by emma schoors
Peter Frampton is one of the most fundamentally underrated guitarists of all time, and his longevity as a musician is on full display with April 23rd’s “Frampton Forgets The Words.”
1976 was a defining year for then 26-year-old Peter Frampton. The bright-eyed, golden-haired guitarist was suddenly plastered on the cover of every magazine, and his live double album “Frampton Comes Alive!” was flying off of shelves in every record store imaginable. He really was coming alive in the public eye, and this excitement was evident in every interview he gave.
“People are buying my life when they’re buying those records. I hate to sound bigheaded or something, but that’s the reality of it. Suddenly, everything you’ve been doing means something,” Frampton admitted to Rolling Stone’s Cameron Crowe that same year. Make no mistake, however. The English musician had been working relentlessly at his craft for over a decade by the time he struck massive popularity as a solo artist: namely in The Herd and Humble Pie.
It’s not uncommon to hear that Frampton never again lived up to the success that “Frampton Comes Alive!” brought him, and that is precisely why his later work is so overlooked. Frampton didn’t let up musically when the hype surrounding his most popular album subsided. Everything from 1981’s “Breaking All The Rules” to 2010’s “Thank You Mr Churchill” is well-worth listening to, and each and every record tells a unique story, with Frampton’s guitar often acting as a vocal addition to his actual voice.
Fast forward to 2021, and the beautifully determined musician and his band are back with a new album of tributes: “Frampton Forgets The Words.” Frampton’s Inclusion body myositis muscular disease, which will one day take away his ability to play, isn’t stopping him in the slightest. In fact, it seems to be a driving factor to keep making music for as long as possible.
Standout tribute “Reckoner,” originally by Radiohead, is equal parts melancholic and alluring. While the original track puts a large emphasis on percussion, Frampton’s version is a captivating, guitar-based interpretation.
Speaking of guitars, a star-studded bunch of guitars are featured on the album; these are included but not limited to Frampton’s 1954 Les Paul Phenix, as well as a 1958 Fender Telecaster, previously used on the musician’s 2019 effort “All Blues.”
“We call them tributes, because we wouldn’t be doing them if we didn’t have the utmost respect and were huge fans of those artists,” Frampton told the Sun-Times in an April 2021 article, about his performances of songs by the aforementioned Radiohead, George Harrison, Roxy Music, Lenny Kravitz, and more.
Closing the album is a tribute to Alison Krauss’ “Maybe.” Frampton’s ability to speak with his guitar is perhaps most gorgeously showcased here. The original song’s lyrics come to mind as Frampton gently “sings”:
“Maybe I can stand alone.
Maybe I'm strong as stone.
Even though the bird has flown,
Maybe he'll fly on home.”
“Frampton Forgets The Words” is a stunning record front to back, and it proves what was already so clear about Peter Frampton: his love and admiration for fellow musicians is part of what makes him such an incredible musician himself.