Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950)[1] is an English-American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who rose to prominence as a member of the rock bands the Herd and Humble Pie.[2] Later in his career, Frampton found significant success as a solo artist. He has released several albums, including his breakthrough album, the live recording Frampton Comes Alive! (1976), which spawned several hit singles and has been certified 8× Platinum by the RIAA in the United States.[3] He has also worked with various other acts such as Ringo Starr, John Entwistle of the Who, David Bowie, Joe Bonamassa, and both Matt Cameron and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam.
Peter Kenneth Frampton was born to Owen Frampton and Peggy (née ffitch) Frampton[4] in Beckenham, Kent.[1] He attended Bromley Technical High School,[5] at which his father was a teacher and the head of the Art department.[6] He first became interested in music when he was seven years old. Having discovered his grandmother's banjolele in the attic,[7] he taught himself to play it, going on to later teach himself how to play guitar and piano as well. At the age of eight, he began taking classical music lessons.[8][9]
By the age of 12, Frampton played in a band called the Little Ravens. Both he and David Bowie, who was three years older, were pupils at Bromley Technical School, where Frampton's father was Bowie's art teacher.[11] The Little Ravens played on the same bill at school as Bowie's band, George and the Dragons.[8] Peter and David would spend lunch breaks together, playing Buddy Holly songs.[8]
At the age of 14, Peter was playing with a band called the Trubeats followed by a band called the Preachers, who later became Moon's Train, produced and managed by Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones.[8] Frampton's parents were at the time concerned about their son playing regular late night gigs whilst still at school, so Alex Brown, a member of The Preachers, was designated to meet his parents at their house, along with his son Steven, to show that the band members were responsible people. After this meeting, Frampton was allowed to join the band.
Frampton became a successful child singer, and in 1966 he became a member of the Herd. He was the lead guitarist and singer, scoring several British pop hits. Frampton was named "The Face of 1968" by teen magazineRave.[8][10][12]
After four studio albums and one live album with Humble Pie, Frampton left the band and went solo in 1971, just in time to see Rockin' the Fillmore rise up the US charts.[8] He remained with Dee Anthony (1926–2009), the same personal manager that Humble Pie had used.[17][18]
Frampton's own debut was 1972's Wind of Change, with guest artists Ringo Starr and Billy Preston.[10][12] This album was followed by Frampton's Camel in 1973, which featured Frampton working within a group project. In 1974, Frampton released Somethin's Happening. Frampton toured extensively to support his solo career, joined for three years by his former Herd mate Andy Bown on keyboards, Rick Wills on bass, and American drummer John Siomos. In 1975, the Frampton album was released. The album went to No. 32 in the US charts and is certified Gold by the RIAA.[8]
Frampton had little commercial success with his early albums. This changed with his best-selling live album, Frampton Comes Alive!, in 1976, from which "Baby, I Love Your Way", "Show Me the Way", and an edited version of "Do You Feel Like We Do", were hit singles. The latter two tracks also featured his use of the talk box guitar effect. The album was recorded in 1975, mainly at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, California, where Humble Pie had previously enjoyed a good following. Frampton had a new line-up, with Americans Bob Mayo on keyboards and rhythm guitar and Stanley Sheldon on bass. Wills had been sacked by Frampton at the end of 1974, and Bown had left on the eve of Frampton Comes Alive, to return to England and new fame with Status Quo. Frampton Comes Alive was released in early January, debuting on the charts on 14 February at number 191. The album was on the Billboard 200 for 97 weeks, of which 55 were in the top 40, of which 10 were at the top. The album beat, among others, Fleetwood Mac's Fleetwood Mac to become the top selling album of 1976,[19] and it was also the 14th best seller of 1977. The album won Frampton a Juno Award in 1977.[20]
