Frampton Comes Alive! by Peter Frampton, 1976.
This album is a great one, one of the best-selling albums of all time in the history of rock music. I also believe it's the album I've listened to the most, along with a few others, almost all by Genesis.
This, besides being tied to a personal memory, is a true masterpiece.
These are recordings taken from a series of concerts held in 1975, when the great Peter Frampton was only 25 years old.
This series of concerts is also linked to the incredible story of his guitar, a 1954 Gibson Les Paul (pictured on the cover), which became iconic thanks to its use on this album: this guitar, lost for 31 years, was found and returned to its owner through a re-enactment adventure worthy of a novel: all trace of it had been lost in 1980, when it was thought destroyed in a plane crash that only by chance did not involve Frampton, who took another flight. Unfortunately, other members of the staff were involved. The trip was connected to a series of subsequent concerts. The instrument was then doggedly tracked down by two of Peter's fans who improvised as investigators, and also thanks to the Tourism Board of Curaçao, an island in the Antilles off the coast of Venezuela, the Gibson was recently returned to Frampton in Nashville, who said, "I'm still shocked, first of all, by the fact that the guitar still exists." A wonderful interview is available online, and a concert was subsequently held to celebrate its rediscovery.
Another feature of this album is Frampton's "talking guitar," which has itself become synonymous with the "talk box" he used on several albums, including this one. Frampton recalls hearing the talk box in use for the first time in 1970 during the recording of George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" at Abbey Road Studios. It was given to him as a gift in 1974, handcrafted, and he locked himself in a studio for weeks to perfect its use.
There are albums that, more than any other, have marked a moment in each of our lives. Going beyond the quality of the album and the beauty of the songs. Going beyond the technique, the historical importance, the story behind the album and the artist. There are albums that enter our lives to the point of becoming a part of it, taking on a special value.
This album is one of those for me. I listened to it at home as a child without knowing the title, the artist, or anything, and I only found it by chance as an adult, when I saw it in a shopping mall, recognizing it only by the cover, and I bought it. Listening to it, I realized I still remembered every note and every word.
Even today, it still takes me back in time, every time.
Songs like "Show Me the Way," "All I Want to Be (Is by Your Side), "Wind of Change," "Baby, I Love Your Way," and "I Wanna Go to the Sun" are simply fantastic, both in composition and performance.
For me, the songs are all on the same level; I have a hard time ranking them, but my favorites are "Shine On" and "Lines on My Face," a song of incredible intensity. There's also a cover of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, which in my opinion surpasses the original.
And then there's the masterpiece, Do You Feel Like We Do, a song over 14 minutes long that, in my opinion, is one of the greatest live performances of all time, featuring a very long solo by Peter Frampton, who takes the time to show us what it means to have taste in playing the guitar. He uses the aforementioned talkbox, with which he recites the lyrics (the title) of the song on guitar, and during the performance he says (this time in his own voice) the famous phrase—the exact words and timing of which every fan knows—"Bob Mayo on Keyboards. Bob Mayo!" as the audience goes wild.
Notable on this album are not only the songs and melodies, the great guitar and the sense of excitement it conveys, but also Frampton's voice, which interprets every song superbly.
So for so many good reasons... Recommended!
The Tracks
Introduction / Something's Happening – 5:54
Doobie Wah – 5:28 (Peter Frampton, Rick Wills, John Headley-Down)
Show Me the Way – 4:42
It's a Plain Shame – 4:21
All I Want to Be (Is by Your Side) – 3:27
Wind of Change – 2:47
Baby, I Love Your Way – 4:43
I Wanna Go to the Sun – 7:02
Penny for Your Thoughts – 1:23
(I'll Give You) Money – 5:39
Shine On – 3.35am
Jumpin' Jack Flash – 7:45 (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards)
Lines On My Face – 7:06
Do You Feel Like We Do – 2.15pm (Rick Wills, Mick Gallagher, John Siomos, Peter Frampton)
Duration 1:18:06
The Lineup
Peter Frampton - guitars, vocals, and talkbox;
John Siomos - drums;
Bob Mayo - guitar, backing vocals, Fender Rhodes piano, organ, and piano;
Stanley Sheldon - bass guitar and backing vocals.
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