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The multi-faceted career of Peter Frampton, now surpassing 60 years, resembles the ‘Phenix’ Gibson Les Paul he eventually reclaimed from the ashes of a plane crash in 1980. Just when we think that’s the end of it, it comes alive time and again.
Frampton’s golden goose looked to be cooked in 1978, after a car crash in the Bahamas brought a sudden, inglorious and desperately sad halt to two years sitting at rock’s pinnacle. Teenagers who had grown up listening to Sparky’s Magic Piano, the Sonovox children’s radio classic, fell in love with satin-trousered, fluffy-haired Peter and his talkbox on 1976’s Frampton Comes Alive!; at its peak, that double album was selling a million copies a week. He had previously had a respectable run in The Herd, Humble Pie, as a solo artist, and playing guitar on sessions for George Harrison, among others
The road back to health and happiness has been lengthy and fraught with obstacles, which he describes with humility in his 2020 memoir Do You Feel Like I Do?. His final tour, begun in 2019 after he was diagnosed with a degenerative illness, was interrupted by covid. Undeterred, he took a seat on stage and Frampton’s farewell shows went on into further victory laps.
Carry The Light, his first album of new songs in 16 years, lands as the latest part of his Timelord-like regeneration. Its 10 tracks, including two instrumentals, were written and produced with his son Julian and feature a raft of starry guests. Leading the way is Buried Treasure, with ex-Heartbreaker Benmont Tench on keyboards, in a salute to Tom Petty, one of the fellow ‘good guys’ of the music biz.
Tinderbox is a powerful anti-war warning about the shape of things to come, as is Lions At The Gate, a fiery, expletive-free rallying cry with the help of Rage Against The Machine/Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello. In this context, the ‘Listen to the elders’ refrain of the title track is puzzling, as the world is surely due another youth revolution. We see a gentler, more personal side on Breaking The Mold, on which he shares vocals with Sheryl Crow, and with Graham Nash on I’m Sorry Elle, dedicated to his granddaughter. As for guitar pyrotechnics, they’re more of a controlled blaze these days than the wildfire of youth, but the flame is still keenly felt.
Frampton, once nicknamed ‘The Blouse’ by his Humble Pie confederate and chief roisterer Steve Marriott, has proved his mettle over the years. Long may the light shine and his adventures continue.