A tribute to the album's staying power, readers of Rolling Stone ranked Frampton Comes Alive No. 3 in a 2012 poll of all-time favourite live albums. The article's text stated, "He was loved by teenage girls, and their older brothers. He owned the year 1976 like nobody else in rock."[21] The success of Frampton Comes Alive! put him on the cover of Rolling Stone, in a famous shirtless photo by Francesco Scavullo.[22] Frampton later said he regrets the photo because it changed his image as a credible artist into a teen idol.[10]
In late 1976, Frampton and manager Dee Anthony visited the White House at the invitation of Steven Ford, the president's son.[23]
Frampton suffered a near-fatal car accident in the Bahamas in 1978 that marked the end of his prolific period and the beginning of a long period during which he was less successful. He returned in 1979 to record the album Where I Should Be. Among those contributing to the album were past band members Stanley Sheldon (bass), Bob Mayo (keyboards/guitar/vocals), and John Siomos (drums/vocals).[8][9]
In 1980, Frampton's album Rise Up was released to promote his tour in Brazil, although he suffered another serious setback that year when all his guitars were thought destroyed in a cargo plane crash that killed four people. Among the instruments he lost was the black Les Paul Custom which he had named "Phenix"[26] (pictured on the cover of Frampton Comes Alive) given to him by Mark Mariana and first used on the night of the recording of the Humble Pie live album Performance, and which he had used all through his early solo career.[27] The guitar was recovered and returned to him in December 2011.[28] The album eventually turned into Breaking All the Rules, released the next year in 1981. These albums were the first he recorded almost completely live.[29] In 1982, following the release of The Art of Control, Frampton tried unsuccessfully to split his ties with A&M Records; he re-signed with the label in 2006 and released his Grammy Award–winning Fingerprints.[30]
Return
Although his albums generally met with little commercial success, Frampton continued to record throughout the 1980s. He achieved a brief, moderate comeback of sorts in 1986 with the release of his Premonition album, and the single "Lying", which became a hit on Mainstream Rock chart. Most notably, he also united with old friend David Bowie, and both worked together to make albums. Frampton played on Bowie's 1987 album Never Let Me Down and sang and played on the accompanying Glass Spider Tour.[9][10][29] In 2013, he credited his participation in this tour for helping revive his career.[31]
Looking for the band experience again after touring with Bowie, Frampton kept referencing Steve Marriott, and at the beginning of 1991 rejoined his old Humble Pie mate for some shows (Marriott's last English gigs) at the Half Moon in Putney, London. The chemistry was still there for a while, as both Frampton and Marriott laid down some tracks in L.A. and prepared to do a "Frampton-Marriott" tour. Marriott abruptly returned to England in April and he died in a house fire less than 24 hours after his return. Broken up by Marriott's death, Frampton went off the road for a time, then reformed his old touring band with his old friends Bob Mayo and John Regan. At least three songs, and possibly a fourth, from the ended Marriott-Frampton partnership were subsequently recorded; two ending up on Frampton's "Shine On" compilation, a third on his subsequent solo album.
In the late 1990s, Frampton starred in an infomercial plugging the eMedia Guitar Method, a piece of instructional software represented as an alternative to taking actual guitar lessons. He claimed in the infomercial that the software was the best way to learn guitar.[32]
In 1994, Frampton wrote and released the album Peter Frampton, the final version of which contained material recorded on Tascam cassette recorders. Originally released on the Relativity label, this record was re-released in 2000 by Legacy Records, with four bonus tracks and additional notes by Frampton.
In 2003, Frampton released the album Now, and embarked on a tour with Styx to support it. It was on this tour in 2004 he lost good friend and long time bandmate Bob Mayo. He also toured with the Elms, and appeared in 2006 on the Fox variety show Celebrity Duets, paired with Chris Jericho of WWE fame. They were the first pair voted out.[33]
On 12 September 2006, Frampton released an instrumental work titled Fingerprints. His band consisted of drummer Shawn Fichter, guitarist Audley Freed, bassist John Regan (Frampton's lifelong best friend,[7]), and keyboardist-guitarist Rob Arthur, and guest artists such as members of Pearl Jam, Hank Marvin, Warren Haynes and his bassist on Frampton Comes Alive!, Stanley Sheldon – the only member of the backing band on that album still alive.
