ALBUM OF THE WEEK # 296 PETER FRAMPTON - FRAMPTON COMES ALIVE! (40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1976)

[RJhog (Admin)]

Disclaimer: All info that does not reside in my brain is gathered from wikipedia.com (mostly because Jon can't stand it) unless otherwise noted.

First Friday means it's time for an anniversary album.  Let's dial the clock back 40 years and look at what some may consider the greatest live album of all time.  It's Frampton Comes Alive! by Peter Frampton.  Frampton has released 16 studio albums, but he is definitely most recognized for this double live album.  Sticking with the current AOTW theme, Frampton Comes Alive! hit number one on the Billboard 200 chart in April of 1976, spending a total of ten weeks as king of the mountain.  It also has the distinction of being the best selling album of 1976, topping out at 6 million in sales for that year, and has since been certified 8 X Platinum.  The album stayed on the chart for 97 weeks and, according to Wikipedia, was still number 14 on the 1977 year end album chart. Not too shabby.  And I haven't even mentioned the singles.  There was Baby, I Love Your Way (#12), Do You Feel Like We Do (#10) and Show Me The Way (#6).  

Here's an interesting tidbit from Wikipedia regarding the album:

The double album was released in the US with a special reduced list price of $7.98, only $1.00 more than the standard $6.98 of most single-disc albums in 1976. The album was pressed in "automatic sequence", with sides one and four on one record, followed by sides two and three on the other. This arrangement was intended to make it easier to listen through the whole album in sequence on automatic record changers.

So, what I remember about the album is that you couldn't turn a radio on a rock radio station in 1976 without hearing something from this album.  And everybody absolutely seemed to love the talk box used by Frampton.  I didn't own it at the time, but as usual, one of my many cousins did.

The album is readily available.  You can still pick up a brand new copy of it for just $11.99 on Amazon.  That's only four bucks more than the original would have cost you forty years ago.  

Tracks:

Side One:

1. Introduction/Something's Happening

2. Doobie Wah

3. Show Me The Way

4. It's A Plain Shame

Side Two:

5. All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)

6. Wind Of Change

7. Baby, I Love Your Way

8. I Wanna Go To The Sun

Side Three:

9. Penny For Your Thoughts

10. (I'll Give You) Money

11. Shine ON

12. Jumpin' Jack Flash

Side Four:

13. Lines On My Face

14. Do You Feel Like We Do

[Jon]

Even though I'm not the biggest fan of live albums, this is just a cool album.

Only problem is that if you listen to this first (like I did) and then listen to the studio albums, those songs just seem to be lacking when they really don't. Or, maybe they do.

I listened to this for a few hours as I was checking out car batteries and I didn't get bored. I've listened to this album a few times and still don't get bored.

Shame that this is what he'll most be remembered for even though he did put out some solid albums before and after this. What's kinda funny is I was looking for I'm In You yesterday, and there were 8-tracks of that for sale on ebay, some of them STILL IN THE SHRINKWRAP. That's amazing. 

I have the 14 song version as well as the 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition which has 18 tracks, so I guess I must like it. 

[Scott]

Doobie Wah baby!  Great album...  Its really a guitar album and its also an education in differences between studio albums and live experiences.  GO OUT AND SEE LIVE MUSIC!!

I have seen Frampton 3 times, once as an acoustic set (which you get a flavor for with All I Wanna Be, Wind of Change, and Penny For Your Thoughts) at an all day concert which was cool, but watching him play an electric guitar is something totally different.  He's a natural and he makes it look effortless and the technical precision and consistency of his playing is always spot on and near perfect.  I have seen several great guitar players live and he's one of my favorites.

This album was my introduction to his music, like I said its a guitar album.  Everyone knows Do You Feel Like We Do, but check out Doobie Wah, I Wanna Go To The Sun and the best song on here, Lines On My Face as well, you will hear exactly what I'm talking about.  And maybe you could argue that Live albums sometimes aren't really live.  But I would say this is what you hear when you're there.

Great choice this week!

[Niels (Mod)]

I have heard a couple of tracks from this album before, but not the whole double-live album until now.

I remember seeing this album in the magazines back then and the coming years. I was convinced, that Frampton was a teenage girl-idol, maybe because of his appeareance in the magazine's I bought because of KISS-photos/articles/posters, and I did not take him serious AT all.

And I haven't since. Off course I know now, there's much more to him, than being a teenage-idol, but honestly, I don't know much about his music.

This was certainly a pleassant listening-experience, but....

I fell asleep around side 3, so I might have missed 1 or 2 tracks. I don't really remember hearing Jumpin' Jack Flash?!

I don't really see, what the fuss is about. Yeah, it's nice music, he's an okay guitarist, and a decent singer, but come on, this is close to being pretty boring. I don't mind music like this, but I usually avoid it. It just kind of bores me.

Since I heard it, before I wrote this, I can't pick out my favorites, but there were one or two pretty good rock-songs, and one or two good accustic tracks.

Even though DYFLWD is the most wellknown track, it just goes on and on and....it's not one of my favorites on this album.

But I'm glad to say, that finally I've heard this double live-album, that I've heard and read so much about.

It's just that once again, I'm convinced, that I can certainly trust my instincts, which said for 40 years: Don't bother.