring role in the ill-fated Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band movie and released a syrupy ballad "I'm In You." Then a string of bad luck, including a near-fatal car wreck in the Bahamas and a plane crash which destroyed his touring equipment, nearly finished him. In the five years since I first discovered him, Frampton went from being a hot-shot guitarist admired by few to a laughing stock derided by many. I always defended him because I loved his music and his guitar work. So did people like David Bowie, who asked Frampton to tour with him in 1987 and helped revive his career.

Since then he's won a Grammy for the 2007 album Fingerprints and last year began a tour celebrating the 35th anniversary (that really makes me feel old) of Frampton Comes Alive. I came close to seeing one of those shows and to my relief, I finally caught one at Pechanga Casino last month. I was happy to see that ol' Pete looks good (despite a shaved head instead of his once famous tresses) and his guitar work is still mind-blowing. He showed a good sense of humor and a greater sense of showmanship, performing for over two hours and concluding with a moving version of The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

It was like spending time with an old friend and I'm happy this one has got his act together, both on and off the stage.