2007 to present
On 11 February 2007, Fingerprints was awarded the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album. In February 2007, he also appeared on the Chicago-based PBS television show Soundstage.
Frampton released his 14th studio album, Thank You Mr. Churchill, on 27 April 2010.[34] In summer 2010 he began touring North America with the English band Yes; the two acts had played stadium shows on a bill together in 1976. His 2010 band consisted of Rob Arthur (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals), John Regan (bass), Adam Lester (guitar), and Dan Wojciechowski (drums).
Frampton embarked on a UK tour in March 2011 in support of his new album, visiting Leamington Spa, Glasgow, Manchester, London and Bristol.
Frampton went on tour in 2011 with The Frampton Comes Alive 35th Anniversary Tour that showcased and followed exactly the songs on the setlist for the original tour from 1976, recorded for Frampton Comes Alive! The concerts each night started with the prerecorded thump of a microphone being turned on, familiar to many fans of the album, followed by the recorded voice of Jerry Pompili saying, "If there was ever a musician that was an honorary member of San Francisco society, Mr. Peter Frampton ...", and then the crowd goes wild. He played the album song-for-song at 69 locations between 15 June 2011 and 22 October 2011 throughout the US.
On 11 June 2011, Frampton performed a live set for "Guitar Center Sessions" on DirecTV. The episode included an interview with program host Nic Harcourt.[35]
On 23 June 2014, Frampton released a new album entitled Hummingbird in a Box.[38]
On 11 June 2015, Frampton announced his new studio album, Acoustic Classics;[39] then, on 14 January 2016, he launched the first song: a version of "Do You Feel Like I Do".[40]
On 22 February 2019, Frampton announced he would be retiring from touring with his 'Peter Frampton Finale—The Farewell Tour' commencing on 18 June 2019 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, running through 12 October ending in Concord, California at the Concord Pavilion. The tour featured special guest Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Evening, as well as Peter's son Julian Frampton on the West Coast stops.[42] He also revealed the reason for the farewell tour; he received a diagnosis of inclusion body myositis (IBM), a progressive muscle disorder characterised by muscle inflammation, weakness, and atrophy (wasting).[43] A dollar of every ticket sold for the tour was donated to benefit Frampton's myositis research fund established at Johns Hopkins, where he was treated.[44]
In December 2019, Frampton announced his farewell UK tour to consist of five performances in May 2020.[46] In April this UK/EU tour was cancelled "because of the COVID-19 virus".[47] In November 2022 Frampton resumed his Finale, the Farewell Tour with three dates in the UK (Stoke, Glasgow, London) and five more in the rest of Europe, then one concert at Joe Satriani's workshop in Las Vegas,[48] announcing in advance that he would be seated on stage during these performances. "Standing", he told Guitar World[49] in September 2022, "would be dangerous for me now, because I get so carried away when I'm playing that I'm liable to fall over". Of how the disease is affecting his ability to actually play the guitar, Frampton continued, "It's starting to affect my hands, but not enough yet, so I can still play a good lick. But I'll be honest, I'm anxious about it."
On 6 August 2022, Frampton came out of retirement for one night to perform during "Buddy Holly's 85th Birthday Celebration" at the Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences in Lubbock, Texas.[50] "I sat down for the first time ever on stage," he told Guitar World later. "And it felt very comfortable [laughs]. Better than leaning on a piano."[51]
As of 2023, Frampton embarked on the Never Say Never tour. Frampton has noted that he did not expect to be able to play again as a result of his diagnosis. He has stated that while his fingers do not work as well as they used to, they worked better than he thought they would, citing it as reason enough to keep doing what he loved on stage.[52]
In 1974, Frampton appeared in the film The Son of Dracula as a guitarist in the Count Downes.
In 1978, Frampton portrayed coastwatcher Peter Buckley in an episode of the World War II drama series Baa Baa Black Sheep titled "A Little Bit of England".
