One of the original guitar heroes, Peter Frampton (April 22, 1950-) is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist best known for his multi-platinum Live Album Frampton Comes Alive!, the biggest selling album in the United States in 1976.
After receiving piano and guitar lessons in his youth, Frampton started off in a hit-making British Invasion band called the Herd at the age of 16 before joining Steve Marriott of The Small Faces in the Blues Rock group Humble Pie and playing on sessions with several major stars. He started his solo career in 1971 and soon found success easier in America than his native United Kingdom.
His commercial peak was Frampton Comes Alive! in 1976, the prototypical Arena Rock live album which solidified Frampton's status as a Teen Idol and even won him an invitation to perform at the White House. However, although the studio follow-up I'm in You was well-received by critics and gave him his biggest hit single, its experimental nature alienated many of his teen fans. His appearance in the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band film turned out to be the end of his hit-making career.
Frampton continues to record and perform, and has made some contributions to film and television; he made a memorable (and mostly ad-libbed) guest appearance on The Simpsons episode "Homerpalooza" and was a consultant on Almost Famous.
Tropes
- Epic Rocking: The 14-minute version of "Do You Feel Like We Do?" included on Frampton Comes Alive! takes the cake. An edited version was released as a single and became a hit, and even then it was over seven minutes long.
- Iconic Item: The talk box, a device allowing a guitarist to "speak" through his instrument, became strongly associated with Frampton thanks to his use of it on several tracks on Frampton Comes Alive!
- Even before the live, hit songs like "Show Me the Way" made heavy use of the talk box. In this respect, Frampton was to 70s rock what Richie Sambora was in the next decade.
- The Rock Star: One of the best examples from The '70s.
- Teen Idol: Frampton later admitted that appearing shirtless on the cover of Rolling Stone was an attempt to capitalise on his idol status and expressed regret that it damaged his status as a credible artist.
- Word Salad Lyrics: Some of his songs, such as "Do You Feel Like We Do?" fall into the "so long as it sounds good, it doesn't have to make sense" category.
