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L-R: Sneaky Pete Drake, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Peter Frampton, Billy Preston<\/p><\/div>\n
Frampton Forgets the Words<\/i> captures the spirit of the artists to whom you\u2019re paying tribute, but without copying their style. The version of George Harrison\u2019s \u201cIsn\u2019t it a Pity\u201d is my favorite track on the album, but a couple of the selections surprised me. Can you tell me about Michel Colombier\u2019s \u201cDreamland\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s my<\/i> favorite. Years ago, I saw the documentary on Jaco Pastorius. And I had no idea of what happened to him; I just thought of him as the bass player\u2019s bass player. So it drove me into a Jaco thesis. I got every album, every track, every video, you name it. I went down a Jaco rabbit hole, and I came across the track \u201cDreamland.\u201d That was co-written by Colombier, and it was actually on his [self-titled 1979] album. I didn\u2019t know anything about it, just that it was the track that I would play every morning. I didn\u2019t think anything more about it.<\/p>\n And then one day, I called up Rob Arthur, my band leader, keyboard player and dear friend for many years. And I said, \u201cLet\u2019s meet at the studio. When can you make it this week?\u201d \u201cTomorrow? Right.\u201d So we went in, and I said, \u201cI want to learn how to play \u2018Dreamland,\u2019 just for kicks. But we\u2019ll record the two of us playing anyway.\u201d So we played it, and we were all smiles. It was just the most fantastic track to play, and we enjoyed it so much. But I had no idea if I would ever use it.<\/p>\n And then after making All Blues<\/i> (2019), we decided to do an instrumental covers record. And I said, \u201c\u2019Dreamland\u2019! Let\u2019s get it out and put the band on it.\u201d What a tremendous melody! I\u2019m a melody guy; I love great melodies. And that is probably one of the finest.<\/p>\n Speaking of melody, another track on that album that surprised me was your reading of \u201cReckoner,\u201d the Radiohead track from In Rainbows<\/i>. What struck me about that is how you highlighted the melody from that song. It was in there<\/i> in the original, but somehow de-emphasized. You brought it out in a way that the original doesn\u2019t, and that was an inspired way to approach it. Was that something that you were consciously aiming for? <\/b><\/p>\n On each track, I wanted to play [guitar] with the vocal texture. On [the cover of Roxy Music\u2019s] \u201cAvalon,\u201d I think I came the closest.<\/p>\n Your guitar does<\/i> sound like Brian Ferry singing. <\/b><\/p>\n That was my m.o.; I wanted to translate it into guitar, bearing in mind the soul and the talent and the performance of the original so that I did it justice, rather than making a muzak version. Because it could have easily turned into that. I\u2019ve always loved that track. We all loved it as a band, and it was really a band choice, because that album is a Peter Frampton Band record, not a solo one. We needed something a little heavier. And I think we did a pretty good job on that one.<\/p>\n When one looks at your career as a whole, one of the things that emerges is an artist who, unlike many of your peers, seems more than comfortable working as part of a unit \u2013 even as a sideman \u2013 as opposed to someone who always wants the spotlight. <\/b><\/p>\n Yeah. I mean, I\u2019m kind of like Jimmy Page has always been. We think of him with The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin, but he was a really top session guy in London.<\/p>\n He played on sessions for Herman\u2019s Hermits, Donovan, Fran\u00e7oise Hardy, on and on\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n Yeah, he played on so much stuff. I didn\u2019t quite do as much as him, but I\u2019ve always enjoyed doing sessions for other people because everybody works differently. Every artist has different material, and I enjoy bringing my creativity as a guitarist. I\u2019m a guitar player first and foremost. Even if I\u2019ve got a cold, I can still do a good solo. I\u2019ve never minded being the hired gun or the lead guitarist who wasn\u2019t the singer. I did a little bit of singing in Humble Pie with Steve [Marriott], but the main thing for me in Humble Pie was that it enabled me to find myself as a stylist guitar player.<\/p>\n
\nAnd at the other end of the scale is your version of the Lenny Kravitz song \u201cAre You Gonna Go My Way?\u201d For me, the most interesting thing about that song is the second guitar part, with all the riffs.<\/b><\/p>\n