In 1978, Frampton played Billy Shears in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, starring along with the three brothers Gibb of the band the Bee Gees. The film was inspired by the Beatles album of the same name. Critics[who?] were hostile, and the film was a box-office failure.
In 1978, Frampton appeared on the parody talk show, America 2-Night.
Also in 2000, Frampton served as a technical advisor for Cameron Crowe's autobiographical film, Almost Famous. He wrote some of the songs performed by the fictional band "Stillwater" in the film, supplied guitar tracks, and was the guitar instructor for Billy Crudup, who starred as Russell Hammond, the guitarist for the band. Crudup is quoted as saying, "Who could ask for a better tutor than Peter Frampton?" As an inside joke, he also appears briefly in the film as "Reg", a road manager for Humble Pie, Frampton's real-life former band.[10]
In 2001, Frampton appeared as himself in "Drew Carey's Back-to-School Rock 'n' Roll Comedy Hour", in which he performed "You Had To Be There" and appeared in a brief scene with Mimi, in which he recalls their past relationship.
On 20 December 2006, Frampton appeared on The Colbert Report. Stephen Colbert had a fake feud with the Decemberists to be decided by a head cutting duel. When Colbert faked an injury, Colbert called on Father Christmas to supply a guitar hero, at which point Frampton appeared and won the shred-down.
On 23 April 2010, Frampton became the all-time celebrity champion of the trivia game called No Apparent Reason, with five correctly answered questions on the nationally syndicated Mark and Brian Radio Program originating from KLOS Los Angeles. However, on 5 May 2010, Frampton was reduced to second place after only two weeks by Luke Perry's answering six questions correctly.
On 4 November 2010, Frampton appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show as one of her favourite musicians.
On 21 October 2011, Frampton was honoured at Music City's at Walk of Fame Park in Nashville, Tennessee.[55]
On 2 March 2016, Frampton was interviewed and performed on the Howard Stern Show.[56]
On 6 January 2019, Frampton appeared as himself on Madam Secretary, where he performed a small portion of "Baby I Love Your Way". He similarly appeared on the final episode of that program (aired 7 December 2019) performing numerous songs at the wedding of the President's daughter.[59]
On 6 August 2021, Frampton challenged OJ Borg through his Radio 2 game "Mid-Afternoon Mastermind" (as Borg was covering for Steve Wright's afternoon show). The subject was Peter Frampton, and Borg scored 2/3.
In a January 2024 airing, Frampton played guitar, on stage, alongside Sheryl Crow, for her 2023 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame appearance, with her and Stevie Nicks singing, "Every Day is a Winding Road".
In a 31 January 2024 airing of the Fox game show We Are Family, Frampton's son Julian appeared as a relative of an unknown mystery celebrity. After a solo performance of "Rebel Rebel", he then sang a duet of "Black Hole Sun" with the concealed mystery celebrity. At the conclusion of the segment, Peter Frampton was revealed as the other half of the duet.[60]
Personal life
Marriages, other relationships and family
Frampton has been married three times and has three children. His first marriage was to Mary Lovett, from 1972 to 1976.
Frampton was sued by J. "Penny" McCall in 1978 for palimony. McCall asked for Frampton's earnings during the five years that they were together. According to McCall, she left her husband and gave up her job as a rock promoter and devoted herself full-time to Frampton, just as he achieved superstar status. A New York judge ruled that Frampton and McCall never intended to marry each other and "never held themselves out to the public as husband and wife" and dismissed her complaint because to act otherwise would condone adultery. The case set precedent in New York.[61][62]
From 1983 to 1993, Frampton was married to Barbara Gold, with whom he had two children named Jade and Julian. The latter co-wrote and sang on Frampton's song "Road to the Sun" from Thank You Mr. Churchill.
