“Sorry, I know this is not quite what we had planned,” Peter Frampton says, aplogetically. For Classic Rock’s cover-story interview, we were set to meet the 72-year old at his recording studio in Berryhill, a hip neighborhood that has become Nashville’s new Music Row. But the night before, one of his studio assistants tested positive for covid. Foremost on Frampton’s mind was the safety of his two-year-old granddaughter Elle, who, with his daughter and son-in-law, was staying with him for the month. To err on the side of caution – and to be able to see each other’s maskless faces – we moved our chat to Zoom.
So here’s Frampton, at home on a humid July morning, dressed in a black T-shirt with a silver chain and polished metal-and-wood pendant, his closecropped hair and moustache-and-beard age-appropriately and unapologetically white. During our three-hour conversation, he’s funny and personable, quick to laugh at both himself and the head-spinning twists and turns his life and career have taken in his storied 56-year ride.
A little history: born on April 22, 1950 in Beckenham, Kent, Peter Kenneth Frampton was one of two children raised by educator parents. His dad Owen was an art teacher, who counted among his students the young David Jones, later Bowie. Peter was something of a prodigy, teaching himself guitar at eight and playing his first professional gigs at 13. By the time he was 16 he was performing on Top Of The Pops fronting pop group The Herd. He never looked back.
There were many ups and downs ahead. In our time together, we touched on them all: Humble Pie and Steve Marriott; sessions with George Harrison; nearly becoming a Rolling Stone; a Mob-connected manager; the Sgt. Pepper film debacle; touring as David Bowie’s guitarist; winning a Grammy; helping to make the film Almost Famous; the ill-fated Humble Pie reunion; being animated in The Simpsons; and of course Frampton Comes Alive!, the iconic emblem of 70s rock, and for many years the biggest-selling record of all time.
Before we get into your amazing career, I want to talk about your dad. He was an art teacher at Bromley Technical School, and one of his students was David Jones, who was one of your schoolmates. Did the young future David Bowie inspire you to pursue music?
Seeing David play with his band The Kon-Rads made a huge impression on me. There he was with his suit and his hair sticking up, playing sax and singing Little Richard songs. I thought: “I want to be him!”
But I had already started playing a few years before. I picked up the banjolele first, then got a guitar for Christmas when I was eight. I was one of those kids who learned everything really quickly. My parents’ eyes were popping out of their heads: “Oh my god, where did you learn that?!” “I heard it on the radio…” “But how?” “I don’t know, I just found the chords and sang along.” So I knew – and unfortunately they knew [laughs] – that the future was probably going to lead to me being a musician.
Didn’t you and Bowie play guitars together at school?
Yes. George Underwood and David were students of my dad’s. George is still one of my closest friends. So it was the three of us and we were all into music heavily. George was the first one on TV, as Calvin James, produced by Mickie Most. Then he decided that wasn’t for him and went into fine arts. And of course he designed the covers for [Bowie’s albums] Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust. My dad said: “Why don’t you all bring your guitars to school? We can stash them in my office before assembly in the morning, then at lunch time you can get them out and play.” So my dad was very instrumental for all three of us. We’d play Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, whatever was American.
Was there any hint of Bowie’s theatrical side back then?
I remember my dad coming home from school one day – this was before I met Dave – and saying to my mum: “You know, Peggy, there’s something very strange about that Jones boy.” And I’m all ears. “Because on Friday, I’d swear he had eyebrows” [laughs]. So I think David was already being different.
What was the first ever record you bought?
The Everly Brothers’ single (’Til) I Kissed You. My dad didn’t like it, so I had to smuggle it into the house and only play it when he wasn’t there. Then he heard it one day, and came into my room with his arms folded, frowning [laughs]. Years later, when I moved to Nashville, I got to meet Chet Atkins, who played guitar on and produced that record. I was a fan of all guitar players – Hank Marvin, Duane Eddy, Kenny Burrell.
When you were sixteen you joined The Herd and had your first brush with pop stardom, but more as a vocalist than as a guitarist.
I had been in the band not even a year when we started doing the residency at the Marquee club on Saturday nights in the summer. It was the place to be seen. Everybod y hung out there – The Who, The Faces. That’s where we got our record deal. I was asked to join as the guitar player. I did some ‘ooh’s and ‘ahh’s in the background, and I sang a Ray Charles number called Hide Nor Hair. I thought, I’ve got an okay voice, nothing to write home about. It’s my guitar playing where I manage to translate my emotions into music.
So you were a reluctant frontman?
It was out of my control. Our managersand all these teenybopper magazines. We went round to their apartment in Swiss Cottage and they played us this song, Honestly, it didn’t sound very good. But they said: “And Peter’s going to sing it.” And it was one of those cartoon double-take moments [makes silly noise and laughs]. We were all in shock. Somehow, the band agreed to it and I went along. It wasn’t a big hit, but it got us noticed. Then they wrote which I sang, and we’re on
