Peter Frampton - Where the hell have I been

This is a great thread. For years I was embarrassed about being a Frampton-aficionado, but I never quit listening (and learning) from his albums. "Frampton Comes Alive" shaped a lot of my style - I think I learned every lick on that album my first few years of playing. Without a doubt, "Do You Feel Like We Do" is a frickin' course on rock soloing all by itself - that break at 2:20 still sends a shiver down my spine every time I hear it. Never dug the talkbox thing that much, even Beck's stab at it, but Peter's straight guitar tone is just amazing all the way through that album (a classic Les Paul/Marshall combination). Another golden track on that album is "Jumpin' Jack Flash" - you can tell those guys are having a blast rippin' that one up.

Another great album chock full of Peter's riffage is "Rockin' the Fillmore" - raw rock and roll replete with screw-ups and jams that go on way to long (thankfully). My favorite bit is the crazy jazz-tinged solo at 3:30 into "I Don't Need No Doctor" - where most guys would just wail on a pentatonic scalefest, Peter's channeling Django Reinhardt through 100-watt Marshall - it's just so unexpected. Steve Marriott and Peter were just a phenomenal (albeit volatile) combination.

This thread made my day! 8)
 
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sarge said:
That is interesting.

From the HD net concert he struck me as a sober guy out there having the time of his life out there singing and playing guitar.
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To clarify. . . the issue was not substance abuse (to my knowledge). Rather, I think his career fizzled for a while. I believe it was related to this (from Wikipedia). . . .

"Frampton suffered a near-fatal auto accident in the Bahamas in 1978 that marked the end of his prolific period and the beginning of a long fallow period where he was less than his old self."

Sorry for the confusion.

Terry.
 
Would be great if Pete lent his Ampeg Super Echo Twin to Cliff to model!!

Something I found while researching his early tones

For the uninitated this is actually two 30-watt amps (ReverbRocket amps) put in the same box. These were enormously expensive when they came out and actually sold for more than Fender Showmans and Fender Twin Reverbs in the day. The stereo panning effect from one speaker to the next (left to right) is pretty intense. It must be heard to be believed.

These are super rare amplifiers, this being the Super Echo Twin, instead of just the earlier Echo Twin. This was a favorite of Peter Frampton's and can be heard on the solos on the Frampton Comes Alive! album

http://www.frontiernet.net/~montevina/Ampeg Super Echo Twin1.jpg

http://www.frontiernet.net/~montevina/Ampeg Super Echo Twin8.jpg

http://www.schematicx.com/schematic/ampeg-et-2b-super-echo-twin-amplifier-schematic/
 
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OP, if you dig Frampton, I have a few recommendations from the 70's for you. They aren't "similar" to him, but they're very very cool.

1) the 3 non-live "Rainbow" Cd's from 1975 - 1978 featuring Blackmore and Dio. To me these are better than the somewhat overrated Led Zep (which is still cool).
2) Machine Head, by Deep Purple 1972. If you would believe it, Smoke on the Water is the worst song on here. Written and recorded in I think 18 days.
3) That first Michael Schenker solo CD was killer. I think 1978?
4) Allan Parson Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination 1975. All the songs here are about Edgar Allan Poe stories. Killer killer!!! sound quality and writing.

I'm sure you've heard the first Boston CD. There's just no missing that one. I'm slightly younger than you (37) but had a group of friends in high school that listened to a lot of older stuff. Eventually I got into a lot of it. Originally I was only into Shred / classic metal as well :). I generally don't listen to music recorded before about 1972 due to drums sounding crappy to me, which greatly lessens my enjoyment. There are some exceptions but few and far between.
 
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When I was about 13 (22 years ago) I was perusing my Dad's vast record collection. In the same day I discovered Frampton Comes Alive! and Steve Miller Band's Greatest Hits. I played them a lot.
 
That guitar rig from the HD Net Detroit show is nice. Several Marshall heads in one suspension road case. The Ampeg amp is on top of 3(4?) Marshall 4x12's. He has an EFX rack with a switching system too (Bradshaw?).

Richard
 
Just noting. I'm not sure where this came from, but the Super Echo Twin is actually 2 15 watt amps into 2-12" speakers. Mine has 4 7591 power tubes. It funny, cause it's not as loud as a 1-15 Gemini with only 2-7591 tubes. It's not a particularly loud 30 watts either, but it is a great sound and drives nicely. It's definitely nothing like a 30 watt Matchless which will blow your ears out.

