Peter Frampton will have that feeling of “just been there” when he lands in Tucson next week.
In August, he and his band were part of the co-headlining tour with 1970s rockers Cheap Trick, which played a show at the AVA at Casino del Sol.
But he’s leaving the band behind for this trip, a show on Wednesday, March 9, at Fox Tucson Theatre that will open his dozen-or-so city spring acoustic tour. The outing comes days after he releases his album “Acoustic Classics,” which features stripped down versions of “Show Me the Way,” “Sail Away,” “Do You Feel Like I Do” and one new song, “All Down to Me.”
We caught up with Frampton, 65, during a phone call from his home in Nashville, Tennessee, to talk about the acoustic show, the new album and the recent death of his lifelong friend David Bowie.
It’s taken you a long time to leave the band and go naked on a record.
“Yes it has, and I think that’s probably a bit of fear there that’s coupled with I like to do a mixed bag on my albums. I’m not usually all one type of thing. But this was time. I had seen other artists do acoustic versions. I enjoy doing acoustics; let’s give it a go. … I did half the acoustic record before October, and then we went on the road doing the shows in the Northeast, and I loved it. The trepidation level was pretty high going out there on stage with no Marshall or no Les Paul. But from the second I walked on the stage and being that they are smaller and much more intimate audiences and really nice, old theaters, it’s a comfy environment. I love it. So now we’re going to do it twice a year, I think, until I cover the country.”
You usually write on guitar, so it probably wasn’t too hard to strip down these songs.
“Exactly, yes. I would say 90 percent of everything I’ve ever written. The other 10 percent is piano or electric. I’m writing more on electric now, but the bulk of my stuff is written on acoustic. And some of them are from 40 years ago. So when I went into the studio, I thought, ‘Wow, I’ll just whip these off. I’ll do “All I Want to Be,” “Show Me the Way” and “Baby, I Love Your Way.” The first day, I’ll just whip those off.’ I went in and did them, and then came in to the control room and thought, ‘Hmm, why do I miss the band?’ It just wasn’t the correct performance because the songs have morphed in 40 years into being played with the band, electrically or acoustically. So my MO was that I wanted it to be as if you came over, we had some coffee, and I said, ‘Hey, look, I wrote this song last night. Can I try it out on you?’ And I sit down, pick up the guitar, and I play you ‘Lines on My Face’ or one of those songs that’s on the album, and it would be a completely different performance. … There would be a special vibe. That’s what I was looking for, that one-on-one, both on the album and when we play live.”
How does this all play out in the “Raw” show?
“My son, Julian, opens for me with his writing partner; they do half an hour. Then I go out and do six, seven songs on my own. Then Gordon Kennedy, my writing partner … comes out. I’m able to play some lead at that point because he can play rhythm. That’s as big as it gets. We have it set up like an old-fashioned living room. … I set every song up with a story of how it was written, why this guitar, where I was and what it means to me. It’s a different side to me than anyone’s seen before.”
The album includes one new single. Tell me about that.
“Doing half the album, then going on the road, then realizing that the audiences and I both loved the raw — just the acoustic — was such a relief. I did OK; they liked it. I think it gave me so much inspiration that I came home and wrote quite a few, but that was the one that I felt was most different from me. … It’s something new that inspired me to write that. It’s a personal song about life in general.”
Do you mention your friend David Bowie during your shows?
“I’m sure there will be something. It’s a very hard period for me right now. I’ve known him all my life, so he was a family friend. My parents knew him. My father taught him art in the formative years. The world lost an iconic individualist who taught everybody a lot about what do with a career. But he’s David; he could do that. We’ve all lost this great character and wonderful talent, completely unique. But for me, it’s still hard to even talk about it.”
