“When his double album Frampton Comes Alive wedged its way permanently into the culture in 1976, nobody was bigger than Peter Frampton. Not the Stones, not Dylan, not disco — nobody,” writes 2paragraphs. The unassailable fact of Frampton’s enormous success — and the inevitable fascination with his subsequent fall — is the reason guitar hero Frampton is sitting down with Dan Rather for The Big Interview on AXS-TV. (Rather just interviewed pop hitmaking legend Steve Miller, and it was, like, abracadabra.) Sure Frampton was schoolboy pals with another guy you may have heard of — David Bowie‘s the name. (David Jones back then.) But that’s just one part of Frampton’s fascinating story. Frampton’s father had been Bowie’s art teacher at the Bromley Technical School in London. Frampton met the slightly older Bowie through Frampton’s teacher dad (he taught Bowie art) — and Bowie later rescued Frampton’s career after some post-glory missteps.
Bowie brought Frampton into his band and onto his stage in the 1980s. The thing Bowie always loved Frampton for was his guitar work, not his superstar act — and he wanted Frampton’s sound for his own music. Frampton has said, “I can never thank him enough for believing in me.” Rather’s The Big Interview with Frampton airs November 21 at 9/8c on AXS TV.