I'd never even heard of a Super Echo Twin until maybe 5 years ago when I was sitting in a music store next to what I thought was one of the modern Ampeg 2-12s because the amp was so clean. Then I looked at it and plugged it in. There were a bunch of people in the store and I played it just long enough to know it sounded amazing, but not so long that people would notice and wonder what the hell it was. It will be one of the last tube amps to go in my world.


Dramelot said:
Would be great if Pete lent his Ampeg Super Echo Twin to Cliff to model!!

Something I found while researching his early tones

For the uninitated this is actually two 30-watt amps (ReverbRocket amps) put in the same box. These were enormously expensive when they came out and actually sold for more than Fender Showmans and Fender Twin Reverbs in the day. The stereo panning effect from one speaker to the next (left to right) is pretty intense. It must be heard to be believed.

These are super rare amplifiers, this being the Super Echo Twin, instead of just the earlier Echo Twin. This was a favorite of Peter Frampton's and can be heard on the solos on the Frampton Comes Alive! album

http://www.frontiernet.net/~montevina/Ampeg Super Echo Twin1.jpg

http://www.frontiernet.net/~montevina/Ampeg Super Echo Twin8.jpg

Ampeg ET-2B Super Echo Twin Amplifier Schematic
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jerotas said:
OP, if you dig Frampton, I have a few recommendations from the 70's for you. They aren't "similar" to him, but they're very very cool.

1) the 3 non-live "Rainbow" Cd's from 1975 - 1978 featuring Blackmore and Dio. To me these are better than the somewhat overrated Led Zep (which is still cool).
2) Machine Head, by Deep Purple 1972. If you would believe it, Smoke on the Water is the worst song on here. Written and recorded in I think 18 days.
3) That first Michael Schenker solo CD was killer. I think 1978?
4) Allan Parson Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination 1975. All the songs here are about Edgar Allan Poe stories. Killer killer!!! sound quality and writing.

I'm sure you've heard the first Boston CD. There's just no missing that one. I'm slightly younger than you (37) but had a group of friends in high school that listened to a lot of older stuff. Eventually I got into a lot of it. Originally I was only into Shred / classic metal as well :). I generally don't listen to music recorded before about 1972 due to drums sounding crappy to me, which greatly lessens my enjoyment. There are some exceptions but few and far between.
Click to expand...

Like your recommendations, but never thought of Zeppelin as over rated! Should throw Frank Marino on the list. If you were rockin' in the '70s, you had the live album for sure.
 
It's amazing how many younger guitar players seem to believe guys like Vai, Satriani, and Eddie invented modern rock guitar. After the earlier pioneers like Page, Hendrix, Clapton, etc.. we had a whole other generation of great guitar players such as Frampton, Gary Moore, Pat Travers, Robin Trower, Michael Shenker, etc.. that had killer chops, tone, stature.
I was in high school and had only been playing guitar for a couple of years when Frampton Comes Alive came out, and at the time, it was a truly ground breaking album. If memory serves me, that album really put him on the map.....which is a rare thing for a live album to break an artist. Still one of my favorite live albums of all time.
 
This looks like the rig from the HD Net Detroit show

Peter Frampton - Equipment

It's W/D/W with three Marshall 100 watt heads used only for the power section and one 50 watt Marshall head for the talkbox. All with a Bradshaw switching system.

Richard
 
jerotas said:
OP, if you dig Frampton, I have a few recommendations from the 70's for you. They aren't "similar" to him, but they're very very cool.

1) the 3 non-live "Rainbow" Cd's from 1975 - 1978 featuring Blackmore and Dio. To me these are better than the somewhat overrated Led Zep (which is still cool).
2) Machine Head, by Deep Purple 1972. If you would believe it, Smoke on the Water is the worst song on here. Written and recorded in I think 18 days.
3) That first Michael Schenker solo CD was killer. I think 1978?
4) Allan Parson Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination 1975. All the songs here are about Edgar Allan Poe stories. Killer killer!!! sound quality and writing.

