A&M 3703
Producer: Peter Frampton
Track listing: Something’s Happening / Doobie Wah / Show Me the Way / It’s a Plain Shame / All I Want to Be (Is by Your Side) / Wind of Change / Baby, I Love Your Way / I Wanna Go to the Sun / Penny for Your Thoughts / (I’ll Give You) Money / Shine On / Jumping Jack Flash / Lines on My Face / Do You Feel Like We Do
April 10, 1976
10 weeks (nonconsecutive)
As a member of early-’70s British hard-rock group Humble Pie, Peter Frampton experienced his greatest success with Performance — Rockin’ the Fillmore, a two-record set that captured the band’s raucous live set in May 1971. Later that year, as the album peaked at number 21, Frampton left the group to pursue a solo project.
Frampton’s first three solo albums failed to crack the top 100, leading even Frampton to conclude that he may have miscalculated in leaving Humble Pie. Yet things began to change with 1975’s Frampton, which reached number 32. Frampton had a growing legion of fans and was on his way to becoming a premier concert attraction. A live album was a natural.
Half of Frampton Comes Alive! was recorded at Winterland in San Francisco. “The event was far more important than the recording of it, because it was our first time headlining,” says Frampton. “I was far more nervous about having to play for an hour-and-a-half instead of 45 minutes, which was what we were used to doing.” Yet Frampton was pumped up at the prospect of headlining. “It was a realization of all those years touring, including the Humble Pie years. I was able to go out, even without a huge hit record, and play to nearly 8,000 people. It was a combination of excitement, nervousness, and relief all in the same breath.”
Initially, Frampton Comes Alive! was slated to be a single disc. Frampton had sold more than 350,000, more than his first three albums combined, yet the singer/guitarist wasn’t feeling too secure about his future with A&M Records. “I didn’t want to push my luck with A&M, because I thought maybe this might be my last record,” he says. “So we only mixed enough for a single record.”
The early version didn’t include the anthemic rocker “Show Me the Way” or the ballad “Baby, Love Your Way,” two standout tracks, as the band was still mastering the new material on those early tour dates.
With the recording complete, Jerry Moss — the “M” in A&M Records — flew to New York for the mixing sessions. “After the end of the second side,” recalls Frampton, “he stood up and said, ‘Where the hell is the rest? We can’t have a live album without “Wind of Change” and “Show Me the Way.”‘ So he gave the go ahead to record half a dozen more songs.”
“Show Me the Way” was recorded at the Island Music Center in Commack, Long Island, and “Baby, I Love Your Way” was culled from a show at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. The former song became Frampton’s first hit single, reaching number 6, while the later peaked at 12. “Do You Feel Like We Do,” the third single, reached number 10.
On “Show Me the Way” and “Do You Feel Like We Do,” Frampton utilized a talkbox, a guitar effect that mimics vocals. He was introduced to the device by Pete Drake during Frampton’s days as an uncredited session player on George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass.
Frampton Comes Alive! reached the top spot in its 11th week on the chart and went on to become one of the most popular live albums of all time, selling more than six million copies.
THE TOP FIVE
Week of April 10, 1976
1. Frampton Comes Alive!, Peter Frampton
2. Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975, Eagles
3. Thoroughbred, Carole King
4. Desire, Bob Dylan
5. Run with the Pack, Bad Company