Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive! (1976)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 1990 release.

I was accused the other day of "mainlining 1976" this summer and that's on target so let's continue on with it.

While I dug the radio singles from this album, I never could have purchased it because if I had come home with a album showing a stoned, long-haired hippie on the cover, my parents would have had a fit and might have discussed rehab for their young son (I don't mean to harp on my parents, they were just raised in a very different time). Anyway, all the cool high school kids listened to it and I longed to be like them. And this 10 year old boy was a complete sucker for the talk box and thought it was the coolest sound ever until he heard the special effect sounds in Star Wars.

Because of his success, Frampton came became an easy target for derision (he was even mocked in the High Fidelity movie), but unnecessarily so. He's an above average guitarist/songwriter and while his voice isn't the greatest, it's good enough for the material. Much has been made of the amount of studio overdubbing that went into this recording and, to be honest, I don't give a care because it gives me what I need: a mid-70's time capsule.

Press of the time:

• Rolling Stone: "Frampton's most coherent, exciting and accessible."
• Billboard: "perhaps the package that will make Frampton a superstar."
• CashBox: "Top choice on FM and AM outlets
• Record World: "Frampton's alive alright - and playing up a mighty storm"
• Stereo Review: Recording of Special Merit

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #1 (10 non-consecutive weeks between April - October, 1976)
Peak on CashBox album chart: #1 (13 non-consecutive weeks between March - October, 1976)

Tracks: Other than the three hit singles, I enjoy Something's Happening and All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side). First time I head Doobie Wah - I thought the it was the Doobie Brothers and then I read the title - d'oh! I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes. But the Pablo Cruise-ish song is titled I Wanna Go To The Sun, so go figure. By the way, I Wanna Go To The Sun may have the best guitar solos on the album if you like that sort of thing. Disc two isn't as nearly as strong as disc one but finishes with the epic 14 minute version of Do You Feel Like We Do (my favorite track on the thing). When the vinyl was originally released, I'm betting that side three wasn't played much, but that's just speculation on my part because that's what I would have done so I'd miss the bland Jumpin' Jack Flash cover.

Frampton's own track-by-track thoughts can be found here.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: see above