Frampton's third marriage was on 13 January 1996 to Tina Elfers, with whom he had a daughter, actress Mia Frampton, and a stepdaughter named Tiffany Wiest.[10] Frampton filed for divorce from Elfers in Los Angeles, California, on 22 June 2011, citing irreconcilable differences.[63][64]
Other
In June 1978, Frampton was involved in a near-fatal car accident in the Bahamas and suffered broken bones, a concussion, and muscle damage. Dealing with the pain of the accident led to a brief period of drug abuse.[8][9]
Frampton has lived in London and various U.S. locations, including Westchester County, New York; Los Angeles; and Nashville, Tennessee. He moved to Indian Hill, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, in June 2000. This is the birthplace of his ex-wife Elfers, and the city in which they were married in 1996. They chose to live there to be closer to Elfers' family.[10] In 2014, Frampton moved back to Nashville.[65]
Frampton cited the September 11 attacks as his reason for obtaining American citizenship, saying he wanted to begin voting in U.S. elections.[66]
On 20 October 2020, Frampton published his memoir Do You Feel Like I Do?,[68] co-written with Alan Light.
In December 2022, it was announced BMG had acquired the rights to Frampton's catalogue.[69][70]
In 2024, Frampton and his son Julian appeared on the January 31 episode of We Are Family game show hosted by Anthony Anderson.
Equipment
On the cover of the double live album Frampton Comes Alive, Frampton plays a highly customized 1954 black Gibson Les Paul Custom that was given to him during a concert by his friend, Marc Mariana. However, he lost it in a cargo plane crash in Venezuela. Frampton and the Les Paul were reunited 30 years later.[71] He continues to play the Les Paul now known as the "Phenix".[72][73]
Frampton was known as the artist who made the talk box famous. Frampton's talk box was used to transfer the guitar's sound through a plastic tube attached to a microphone. The effect is Frampton's melodic guitar simulating speech while asking the audience on the live track "Do You Feel Like We Do?" Frampton also now sells his own line of custom-designed "Frampton" products, including the talk box.[74]
In 1987, Frampton played two natural-finish maple bodies Pensa-Suhr Strat types, hand-made by New York-based John Suhr. He used a Coral electric sitar, given to him in the late 70s and previously owned by Jimi Hendrix, on David Bowie's 1987 album Never Let Me Down.[75]
The Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The band were one of the most acclaimed and influential mod groups of the 1960s, recording hit songs such as "Itchycoo Park", "Lazy Sunday", "All or Nothing" and "Tin Soldier", as well as their concept album Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake. They evolved into one of the UK's most successful psychedelic bands until 1969.
Stephen Peter Marriott was an English musician, guitarist, singer and songwriter. He co-founded and played in the rock bands Small Faces and Humble Pie, in a career spanning over 20 years. Marriott was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Small Faces.
Edwin H. Kramer is a South African-born recording producer and engineer. He has collaborated with several artists now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, the Kinks, Kiss, John Mellencamp, GRODD and Carlos Santana, as well as records for other well-known artists in various genres.
Humble Pie are an English rock band formed by singer-guitarists Peter Frampton and Steve Marriott in Moreton, Essex, in 1969. Often regarded as one of the first supergroups in music, Humble Pie experienced moderate popularity and commercial success during the 1970s with hit songs such as "Black Coffee", "30 Days in the Hole", "I Don't Need No Doctor", "Hot 'n' Nasty" and "Natural Born Bugie" among others.
Town and Country is the second studio album by rock band Humble Pie, released in November 1969. It was released only in the UK.
Smokin' is the fifth studio album by English rock band Humble Pie, released in 1972 by A&M Records. It was the band's international commercial breakthrough, peaking at number 6 on the US Billboard 200 album chart, and hit number 20 in the UK and number 9 in Australia.
Performance Rockin' the Fillmore is the 1971 live double-LP/single-CD by the English blues-rock group Humble Pie, recorded at the Fillmore East in New York City on May 28–29, 1971. It reached No. 21 on the Billboard 200, #32 in Canada, and entered the UK Top 40.
Rock On is the fourth album by the English rock group Humble Pie, released in March 1971. It reached #118 on the Billboard 200. It is the last Humble Pie studio album to feature guitarist/singer Peter Frampton, who left the band towards the end of the year.
