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| |  Peter Frampton at B.B. King's
1/18/01, Photo by Winston Smith
Photo © 2001 NY Rock |
To the strains of some symphonic overture that wouldn't end, seventies poster-boy Peter Frampton took the stage at B.B. King Blues Club like a survivor of VH1's "Behind the Music." Dressed in black leather pants, tee shirt, balding and bifocaled, he looked more like a university professor than the cultural icon of rock's heyday when the battle cry was "disco sucks" and the worst disease you could get from a good shagging was a bout of the clap.
Recycled and revised for the new millennium, Frampton's career has taken a turn for the better, most notably, his work in the film Almost Famous as both the behind-the-scenes consultant and actor. His role as the band Humble Pie's manager was so good, I didn't know it was him until someone informed me afterward. On the music side, Frampton received a Grammy nomination in the Best Rock Instrumental Performance category for a track from his recent release Live in Detroit.
 Peter Frampton at B.B. King's
1/18/01, Photo by Winston Smith
Photo © 2001 NY Rock | |
Jump starting the set with "Lying," Frampton beamed with an infectious ear-to-ear grin that lasted the entire evening as he dished out hits sounding as fresh as they did on Frampton Comes Alive (1976). With a black Les Paul, Frampton played a beautiful intro to "Lines on My Face." The notes built into the type of melodic, stinging and soaring guitar work that defines his sound. The smoky solo was a shrilly, distorted, high-pitched, thunderous whine – perfect for the overpriced 42nd Street club as it shook stirred martinis, jolted fake boob jobs and rattled the toupees off the well-heeled clientele.
Riffing off multi-instrumentalist Bob Mayo and bridging metal and aggressive pop on "(I'll Give You) Money" from a stack of Marshall amps, Frampton proved that he is one of the most underrated guitar heroes out there. It's a shame the fluff of "I'm in You," the disastrous Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club film, and his teen-idol good looks got in the way of the music. Way back when, in the early seventies, the boy's guitar howled on the stuff he did with Humble Pie and during his pre Frampton Comes Alive days. And it continues to howl.
For "Do You Feel Like We Do," as he asked the waitress for a coffee, Frampton whipped out the trademark talk box which he is now marketing with his company Framptone. The song evolved into a psychedelic kaleidoscope of lights that brought on at least one flashback. Summer 1976, hangin' at Rockaway Beach in Queens (yes, the Ramones did name their song after a real beach), gangly, pimpled, in Frampton tee, gazing at the buxom disco queens from the boardwalk, and wishing I could dance like Travolta.
February 2001
Frampton Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
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