Peter Frampton
Where: The Birchmere, 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria
When: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 2
Details: $75; 703-549-7500; birchmere.com (A limited number of tickets may be available through online resellers.)
It might be worthwhile to think of Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter/guitarist extraordinaire Peter Frampton as the anti-idol.
It’s not that Frampton hasn’t received critical and popular kudos for his body of work — which ranges from him co-founding the legendary Humble Pie in 1969 to the 1976 double live album “Frampton Comes Alive,” to his Grammy-winning 2006 album “Fingerprints” — but he doesn’t live the role of sex symbol/musical legend.
“I started [playing music] very early in life … and I got into these bands not because of my singing but because of my playing,” he said. “I didn’t want to sing; I wanted to play guitar.”
But Frampton’s teen idol looks and engaging stage persona invariably caused industry execs to prod him into the front man role, despite his protests. Although he gained a reputation as a respected session player for such notables as The Who’s John Entwistle and George Harrison, “Frampton Comes Alive,” landed him right back in teen idol status.
“When ‘Frampton Comes Alive’ came out in the U.S., they assumed who I was,” Frampton said of industry executives and fans. “They didn’t know any of my history. … They were surprised when they saw me playing guitar.”
The real change in perception didn’t occur until Frampton won the Grammy.
“This is the first thing — the first — that has nothing to do with ‘Frampton Comes Alive,’ whatsoever,” he said. “This award is so important. The album isn’t a huge seller. It is a catalog piece. But it got noticed by the Grammy voters as being something they appreciated, something I was doing … I got a pat on the back for the guitar.”
Not that Frampton completely distances himself from Frampton. He speaks of the industry doors the album opened for him, the fans it continues to bring to his music.
At Frampton’s last local appearances, his finale — a hard-rocking rendition of the hit “Do You Feel Like We Do” — had the all-ages crowds on their feet singing along and cheering as Frampton picked off those famous chords.
“Don’t ask me why, but I am thrilled about this,” Frampton said of the young fans who discovered him through this and other such ‘Alive’ songs in their parents’ and grandparents’ classic rock collections. “The audience runs the gamut, and ‘Comes Alive’ has taken me through four generations. … These concerts are a little trip back for everyone.”
