It was the summer of 1976 when I first opened the double-live album ‘Frampton Comes Alive.”
There have been lots of live recordings produced since then, but this record is still the second best-selling live album of all time – right behind Garth Brooks – “Double Live” and Frampton will come alive again this Summer at Fun Fest 2009.
Noone had ever heard of Peter Frampton at the time, but it wouldn’t be long before every radio on the streets of Kingsport and around Duck Island (remember cruising the island?) was tuned into “Baby I Love Your Way.”
It wasn’t long before “Show Me The Way” and “Do You Feel Like We Do” would follow each other as one of the greatest live rock and roll albums ever saturated our summer soundtrack in the late seventies.
These songs were originally recorded in the studio on ‘Frampton’s Camel,” but it took the live album recorded in a mobile truck on a one-inch tape. The sounds of the crowd roaring to multi-verse solos was intoxicating and whether or not they are real or subliminal , this one all but catapulted Frampton into a legendary rock brand.
Another significant distinction from Peter Frampton – he single-handedly launched the success of the “talk-box” which allowed a guitar player to redirect the sound of his guitar through a tube in his mouth and a microphone. “Do You Feel Like We Do” is still an anthem and I imagine this will be a big hit when Frampton plays Fun Fest on July 17th .
Frampton recently played an HDNET performance and it was long ago that he played the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville and friends who did get to see the performance were still amazed at the artist and his ability to still deliver the old tunes.
Like many rock and roll Fun Fest artists, he’s lost a lot of hair and is still popular after 30 years and fans should have lots of fun at Kingsport’s summer fun festival.