Eat It is the sixth album by English rock band Humble Pie, released in April 1973 through A&M Records. Released as a double album, it peaked at number 13 on the US Billboard 200, number 34 in the UK Albums Chart, and number 9 in Australia.
Alfred Gregory Ridley was an English bassist who was the bassist and a founding member of the rock band Humble Pie and Spooky Tooth.
Frampton is the fourth studio album by English rock musician Peter Frampton, released in 1975. It was his last studio release before he went on tour and recorded his live album Frampton Comes Alive!. The most popular songs from the album are "Show Me the Way" and "Baby, I Love Your Way", which became big hits when released as singles from Frampton Comes Alive! The album peaked No. 32 on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart.
David Colwell is a British rock guitarist who has been a member of Bad Company, Samson, ASAP, The Eastenders, The Entire Population of Hackney, 720, The Torpedoes, Angel Street, Roger Chapman's Shortlist, The Jones Gang, FM, Frankie Miller's Fullhouse and Rock Steady. He recorded Back on Track with Humble Pie in 2001, touring with them until the band broke up in 2003. He started a supergroup called Rock Steady which, among others, includes bass guitarist Rick Wills, best known for his work with Foreigner and his associations with Small Faces, Peter Frampton and Bad Company and did a New Zealand tour with this band. In November 2018 he joined again Humble Pie for their US tour. Dave Colwell has his own band now which is called Buckets Rebel Heart. Their debut album 20 Good Summers was released in December 2018 on Pride & Joy Records and January 2019 in Japan on Marquee Records.
As Safe as Yesterday Is is the debut studio album by English rock band Humble Pie, released in August 1969. The band had been formed by singer/guitarists Steve Marriott and Peter Frampton. The album features a blend of heavy blues, crushing rock, pastoral folk, and post-mod pop music. It peaked at number 32 in the UK Albums Chart.
"Big Black Dog" is a single released in 1970 by English rock band Humble Pie, one of the first British supergroups to form in 1969. It was the band's first single for A&M Records and the follow-up single to "Natural Born Bugie" (1969). It was written by the band's guitarist, Peter Frampton.
"Shine On" is a song by British rock band Humble Pie from their 1971 album Rock On. It was written by Peter Frampton. The B-side of the single is "Mister Ring", written by Greg Ridley.
Richard William Wills is an English bass guitarist. He is best known for his work with the rock band Foreigner and his associations with the Small Faces, Roxy Music, Peter Frampton, Spooky Tooth, David Gilmour, Bad Company and The Jones Gang.
Dee Anthony was an American talent manager who started in the business with fellow Bronx native Jerry Vale. After meeting Tony Bennett in 1954 at a nightclub in Yonkers, New York, he ended up representing the singer for more than a decade. From the 1960s to the mid-1990s, Anthony managed a number of music artists, including Humble Pie, Traffic, Jethro Tull, Joe Cocker, Gary Wright, King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Montrose, Devo and Armageddon, with his most notable client being Peter Frampton.
In Memoriam is the first posthumous album release by East London rock band Small Faces after the announcement of their break-up in early 1969. It was released on 1 May 1969 through Immediate Records in West Germany only. Their second compilation album following 1967's From the Beginning, In Memoriam is a collection of live cuts and unreleased studio tracks. The studio material was recorded during 1967 and the 1968 sessions for Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake, and also included a few tracks possibly intended for their projected but unrealised fourth album 1862. The studio outtakes were complemented by five live tracks recorded on tour in November 1968.
Frampton Forgets the Words is the eighteenth studio album by English rock musician Peter Frampton. It was released by UMe on 23 April 2021. The album contains instrumental versions of some of Frampton's favourite songs by other artists. As a follow-up to his 2019 album of blues covers, All Blues, and farewell tour, and the 2020 publication of his autobiography, Do You Feel Like I Do?, the album continues Frampton's burst of work in response to being diagnosed with inclusion body myositis in 2014.
↑ Martin Melhuish (23 April 1977). "Juno 1977". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp.76–. ISSN0006-2510. Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
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