Peter Frampton Finale—The Farewell Tour Continues
Guitar phenom Peter Frampton has just begun the second leg of his Peter Frampton Finale—The Farewell Tour with a show at Interlochen, Michigan, July 23. After the first 14 shows of the tour beginning June 18 in Tulsa, the tour took a ten-day break and now have 36 more shows on this lengthy run that ends October 12 in San Francisco. Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening opens the tour each night.
The 69-year-old English rocker has been making music since he was 12. He revealed that the reason for this farewell tour was the discovery that he has inclusion-body myositis (IBM), one of the most common disabling inflammatory myopathies among patients older than age 50. IBM causes progressive weakness of the muscles of the wrists and fingers, the muscles of the front of the thigh, and the muscles that lift the front of the foot. Clearly, that is a career-ending disease in Frampton’s case. A portion of his ticket sales will go to research.
The only time I saw Frampton was in March of 1971, on a triple bill at the Philadelphia Spectrum. Mountain (Leslie West and company) were the headliners. Second on the bill were Black Sabbath on the Iron Man tour, and opening were Humble Pie with 21-year-old lead guitarist Frampton. He was superb, as best my ears can recall (it was a mite loud).
Humble Pie Performance: Rockin’ the Fillmore was a remarkable album, recorded during the closing of the Fillmore East in 1970. Frampton’s early work can be heard on an amazing 24-minute “I Walk On Gilded Splinters” (side 2 of the double-album), side 3’s “Rolling Stone,” and the definitive rock version of “I Don’t Need No Doctor.” By the time the killer live album came out later in 1971, Frampton had left the band.
At some point late in 1972 or early in 1973, I was reading a Rolling Stone review of Frampton’s first solo album (and my favorite), Wind of Change, when the author said it was nestled on his record shelves between Kim Fowley’s Good Clean Fun and The Very Best of Connie Francis. I ran to my shelves to find the same three albums side by side! In particular, Frampton’s version of “Jumping Jack Flash” is killer, and “All I Want to Be (Is By Your Side)” is one of the most gorgeous songs he’s ever written.
Several years late, I was the owner of a small record store in Tampa called School Kids Records. Our claim to fame (which eventually ran the business into the ground) was selling $4.98 list albums for $2.99 and $5.98 albums for $3.99. Double albums were usually more, although not double those prices. My A&R contact (artists and repertoire) at A&M Records was a man named Artie, who always had hot tips. He called one day in 1976 with this story (as best I can remember it):
“Peter Frampton’s got a new double live album coming out. It’s going to list at $5.98, not $6.98 or $8.98. And I’m telling you, this is going to be the best-selling album ever.”
I had confidence in his intuitions and ordered accordingly. He was right. The Frampton Comes Alive phenomenon was like none we had ever seen before. It remained a best-seller for a long, long time, deservedly so. Although Jeff Beck had pioneered the talk box, it was Frampton who made it an international sensation.
This is your last chance. Act accordingly.
Peter Frampton Finale—The Farewell Tour
07/25 DTE Energy Music Theatre | Clarkson MI
07/26 MountainFest Motorcycle Rally | Morgantown WV
07/28 Huntington Bank Pavilion | Chicago IL
07/29 McGrath Amphitheatre | Cedar Rapids IA
07/31 Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre | Morrison CO
08/02 Grand Casino Hinckley | Hinckley MN
08/04 Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre St. Louis | Maryland Heights MO
08/05 Starlight Theatre | Kansas City MO
08/08 Blossom Music Center | Cuyahoga Falls OH
08/11 Ameris Bank Amphitheatre | Alpharetta GA
08/16 Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea | Barcelona ESP
08/29 Ascend Amphitheater | Nashville TN
08/30 PNC Music Pavilion | Charlotte NC
09/01 Saratoga Performing Arts Center | Saratoga Springs NY
09/02 Mohegan Sun | Uncasville CT
09/04 Daily’s Place | Jacksonville FL
09/06 Coral Sky Amphitheatre | West Palm Beach FL
09/07 MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre | Tampa FL
09/10 CCNB Amphitheatre at Heritage Park | Simpsonville SC
09/11 The Anthem | Washington DC
09/13 Madison Square Garden | New York NY
09/14 Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek | Raleigh NC
09/20 American Airlines Center | Dallas TX
09/21 The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion | The Woodlands TX
09/22 The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory | Irving TX
09/24 Sandia Resort & Casino | Albuquerque NM
09/26 Comerica Theatre | Phoenix AZ
09/28 Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa | Las Vegas NV
09/29 Pechanga Resort Casino Careers | Temecula CA
10/02 Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre | San Diego CA
10/03 Vina Robles Amphitheatre | Paso Robles CA
10/05 The Forum | Inglewood CA
10/06 Black Oak Casino Resort | Tuolumne CA
10/09 Paramount Theatre | Seattle WA
10/10 Cowlitz Ballroom | Ridgefield WA
10/12 Concord Pavilion | Concord CA
PETER FRAMPTON
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