Peter Frampton – Great Guitarist And A Class Act!
The first time I met Peter Frampton was when he agreed to play a morning show we were holding at the Key Club on Sunset Boulevard in promotion of his new album, ‘Millennium Collection – 20th Century Masters,’ highlighting 20 years of hits. At nine o’clock in the morning Frampton rocked the house to a capacity crowd of 500 listeners.
In 2003 he headlined our annual Christmas Variety Show (listen) at the Wiltern. Once again he delivered a great performance that included an acoustic version of ‘O Holy Night’ that had the audience in the house and those listening on the radio in awe of his guitar skills.
Flash forward seven years when the Mark and Brian Christmas Show rose from the ashes at the Nokia Theater at L.A. Live. These shows usually featured two headliners along with The Mark and Brian All-Star Band. Led by musical director and accomplished musician Marc Bonilla, the band featured great rock stars backed by such notable studio musicians that included Lee Sklar and Greg Bisonnete.
The 2010 All-Star Band featured Peter Frampton, Steve Lukather, Jason Bonham, Paul Rodgers, Michael Anthony, John Waite and Joe Perry. As musical director Marc figured who played with who on certain songs with everyone jamming at the end of the set. This was not an easy job and this show proved even more challenging as there was a drama unfolding behind the scenes which almost forced Peter to pull out of the show.
One of the other musicians saw this gig as an opportunity to perform with another to see if maybe they might work together in the future and did not want to be on stage at the same time with Frampton. Peter was annoyed by this unexpected negative attitude in what was meant to be a fun holiday show but held firm to the commitment he had made and decided he would perform his set then leave.
Peter hit the stage performing (listen) with Michael Anthony, Jason Bonham, Steve Lukather and Marc Bonilla. He closed the set with an unbelievable version of ‘My Guitar Gently Weeps’ that featured Steve Lukather and Peter giving us one of best dual guitar solos I have ever witnessed!
During the last week of the Mark & Brian Show in 2012 I made sure Peter called in to say goodbye to the boys. Before he called in Mark asked me to find out if he could bring up what happened at the 2010 Christmas Show. Peter’s response to me was, “That’s history, I only look forward, and besides I want to spend the time talking about the great times I’ve had with Mark & Brian.” He proved once again that he was a class act!