Customer Reviews

Frampton's Camel

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Yow! It's finally been released. This has always been on my personal list of all-time favorite albums. Before his managers turned him into a pretty boy, and "Comes Alive"--and yes, I believe the image colors our perception of that album--there was a fine down-to-earth songwriter and crack guitar player who knew how to rock. I was SO disappointed w/the "Comes Alive" version of "Lines on my Face." Frampton's Camel has the definitive one--a beautiful song he wrote about the breakup of his marriage. This album really gives one a taste of Frampton's fine guitar work (as do his Humble Pie recordings)--straight ahead rock without the excess of "Comes Alive."

Remastered Version of This CD available at regular price at Peter Frampton's website. I just got mine about a week ago!

While Pete's great debut, Wind of Change was a balanced mix of rock and mellow tunes; Camel finds his songwriting and melodies to be mostly quiet, personal and introspective. Of course Pete still shows his licks rocking out with tunes like White Sugar and Do You Feel...; but the listener can really hear his emotions pour out on Lines On My Face and Just The Time Of Year.

I've never found Frampton's abilities as a lyricist to be all that profound. He does at times seem to put incongruent phrases together more to insure they rhyme than to really convey emotion or thought. Camel's strength as a whole however is the combination of his best effort with his lyrics and songwriting combined with fantstic, memorable riffs and melodies. And of course, without saying, beautifully skilled guitar work. Many of these songs can truly hook the listeners emotions and bring a tear to an eye or two.

So many rock fans out there are only familiar with the post-FCA artist (save for the below reviewers). This is truly a shame since Peter Frampton's best music was his first 3 studio efforts.

It's been 27 years since its original release on vinyl, but Frampton's Camel, Peter's best album, is finally out on CD. Granted, I was an impressionable 17 year old when this album first came out, but it blew me away. And this was 3 albums before Framptom Comes Alive changed him from an unknown into a star! Since I haven't owned a turntable for almost 2 decades, it's been that long since hearing it. The good news is, it's still the definitive Frampton. Even the original version of Do You Feel Like I Do puts the more famous live version to shame. Peter's talent and career has taken nothing but hard knocks since the live album. But his early albums, this one in particular, showcased a great singer, guitarist, songwriter, and the perfect band to make it all complete. As proof, the live album was more or less a collection of the best of his earlier albums. It was obscure then, and even more so now, but this is surely one of the great rockers!

Many Frampton fans prefer his studio versions of his songs to the frenzy that accompanied the 'Comes Alive' versions. It may depend on your familiarity with the songs, but real fans will probably want both. Those only familiar with the live tracks shouldn't be disappointed with these (often superior) versions.

The album title is taken from the name of Frampton's backing band at the time which included keyboardist Mickey Gallagher (Cochise), bassist Rick Wills (Bell & Arc), and drummer Mike Kellie (Spooky Tooth). Initially, this 1973 album sold disappointingly, but Frampton began to build a following through near-constant touring over the next few years. He broke up Frampton's Camel prior to the release of his next album, 1974's Something's Happening.

This is why Peter Frampton still has the respect of anyone who can pick up a guitar. Listen to this and you can hear history. Way before he was the teen idol, he was just a excellent player.

I became a fan of Peter's when I was thumbing through my older cousin's collection at 12 years of age and discovered "Wind of Change". A life altering moment for me as I was now a huge fan well before "Comes Alive" was released. I rode my bike to the record store every day looking for his next release and Frampton's Camel was it. Wow. Every song was great from the hard rockin "White Sugar" to the heart pouring "Just the Time of Year". The recorded versions of "Lines on my Face" and "Do You Feel Like We Do" are timeless and in some ways better than the live versions. This album was a big hit with all my friends so when Peter became a superstar we just thought, "it's about time!". Looking back it's hard to believe that Peter could write and play like this at such a young age, every song here would have been worthy of the "Comes Alive" treatment. He was a definite superstar talent at this point and his supporting cast is very musical and tight. A must for all fans of great rock music, period.

Named after Frampton's touring band at the time, Frampton's Camel has a harder-rocking feel than its predecessor Wind of Change, with Mick Gallagher's percussive electric piano and organ taking a prominent position in the mix and Frampton getting a harder sound from his electric guitars (though his acoustic playing is so lush and lyrical that it dominates the album here and there in its quiet way). The sound on this recording lays out the formula that Frampton would take to mega-success three years later with the release of Frampton Comes Alive. The songs are all first-rate or close to it - included here is the original studio version of the group composition "Do You Feel Like We Do," a quicker-tempo, extended (albeit less majestic) version of which appeared on the latter album and became a staple of classic-rock radio, but the Frampton-composed "I Got My Eyes on You" and "Don't Fade Away" and the Frampton-Gallagher "All Night Long" are also compelling examples of '70s hard rock at its commercial best. This album also includes a nice cover of Stevie Wonder's "I Believe (When I Fall in Love With You It Will Be Forever)," the power ballad "Lines on My Face," the rollicking "White Sugar," and Frampton's gorgeously lyrical, all acoustic "Just the Time of the Year." As on Wind of Change, Frampton's use of dynamics and mix of acoustic and electric guitars keeps the music from becoming one-dimensional. The October 2000 CD reissue, remastered in state-of-the-art sound, adds an even more expansive feel to this album and enhances its melodic richness. - Jim Newsom & Bruce Eder, AMG

This is definitely Peter Frampton's best work. Every song on this album is a winner and sounds as fresh today as they did when this album first came out in 1973!

Excitement in the air for Frampton fans now that this Album is finally availabe on CD. A fantastic cover of the Stevie Wonder song "I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)" that has been covered by the likes of George Michael, Art Garfunkle,Mike & The Mechanics, and can be found on Stevie's own "Talking Book". This version by Framptons Camel is the difinitive Rock & Roll version of this song. Not to mention the original studio versions of "Lines On My Face" and the tour de force "Do You Feel Like We Do". A must have for any Frampton collection.