don-n-abq's blog

I can see the sunset in your eyes

Brown and gray, and blue besides

Clouds are stalking islands in the sun

Wish I could buy one, - out of season

But don't – hesitate, 'cause your love won't wait, hey

Okay, did you ever buy an LP, cassette, or even 8-track, just love it, and then lose it, but, years later you buy the CD and fall in love with it all over again?

I was twelve years old in the spring of 1976, I was in the seventh grade at Taft Junior High (here in ABQ, in the North Valley), and that spring, a lot, mainly some of the older kids at school, were talking about an album that had come out earlier that year. Of course it was also getting some airplay. Liking what I heard on the radio, I made the trip to the record store to pick up a copy of the cassette.

Frampton Comes Alive! would propel Peter Frampton to superstardom and even the lead in the movie musical Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (which came out two summers later). For twenty years Frampton Comes Alive! was the biggest selling live album of all time. Some live albums are not that great. Okay, a lot of live albums aren't that great. With an engineer or two, or more, tweaking the dials in the studio, a lot of artist end up sounding better, or at least different when you hear them in concert. And, to capture that on a live album, is even that much harder. This was even more so before digital recording technology. But, this is one artist that was better live. He had, or has, that great mix of the girls wanting to sleep with him, and the guys wanting to be him. Or at least play like him and then sleep with the girls. He would play a love song one minute and then tear off on a rockin' guitar solo the next. And, when he hit the voice box, it was different and cool, and well all of the girls with an oral fixation really enjoyed it.

I really loved the cassette, but of course, it got lost or put away along the way. So, not to long ago I decided to pick up a copy of the CD. Boy am I glad that I did. I got to fall in love with it all over again. Of course it didn't hurt that the album took me back to a time when I was young, and although I had lost some of my innocence (not my choice and not pretty), I was still filled with the eternal hope of youth.

Of course for those who remember, this album was filled with pot. The songs were written with some, recorded with some, and listened to with some by just a few fans. Now, I haven't had any for a LONG time. It is illegal you know. But, this is one album that makes me want to take a drag or three. Was it just my childhood in 1978? This is one album that year that more than just a few fans lit up to. And, I am sure a few lost the virginity to. Anybody want to fess up? I mean who names a song: "Doobie Wah"?

Are you a Classic Rock fan? If you haven't taken the opportunity to listen to this album, or you had it years ago but lost it, treat yourself and pick up a copy. Put it on, crank it up, and get buzzed or fall in love (or both), maybe all over again.

And yes Peter, we 'do feel like you do'!

Currently listening: Frampton Comes Alive! (Review: Bruce Eder @ Allmusic) By: Peter Frampton Release date: 1976 CD Release: July 28, 1998 Music mood: That (My) 70's Show

Labels: Music