Frampton, Peter: Fingerprints

Growing up as a kid in NY, early to mid 1970's AM radio was a staple. Driving in my Mom's Chevy Nova, Frampton was all over the radio. Frampton Comes Alive was HUGE and there was no way of getting away from it, and I loved it. I wanted to play guitar and Frampton was cool, with that 3 pickup Black Gibson Les Paul. So growing up I always had a bit of a soft spot for Frampton, in fact, I even made my Mom take me to see Frampton & Aerosmith in the terrible Sgt Peppers movie. Aerosmith were as cool as shit, though!

So now in 2006, Frampton's long golden locks are now gone, traded for a grey close scalped do, but the guitar chops are still there. Frampton's Fingerprints is his first instrumental release, and he gets a little help from his friends (pardon the pun, even though it was intentional!). Some of those friends include his childhood faves, The Shadows, Bill Wyman & Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones, Warren Haynes of Gov't Mule & the Allman Bros., and Matt Cameron & Mike McCready of Pearl Jam.

Fingerprints is a really solid CD. Frampton gets to show a lot of his influences and passions with a mixture of musical styles from American Blues to Jazz and Rock. A song that was an unusual choice to cover was the Soundgarden classic, "Black Hole Sun". Original Soundgarden drummer (now in Pearl Jam) Matt Cameron and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, guest on this track, as well as the original song "Blowin' Smoke". I didn't expect this from Frampton, but what a great cover! Frampton stays very close to the original and does a great guitar talking Chris Cornell impression. You almost don't even miss the actual vocals! The amazing Warren Haynes guests on the song, "Blooze" where he rips out the slide and trades licks with Frampton.

Fulfilling a childhood dream, Peter Frampton jams with the original Rolling Stones rhythm section, Bill Wyman & Charlie Watts on "Cornerstones" and 2 of the original members of The Shadows on the track "My Cup Of Tea". The real standout track on this CD is the Django Reinhardt-ish, "Souvenirs De Nos Pères" featuring the incomparable guitar virtuoso, John Jorgenson (The Hellecasters & Elton John, Nashville Sessions) . This song is such a departure from what you might expect from a Peter Frampton, which makes it such a great song. Frampton's playing has never been better on this CD.

Peter Frampton is a legend, and at this point in his career he can do what ever he wishes. Deciding to live out a dream and play with some of his childhood heroes and on top of that take a bit of risk and make the collaborations all instrumental took some guts. And it has paid off. Peter Frampton has had a long, great career and just being able to hear him have some fun while going into untested waters for himself is a breath of fresh air. Time to bring out Frampton Comes Alive again and remember my Mom's old Nova.

Track Listing

1. Boot It Up
2. Ida Y Vuelta (Out and Black)
3. Black Hole Sun (feat. Matt Cameron & Mike McCready of Pearl Jam)
4. Float
5. My Cup of Tea (feat. Hank Marvin & Brian Bennett of The Shadows)
6. Shewango
7. Blooze (feat. Warren Haynes of Gov't Mule & the Allman Bros.)
8. Cornerstones (feat. Bill Wyman & Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones)
9. Grab A Chicken (Put It Back)
10. Double Nickels
11. Smoky
12. Blowin' Smoke (feat. Matt & Mike of Pearl Jam)
13. Oh, When...
14. Souvenirs De Nos Peres (feat. John Jorgenson)

Added: December 11th 2006
Reviewer: Butch Jones
Score:
Related Link: Peter Frampton Website
Hits: 2700
Language: english

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