The two words that we most associate with Peter Frampton are ‘comes alive’. And he really is one of those artists who is at their best playing in front of an audience. Among his diverse, decades-spanning discography, it’s two double live albums – one with Humble Pie, one solo – that truly capture his artistry. “I’ve always gone on stage at the top of my game,” he says. “Or tried to.”
Born in 1950, Frampton was something of a child prodigy, soaking up everything from Buddy Holly to Chet Atkins to Kenny Burrell. He taught himself to play guitar when he was eight, and played his first professional gigs when he was just 13. By the time he was 16 he was writing his own songs and performing as frontman with The Herd on Top Of The Pops. He never looked back. “For me it was always a learning curve. And I’m still on it,” Frampton says.
Over the years ahead his course load included Humble Pie and Steve Marriott, sessions with George Harrison and Harry Nilsson, nearly becoming a Rolling Stone, touring as David Bowie’s guitarist, stardom, near-obscurity, and of course Frampton Comes Alive!, that iconic emblem of 70s rock and still one of the biggest-selling records of all-time. Frampton modestly admits that he thought of the studio records leading up to it as a kind of apprenticeship. “I was learning how to sing properly,” he says. “I was becoming more relaxed and creative as a songwriter.”
But no matter where he was in his musical journey, Frampton was always eminently listenable. Reflective ballads like Lines On My Face, flat-out rockers like Breaking All The Rules, showy instrumentals such as Boot It Up… Drop the needle anywhere in his catalogue and you’ll find something that will grab you. Of the 18 studio albums he’s released, only one of them doesn’t quite measure up – and even he would agree.
In 2017, Frampton was diagnosed with inclusion body myositis, a progressive degenerative disorder that weakens the legs, arms and, more worrying for a guitarist, the wrists and fingers. Although he concluded a farewell tour in 2022, he has already done several shows and guest appearances this year. So maybe goodbyes don’t mean forever.
“It’s starting to affect my hands, but not enough yet,” Frampton says of the disease. “I can still play a good lick.”
...and one to avoid
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