That 70's Guy

This month's question comes from Bill J. in Chicago, IL. Bill writes:

Dear 70's Guy,
All I ever hear about Peter Frampton is how great he was, what with Frampton Comes Alive in '76 being the watermark of best selling live albums ever, and all. But c'mon, all I've ever heard by the guy is the over-long and over-bloated guitar wankings of "Do You Feel Like We Do," the formula-matic "Show Me The Way," and the mushy, gushy "All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)." Other than that, he played guitar early in the 70s with Humble Pie (known for their one big hit [it reached #73 on the charts] "I Don't Need No Doctor") then went off on his own to record 4 mediocre lp's (Wind Of Change, Frampton's Camel, Somethin's Happening, and Frampton). Next, the phenom of Frampton Comes Alive and then he cacks in '77 with I'm In You, a bestseller due to the lead-in and strength of Frampton Comes Alive (and over a year touring to support it alone). It sucked, his starring role in the Sgt. Pepper movie sucked and then he drops into relative obscurity for the past 25 years. Along the way he still tours, records and puts out mediocre albums, most notably Frampton Comes Alive II and the recently released Live in Detroit, but he's never "pitched another shutout" (and music fans give thanks) since. So, my question is: Does Peter Frampton suck, and why?

Dear Bill,

Thank you for your well thought out and insightful question--did you like how we edited it for maximum effect?. You have posed a 2-part question; part 1: "Does Peter Frampton suck?" The answer is a simple no.

Part 2: "and why?" should read "and why not?" and it goes like this...

Peter Frampton does not suck because he can play a mean guitar. When he was on, live, in front of an audience, up on stage, in the arena, Peter Frampton played guitar like a god. This "phenom" as you put it is what happened when everything was in the right place at the right time, a convergence of the gods (the music gods) if you will.

First, let's go with your baseball analogy; in baseball, a middle reliever is a mediocre pitcher with great stuff, but limited over the course of time. Thus, he can give you some great innings, but can't sustain it enough to give you a great game.

Peter Frampton was the rock 'n' roll equivalent of a middle reliever. In the studio he gives you a hit or miss performance, but when he was on, he was on--throwing the high heat over the plate with ease, able to ace ya with the slow slider, or even a change-up every once in a while. But he never could sustain that greatness and balance over the course of a whole album.

My guess is that some A&R man for A&M Records was assigned to cover Frampton on his tours (probably for general shit like making sure each hotel room was of proper cost to the record co. and balancing the expense account so that it wasn't abused by this mediocre talent that after 4 LPs hasn't yet sold enough to make us money and we're considering releasing him soon_). So, this A&R guy is going to concert after concert on the tour(s) and he realizes something. When Frampton (the pitcher) gets on stage (the mound) and lets the rock 'n' roll (the game) take complete control over the music and the man--well, that, Bill, that is when "Frampton Comes Alive."

He saw it, he heard it, and he felt it. Frampton wailing on his electric guitar like a madman (the high heat), Frampton strumming the acoustic with passion (the slow slider), and Frampton grooving, laying down a danceable rhythm and funk (the change up). He saw him on his game. On stage Frampton wowed 'em, mowed them down, struck out both sides, male & female.

In the mid 70s, guitar wanking ruled. The boys loved guitar wanking. You got wasted, cranked up the 8-Track (fed through the power amp and into the Jensen quad speakers that you and all your buddies installed in your car), strapped on the air guitar, and you wailed along. The girls loved Frampton because of his cute looks and boyish charm, his "honest, sincere lyrics" (yeah right) and of course the shoulder length golden locks and warm tender vocals. He made them swoon. He was a sex symbol.

This was the true definition of "cock rock" before all the 80s hair bands took that definition and changed it to fit the biker/drugs/orgy image. Cock rock was born in the mid 70s with Peter Frampton, because it drew the attention of both sexes based on the power of rock and cock. A Frampton concert was a celebration of male testosterone shooting out of control aided by the party atmosphere of beer drinking and pot smoking with the added advantage of actually having females--gushing "hold-me-in-your-arms-and-kiss-me" females--right by your side (something usually reserved for the "relationship friendly" bands like Bread, etc.).

It all came together (Males, Females, and Rock) as the 70s generation were willing to lose themselves in the music. (This is also partly to blame for the progressive/art rock movement that was making inroads on the sub/consciousness of rebellious teens who figured that they wanted to rebel in a more controlled laid back (laissez faire--the true birth of the slacker--but that's another column) manner. Thus, in part giving birth to the punk movement several years later. We were fucked up and didn't know which musical direction to focus on at the time (throw in disco, and you had a virtual cornucopia of musical rebellion/confusion within a 4-6 year period)--and Frampton rocked.

