posted October 10, 2004 09:52 PM
(PF's born 22 April 1950, by the way... Aries? Taurus?)Peter Frampton making new music, becoming politically active
By Lisa Cornwell, Associated Press
CINCINNATI (AP) - The long blond hair and sexy magazine covers that forged British rock star Peter Frampton's image as a teen idol of the 1970s are gone.
That's just fine with the recently naturalized U.S. citizen, who is pouring his passion into writing and performing new music - and becoming a political activist in America's heartland.
The 54-year-old guitarist and singer had the best-selling live album ever - 1976's "Frampton Comes Alive!" - with hits such as "Show Me the Way" and "Do You Feel Like We Do?" He is grateful for his early success, but relieved to be appreciated
more today as a musician than a rock idol.
" 'Frampton Comes Alive!' was so enormous that it almost became a living entity," Frampton said in an interview at his suburban Cincinnati home. "I made a lot of mistakes like posing for a Rolling Stone magazine cover and thinking they really wouldn't use the one photo I let them take of me without a shirt. That cover essentially said, 'Goodbye musician, hello teenybopper star.' It was very frustrating."
The Beckenham, England, native started playing guitar as a child and was lead guitarist and singer in the British pop group The Herd by the age of 16. He formed Humble Pie with singer and guitarist Steve Marriott before moving on to his '70s solo career.
Frampton's career began to slide in the 1980s until an invitation from friend and fellow rocker David Bowie to play lead guitar on his 1987 world tour.
"I owe David a lot," Frampton said. "He reintroduced me to the world as a guitar player, not an image."
He started playing small clubs and amphitheaters after that, and has released several CDs in recent years, including a remastered version of "Frampton Comes Alive!"
Frampton moved to Cincinnati four years ago with his wife, Tina, and their 8-year-old daughter to be closer to his wife's family.
"Family is what's most important," said Frampton, whose family also includes his son and daughter and his wife's daughter from previous marriages. "We have a rule where if I am going to be away for two weeks, I come home in between."
Frampton, who said he was motivated to become an American citizen by the Sept. 11 attacks, also has become active in national politics.
He volunteered to perform at a private fund-raising concert in Cincinnati this summer for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and appeared on stage in Toledo, Ohio, recently with rock musicians Neil Young and Pearl Jam as part of the "Vote For Change" tour.
"I was pretty naive about American politics," he said, laughing about coming out of a grocery to find someone had removed the Kerry sticker from his car. "Now I have one inside my car window so no one can take it."
Frampton is scheduled to leave on Election Day for a tour of the United Kingdom, but said he won't leave until after he votes.
"The last election showed us that every vote counts," he said.
On the Net: http://www.frampton.com