It’s Turntable Tuesday because life is too short not to listen to great music! Turn that TV off! Play your favorite tracks or even some brand new music from your favorite artists! Speaking of brand new…this week I am listening to the newest release from April 23 by Peter Frampton called “Frampton Forgets the Words” which is a humorous way to say this package is three sides of vinyl that are all instrumental covers of Peter Frampton’s favorite music from across many musical boundaries. More on that in a moment. What are you listening to today?
On the piano stool this week is the cover of Peter Frampton’s brand new release “Frampton Forgets the Words.” Thanks to Grimey’s New and Pre-loved Music in East Nashville for my autographed copy. https://www.grimeys.com/ The musical details on this cover are very cool. The Gibson headstock inlay is my favorite which is just like the 1954 Gibson Les Paul “Phenix” which survived a plane crash in South America. “Phenix is still the guitar Peter prefers although he has quite a range of guitars.
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The back cover with the track list for the three sides of vinyl. This album is also available on cd as well as all streaming platforms.
March 28, 1976. That was the night I first saw Peter Frampton play live on the “Frampton Comes Alive” tour with “38 Special” and “Gary Wright” opening the show in Jackson, Mississippi. Wow what a thrill that was. All those hit-makers on one stage. The new live album had just released and we were treated to the sound of that music in a live setting. It was incredible. This music was all over the FM dial. I was finally able to buy that album in the Summer of 1976 while working on my Summer job in North Carolina. I remember asking the roofing crew led by my uncle to pull the truck over at a local record shop and let me run in to buy a copy of “Frampton Comes Alive.” As I recall I still had tar on my boots and a sweaty t-shirt walking in but I grabbed an album, paid, and ran back out the door. I still have that copy today and all the memories of those moments. 35 years later I saw Peter from 6 feet away play “Frampton Comes Alive 35” at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. That show was incredible. Peter played the entire double album in full followed by some Humble Pie songs to end the night. It was amazing.
I have seen Peter Frampton many times over the decades and I would go see him tonight if he was playing a show near me. I will save some of those live concert stories for the “Frampton Comes Alive” writing in the future. This current band has some very special talent and they know how to rock. The band listing is in an album gatefold photo below. I have seen them over the past three to four years out on tour with Gregg Allman and then again on two different shows on the “farewell tour.” You might say I enjoy the music of Peter Frampton even more than I can explain in words. Here are a few of my many photos of these tours.
Phenix
The Framptone!
I am going to step through all of the tracks on this record on the podcast this week. I like this album. I think the videos are cool as well and there are no shortages of video for this project. Peter has been busy. A photo of the right side gatefold of the album. The printing is straight on the album but distorted by the iPhone photo even after several tries so here is the photo of the credits. As a note Eric Darken is on percussion for several tracks and he works with many top-tier artists in Nashville on many projects. Eric also records and tours with Jimmy Buffett as a part of the Coral Reefer Band. Note the mastering and lacquer work from some of the absolute best in the business. Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios and Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. I won’t leave out the rest of the band for a shout out. Everyone who worked on this project are stellar musicians. As a note many articles mention Allison Krauss wrote “Maybe.” She performed it but Gordon Kennedy and Phil Madeira wrote it. Gordon played on this version on acoustic guitar. Phil is a songwriter and plays in the “Red Dirt Boys” with Emmy Lou Harris. Phil texted me back today when I asked him about the song. Phil said “I had the music for the verses and many of the lyrics. The felt like it had a George Harrison vibe. Gordon came over to write and he came up with the music for the chorus.” “Gordon and I have written some beautiful songs together and this is probably the epitome of our collaboration.”
Both Garth Brooks and Allison Krauss have recorded this song and now Peter Frampton has his version.
Written by George Harrison this is an instrumental cover of “Isn’t it a Pity” and this version captures the tone and feel of the song. It is so well done if you just close your eyes to listen you can almost hear the vocals. Band member Rob Arthur did a great job on these videos for this album.
Peter uses his 1954 Gibson Les Paul “Phenix” in this cover by Radiohead called “Reckoner.”
David Bowie, Owen Frampton, and Peter Frampton. Owen Frampton (6 April 1919 – 16 September 2005) was an English art teacher. He was the father of musician Peter Frampton and a teacher of David Jones also known as musician David Bowie who attended the same school as Peter.
“Avalon.” Written by Roxy Music this cover is stunning. The slide guitar work is just perfect. As one person wrote on You Tube in the comments. Watching this video is like watching an old friend, it just makes you smile. Indeed.
A pandemic encore. This one was recently recorded remotely and is not on the new album. This version of this classic song has some amazing guitar tone and solos. I have previously written about buying the 45 RPM record I still have when it was new. Watch this one.
More details from this album are coming on the companion podcast. Go buy this album and enjoy it. It is a nice one. Until next time I’ll see you , down the road.
