Frampton Comes Alive … Again!

December 26, 2001 -- For rock fans old enough to remember the '70s, few images are more indelibly stamped onto the brain than that of a golden-haired Peter Frampton grinning out from the cover of Frampton Comes Alive!

Since its release back in 1976, the album has sold 18 million copies, making it far and away the biggest selling live recording of all time. In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of its release, a deluxe reissue of the double-disc set will be available in early January, replete with expanded liner notes, bonus tracks, and remastered sound.

"It was freaky to be able to go back 25 years and listen to, not just something I recorded back then, but the biggest thing I ever recorded," says Frampton, who oversaw production of the project. "Just listening to the vocal, if I wanted to, or just the bass drum, was really exciting. And, of course, it was great to be able to improve on some of the sounds with technology that we didn't have back then. It really made the hair on the back of my neck stand up."

Although he characterizes the project as a "time-consuming labor of love," Frampton also points out that remastering the original tapes posed its own set of challenges. Specifically, back in the mid-'70s, tape manufacturers began experimenting with synthetic oils in the making of audio tapes, not realizing that such changes yielded recordings that were prone to deterioration.

"The tape they used tends to fall apart anywhere from five to 15 years later, if you weren't careful," says Frampton. "So that's what we had to deal with [when we started remastering]. There must have been about 20 tapes, and we had to bake each one in an oven, literally, for about four hours before we worked with it. I was on the road at the time, so [mixer] Chuck Ainley would send me these CD-Rs made from each tape, after he had baked it. I'd be like, 'Yep, this is the right take,' or whatever."

Though it's sometimes maligned as a phenomenon that tipped rock music away from an art form and toward a commerce-driven industry, Frampton Comes Alive! ranks alongside the Allman Brothers' Live at Fillmore East and The Who's Live at Leeds as one of the genre's most exciting concert recordings. Indeed, Frampton himself has often pointed out that his best performances nearly always occur in a live setting.

"Songs like 'Show Me the Way' and 'Baby, I Love Your Way' sort of leap out at you live," he says. "The way they were recorded in the studio was more introspective. I think that stems from the fact that I'm … not less sure of myself in the studio, but just more under the microscope. Performing live is more like living on the edge. It's more dangerous, and I tend to thrive in situations like that."