In 1976, Peter Frampton went from working musician to a phenomenon. His album Frampton Comes Alive! sold over 11 million copies worldwide and was voted "Album Of The Year" in the 1976 Rolling Stone Magazine readers poll. Frampton played great songs and he was great looking. Frampton was everywhere. And then he wasn’t.
In his memoir, Do You Feel Like I Do?, Frampton chronicles his life and career in this light, enjoyable book. It was written with Alan Light, a leading music journalist. Frampton says that a pop star’s career is eighteen months; a musician’s career is a lifetime. And that’s what he has strived to be. A musician. And if you’ve watched him play guitar, you’d agree.
This easy read starts with Frampton’s childhood. His parents lived through the Blitz in London and provided a strong support system for the budding musician. He taught himself to play the guitar at age seven. Peter started out with the band The Herd and then formed one of the first supergroups, Humble Pie, with Little Face’s Steve Marriott. Frampton was soon ready to strike out on his own.
A highlight of the book is learning about Frampton's lifelong friendship with David Bowie. Peter’s father was an art teacher. One of his students was Dave Jones. Not to be confused with Davy Jones of The Monkees, the young performer changed his name to David Bowie. Bowie was a major influence in Frampton’s life, especially after his meteoric rise was over and Peter just wanted to play guitar. An offer to play lead guitar on Bowie’s Glass Spider Tour rescued Frampton.
Frampton’s desire to be a working musician led to supporting the post-Beatles efforts of George Harrison, Ringo Star and many others. During the rollercoaster ride of his career, he dealt with a terrible car accident, crooked management, family issues and more. In 1980, his prized guitar, a 1954 Gibson Les Paul, which was believed to have gone up in flames in a plane crash, was discovered thirty years later.
Now at age seventy, Frampton can look back with a true sense of accomplishment.
Can you recite the words of Baby, I Love Your Way and Show Me The Way? If you can, you’ll want to read this book.
Rated 4 out of 5 stars.
Memoir / Autobiography.
Publication Date: October 20, 2020.
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