Frampton rocked the mid-70s, and unless you were there to live it, to feel it, to experience and understand it, well then, I don't expect you to really understand it today. I myself when listening to Frampton Comes Alive for this column (it was the first time on the turntable in at least 20 years) could feel right away the lumbering old bones of a rock dinosaur. I almost--almost--went out and bought the new Live In Detroit CD (again, for this column) in an effort to see if he actually does hold up in this day and age--but naah. I decided against it due to the fact that, well, he's a DINOSAUR and I really have no interest. But in the 70s, our parties were held at the rock shows in the arenas, and he brought as many girls out to the parties as he did guys, and that my friend is what it was all about--and, oh yeah, he could wail...

So my take has this mythical A&R guy seeing all this and seeing a LOT of MONEY. He saw the youth rallying around each other for the music, he saw a new culture of teens who wanted to lose themselves in the music for the music, not for the political ramifications of the lyrics calling to arms and trying to change governmental policies and control, or the mind-inspiring writing of a song as a whole, but to lose themselves in a good time with each other, for all they had was each other and the music, because except for the here and now there were no guarantees.

So this A&R man made a highlight reel. A highlight reel that turned mediocre middle reliever Peter Frampton into the Cy Young of Rock. Every time Frampton Comes Alive was spun on the turntable, slapped into the 8-Track, or broadcast over the airwaves, Peter Frampton pitched a shutout. That A&R guy from A&M Records took every high heat, slow slider, and change up that had mowed 'em down, and struck 'em out in the arenas (where the "lost" generation would congregate to throw down a party/buzz without the pressures or presence of the outside grownup real world), neatly packaged them and gave them to us so that anytime we wanted, we could achieve the arena bliss we had grown so fond of. And it worked, breaking every sales record of the time. You couldn't go anywhere without Frampton Comes Alive blasting out of the closest set of speakers. Yes, this was great music for that time, but understand, "for that time." I do suggest you try it, if just once--throw down a party/buzz, give Frampton Comes Alive a spin, and dig it.

From That 70's Guy's point of view, it's worth it, if only for the following: Bob Mayo (Guitar, Vocals, Fender Rhodes Piano, Organ and Grand Piano), Stanley Sheldon (Bass Guitar, vocals), and John Siomos (Drums) compliment Peter Frampton (Guitars, vocals and Talkbox) perfectly. These guys simply smoke together. Album highlights (I know, the whole album is made up of highlights, these are the best of the best):

"Doobie Wah": A funk fest extraordinaire with Frampton wailing in front of one of the hottest bass and keyboard runs this side of Sly and the Family Stone. This is wanking, This Is Fuckin' Wanking to the most extreme guitar wanking god. Trust me, rock never felt so good, Smile.

"It's A Plain Shame": Blistering! I keep getting drawn into the guitar intensity of Frampton.

"I Want To Go To The Sun": Wails, WaiLs, And WAILS!! Funkengroovin.

"Lines On My Face": Lifts you with guitar onto a transcendental plain that just has you smiling with the good time had by all as you get lost in a musical odyssey as worthy of early Santana/Traffic as any.

"Do You Feel Like We Do": All the overblown, overlong guitar wanking does capture you on and off, but the most potent part is when Frampton gets on the talkbox (a device where the guitar sound is fed through a tube which is placed in his mouth allowing him to manipulate the sound produced from the guitar by opening and closing his mouth and forming words from the sounds). After some normal reciting of the lyrics, mainly the title, Frampton makes a sincere gesture by saying (in guitar/voice vocal sound) "I want to thank you." Every girl I knew thought he was saying, "I want to fuck you," and they loved it.

Cameron Crowe (then contributing editor of Rolling Stone) wrote in the liner notes, "Frampton Comes Alive is much more than a souvenier. It is a testimony to Peter Frampton in his natural habitat." No and yes. 25 years later it is a souvenir, but an important one.

If you want to understand the 70s you must study Frampton Comes Alive. It will give you the insight of just where everything was and where it could/would go as the decade wore on, but for a brief moment in time Peter Frampton was the MVP of A&M Records, he won the pennant. A title he wore with grace and dignity as he tried to remain loyal to his convictions. Unfortunately he became a victim of the corporate structure of greed. The moneymaking machine rushed him into the studio for a follow up (and into the movies, but we won't get into the Sgt. Pepper debacle here) and under pressure (and off the stage) Peter Frampton couldn't produce a LP of hits worthy of the Frampton Comes Alive legacy. Peter Frampton was never the staff ace, and to ask him to deliver a perfect game following his shut out--well, he crumbled, and how can you blame him. I'm In You might've been a no-hitter for A&M, racking up impressive numbers in sales, but to the fans--the partying, arena rocking teens that Frampton had been mowing down with guitar god licks--it was a NO-HITter. After that embarrassment ,the fans (and the record co.) looked elsewhere to get off on music, and Frampton, without their support continued on in relative obscurity. But...

No one will ever take that pennant away from him, for it will always be on display in that highlight reel know as Frampton Comes Alive.

Trust me on this one. I was there.

Bill J. has won a FREE copy of the IndepenDisc Disc of the month & a PCC T-shirt. Would you like some free stuff too? Send your question about music in the 70s to: g_gone@independisc.com and if I answer your question in this column, we'll send the goods!