I'm sure you've heard the first Boston CD. There's just no missing that one. I'm slightly younger than you (37) but had a group of friends in high school that listened to a lot of older stuff. Eventually I got into a lot of it. Originally I was only into Shred / classic metal as well :). I generally don't listen to music recorded before about 1972 due to drums sounding crappy to me, which greatly lessens my enjoyment. There are some exceptions but few and far between.
Click to expand...

Excellent suggestions for younger guitarists!
Machine head just about tells you everything that rock wanted to be. I probably wore out a dozen albums back in the day coping licks. There is an anniversary issue worth checking out. It has countoffs and endings past the studio fades of the commercial release. One of the players would start doodling and the rest of the band would jump in ant the song starts in earnest. You could really hear them playing as a band. Unfortunately a lost art.

Rainbow is another great one to study. I was lucky enough to become friends with Dave Rosenthal during my first year at Berklee. He was the hottest keyboardist in the school. He could play anything. Classical chops and a jazz monster. One day he just packed his stuff and went to audition for Rainbow. Ritchie Blackmore asked him why he even wanted to be in the band after he heard him play.

Can't say enough of "Tales" by Alan Parsons. If you want to learn anything about arranging or producing, study it.

First Boston album is also a must listen. I remember going to this huge record store in Harvard Square when I was a Berklee student. They had a platinum album on the wall of Boston's first album. I thought, how cool of Boston to donate their award to a record store in their home town. Then I read the inscription. It was awarded by the record company to the store for selling 1 million copies of Boston's first album. They weren't a chain. They had one store. I stood there like a deer in the headlights for 10 minutes. I couldn't imagine being in a band that sold a million copies and Boston did it out of 1 store! Nothing like that will ever happen again.
 
One of the most telling statements from Peter regarding the Axe-Fx was that "the device would allow him to tour other countries where the cost/hassle/risk of bringing all of his vintage/boutique equipment would be otherwise prohibitive." Most of us don't have that problem, but for professional musicians, it is an interesting value proposition. But in the end, that's while we are all converts...the incredible flexibility without the cost/transport issues of multiple amps/effects.

I am a huge fan, seeing him w/ Humble Pie and Grand Funk @ Shea Stadium, then countless times with his band at the Beacon Theater, where he had bands such as Quiet Riot, J Geils, and Montrose open for him. His melodic style of playing has inspired me and is so incredibly unique. His latest work is awesome and includes an incredibly hard rock song with his son singing and playing bass. How freaking cool is that where you could tour with your rock star dad! Pick up his latest work---you won't be disapointed if you are a fan.
 
When I hear Boston, I think of an old school pizza parlor with an arcade and a guy behind the counter with a big handle bar stache and red ginger mullet. Reason being I used to go to an old school pizza parlor in the mid to late 80's as a kid that played....well really nothing but Boston.:lol. I remember when that place got GoldenAxe in the 90's, I was there for hours. Ummmmmmm good times.
 
HI Folks Thanks for the great thread, It has just inspired me to buy the album again (Deluxe version with bonus tracks etc..) I lived for this record when it was released and it takes me back to another life a long time ago. I hadn't realized how influential it was on my playing, back then I couldn't actually play the riffs but hearing it again I realize that I now do a lot of it subconsciously and the influence has certainly stuck. It's kind of like the Radiohead of the sixties in that there are so many benchmarks set that are not immediately obvious but are realized, and justified, in time.
I will be getting my (first) AxeII next week so probably a good time to get back into it. :)
 
Xrocker said:
........ It was awarded by the record company to the store for selling 1 million copies of Boston's first album. They weren't a chain. They had one store. I stood there like a deer in the headlights for 10 minutes. I couldn't imagine being in a band that sold a million copies and Boston did it out of 1 store! Nothing like that will ever happen again.
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Freaking amazing! I agree... never again. Sad but true.
 
Interesting contrast between Frampton and Boston. Just saw a little bit where Frampton talks about never being able to do something the same thing twice and getting bored even trying. He said that's probably why playing live is where his energy shines. Contrast that with Boston who I heard in maybe 79 or early 80. Sounded just like the records. The whole thing. On record, it's an amazing sound. Live, it bored the crap out of me. I'm from the school of "if I wanted to hear the record, I'd play it. Play me a fresh take on it and make this gig at least a little different from every other gig." YMMV.
 
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