By Ben Crandell / Sun Sentinel
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Peter Frampton can see the end of his career as a performing musician. He can feel it, as a degenerative muscle disease called inclusion body myositis gradually tightens its grip on the gifted rock guitarist.
But if there’s a cure for the disorder, however temporary, he’s been feeling it in the “love and encouragement” of audiences on his current farewell tour.
As he began to feel the effects of IBM, Frampton responded with a frenzy of touring and music-making, including his new Peter Frampton Band album “All Blues,” a two-disc release that has been a fixture atop the Billboard blues chart since its June debut.
“I’m the last person on the planet that wants me to stop playing — live, recording, in my living room, whatever — but, unfortunately, one day it’s going to happen,” Frampton says. “I have a ticking clock, and I better get on with it.”
By phone from his home in Nashville, the infectiously upbeat Frampton, 69, responded to questions about the tour, a conversation often interrupted by his laughter.
Q: How do you feel physically? How is your playing now?
A: Good! My legs are not doing well, but I work out five days a week, even on the road. And that’s the only thing that really helps. I’m doing really good. I’m prolonging activity for as long as I can.
At the end of this tour, we’re going to have a powwow and see where I’m at. I’ll see the doctors. But I’ll know myself, what it’s time to do. Whether it’s time to stop or whether it’s time to do the occasional show or whatever. I have to be realistic.
Q: The ticking clock, is that energizing for you, or …
A: Yes! “Better get yourself in gear here, buddy.” (Laughs.) We did 71 shows last year, most of them with the Steve Miller Band, and when I came off the road, the decision was made in the latter quarter of last year that we should make this my final tour.
So then I said to my band on the way home, we should take a week off and then go into my studio and make a blues album. And we didn’t stop there. We made two blues albums. There’s another one in the can. And then we made an instrumental album. And then we started on my next solo record. (Laughs.) So we’ve got four albums virtually all finished. We plan after this tour to go finish those off, and then maybe it’s time for the Christmas album. (Laughs. Laughs some more.) I’m going to keep working. I’m going to keep my band busy.
Q: You recorded the blues album, “All Blues,” and are touring as the Peter Frampton Band. How is that arrangement different from being a solo act?
A: They have been so supportive of me over the years and know what I’m going through. We’re all going through it together. (The band includes guitarist-keyboardist Rob Arthur, guitarist Adam Lester, bass player Steve Mackey and drummer Dan Wojciechowski.) That’s why on the blues album, the artist is the Peter Frampton Band and probably the instrumental album, too.
There’s a camaraderie there that’s so deep. Because of the situation, this tour has been phenomenal in its depth of creativity and camaraderie, with the whole band and, of course, the audience. There’s a reaction, a feeling, in the crowd every night on this tour that I’ve never felt before.
Q: Can you describe that feeling? What do you see?
A: People are so full of love and encouragement for me, that I’ve said at the end of the show, “You guys are going to heal me.” You know, they won’t let us go, at the end. It’s hard to explain. But whether it’s 5,000, 10,000 people out there, I feel these hands reaching out to hold me up. That’s a great feeling. I’m eternally grateful.
Q: Given that you may not be performing much longer, is there a song that feels particularly good to do? A song that you’ll miss playing?
A: Oh, “Lines On My Face.” Definitely. It’s such an engaging track. I’ve been playing it since 1972, when it was recorded, you know? (Laughs.) It’s always been the song that sets the tone for the evening. It’s just about always been the third song that we do, and it kind of pulls everybody in and off we go, for the rest of the night.
Q: Do you ever get tired of playing “Do You Feel Like We Do?”
A: I don’t, because it’s a great number to play, still, and I live vicariously through the crowd. Because it’s their song, as much as it is mine. Because I am asking them the question, after all. And they want to play their part, like on the record, but it’s much greater now because they sing half the words with me. I get off on the audience on that, as much as I do the playing. And I still love playing the song. I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t. But I’d be lynched if I didn’t do it. (Laughs.)
Q: Where does your relentless optimism come from? How can I get some of that?
A: (More laughter.) I don’t know. I have my ups and downs like everybody else. We all have our battles, whether they be small or large. … I’ve always been insecure, that I’m not good enough, so then when I get knocked down, I brush myself off. I guess it all comes from my genes, really. My parents, they never gave up on anything. Not that we were a pushy family at all. My parents were school teachers.
I’ve always found that I’m better off after I’ve been knocked down, in some ways. … I started off with success, success, success ever since I was like 14 years old and then I come around in my late 20s, early 30s, and everything grinds to a halt. That was the first time that I realized that I’ve got to pay my dues again. But I’m better off for it. And I realize that.
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