Peter Frampton got me in trouble when I was a kid. My older brother’s record player was in his bedroom underneath the window. I would spend a lot of time secretly listening to his records while he was out of the house and I mean really listening to records (as loud as possible) for all the nuances and instrumentation. A turning point in listening to music came along for me when I first heard Frampton Comes Alive!. I couldn’t understand why I liked it so much; after all, it was a live record and sounded nothing like those studio recordings I was accustomed to. And I’d ask myself, “What is that weird talking guitar thingy on ‘Do You Feel like We Do’?” (At 3:41 is the Talk Box.) Even the sun coming through the window liked it, so much so, that it softened the large disc into an unplayable shape. I was going to be in unplayable shape if I didn’t find the money to replace it before he got home. I replaced it but didn’t escape my brother’s strength.
The album has an ease to it and makes you feel like you are in the audience. I could almost see the shared glances between band members Frampton, Sheldon, Mayo and Siomos. Cameron Crowe (Journalist/Director) wrote the liner notes for Frampton Comes Alive! and remarks “the full range of live material, both acoustic and electric is here. Even the audience enjoys a major role throughout and as always, Frampton & band perform with the earnestness and competence that we’ve come to expect.” Another song that absolutely blew my mind in those days, and still does, is the live version of Breakdown off of Tom Petty’s live album, Pack Up the Plantation: Live! The audience hijacks the song from vocalist Tom Petty.
I learned two things from the album Frampton Comes Alive!. Firstly, music and performance are sometimes beyond description no matter how hard you try. It’s taken several years for me to realize why it was such an influential record in my archive. There are lots of live records out there but this one may have been the catalyst for getting me involved in music as a career. It was the live audience and knowing that you had one shot at each and every song with no opportunity to stop and re-record. It is hard to recreate a live show but this album inches closest to being there for me. Frampton is an entertainer, performer, artist, musician and band member. I don’t think things have changed for Frampton in his many decades of performing. The songs continue to be patient and build and undulate, much like melted vinyl. The other thing I learned was, if the sun is shining upon your record player, close the curtains.
Greg Henderson is Programming Associate at Massey Hall & Roy Thomson Hall
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