Photo by Austin Lord.
Peter Frampton is one of the greatest guitar players in the history of rock, so if anyone were to put out an album of instrumental tracks, why shouldn’t it be him?
But here’s the catch: though Frampton, a Nashville resident since the mid-’90s, is a world-class songwriter, having penned hits like “Baby, I Love Your Way” and “Show Me the Way,” his latest album is a compilation of cover songs. Frampton Forgets the Words (out April 23) includes The Peter Frampton Band’s spin on tunes including Roxy Music’s “Avalon” and Lenny Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way?” The rock legend shared the inspiration behind the album, what he’s been up to in the past year, and some favorite cover versions of his own songs when he called from his Downtown Nashville penthouse. —Alison Abbey Hudak
Age: 70
A life-changing diagnosis leads to new music on new terms:
It all revolves around my [inclusion body myositis, an incurable inflammatory muscular disease]. We had come off a tour with Steve Miller and I got the blues bug from Steve because he would have me up to do a few blues numbers in his act. So we made All Blues, which was the album prior to Forgets the Words. We recorded 50 tracks live, so we have another full album in the can. Once we finished those two albums [only one of which had been released] I said, “I want to do another album with my band.” My M.O. was, “I know I have an IBM clock”—we all have two clocks right now: our life clock and our COVID clock. But I have I have the IBM clock, as well. The longer I can’t play due to COVID, it fights against my IBM clock, so I thought let’s just go in and record as much as we can.
No words, no problem:
We were so well-oiled from the whole year of touring, so it was wonderful to just get back in the studio when we were really in tune with each other. I said, “So I don’t have to write, which would take too much time, why don’t we do like we did on the blues album? Let’s do a covers instrumental record this time.” We all made lists of songs and I went through them and played along and worked out which ones spoke to me. It’s not a solo album; it’s The Peter Frampton Band because we were all such a part of this, and it just was so great to work with my band in the studio. And wow, we killed it! I’m so proud of us.
Covered by the best:
Roger McGuinn [frontman for the Byrds] covered my song “All Night Long” from Frampton’s Camel, my second solo album. I’ve been a Byrds fan since they first came out, and I always loved Roger, so it was a thrill. And then he came out on the “Frampton’s Guitar Circus” tour and he said, “we’ve got to do ‘All Night Long’” and he did it better than I did! And of course, from a studio point of view later on, Big Mountain did the reggae version of “Baby, I Love Your Way” and I think it is a phenomenally made pop record. It’s so well-recorded—I knew the people recording it, I knew the people playing on it, so I knew it was going to be good. I think that tops the pile for me as far as covers.
Memoirs of a guitar legend:
Writing Do You Feel Like I Do: A Memoir was almost like going into detail that I didn’t go into during every interview I’ve ever done over the last 50 years. It was painful to go back at times, and the editing process was the most painful. The way I wrote with Alan Light, a great partner in the book, we would put our iPhones on and take two hours, two days a week, and at the end it was all transferred to a huge manuscript. But it’s everything that’s on the tape, so it sounds like I was a rambling idiot [laughs]. So, I spent a long time editing it. I edited during COVID, and I wouldn’t have had the time had we been on tour. I didn’t realize how long it would take. The most enjoyable part—here comes the performing—was in my studio for 10 days reading my own audiobook. I have to say I really enjoyed that because it was the first time I read the whole book not thinking about [making edits] and it was happy and sad and the emotions and the accents that I use for those people that I’ve met along the way and different dialects, I loved all of that.
Making Nashville his home:
The reason I came here was twofold. My then-wife and I were living in Los Angeles in 1994 and we had the horrible huge earthquake. I was out of town that day and was on the radio in New York. They came into the control room with the news saying it’s just been a 7.0 earthquake in L.A. I said, “I think I have to leave.” I got back at midnight and everyone had pulled their cars out of their garages and were sleeping in them—including my wife. She rolled down the window and I said, “Before you say anything, I know. We’re moving.” We moved to Scottsdale for a year and lived on a golf course and it was beautiful, but it was so hot. My publishing company called and asked if I would go to Nashville for a week to do some writing. As I left my house my wife said, “I hope you like Nashville.” After three or four days I was in love. I met so many great musicians, so many writers. I loved the area. I loved the people. It’s such a welcoming town.
Local love:
My favorite restaurant here is Giovanni on 20th. I love Italian food. I love 3rd and Lindsley—it’s always good to go there, and I’ve been to all the different [live music] places around town. Since we stopped touring, I would have had a lot of time to get out and about in Nashville, but of course that’s been curtailed [by COVID]. Whether or not I tour again, I’m still going to have more time to go and see my buddies play. You know, when the all-clear siren sounds.