Peter Frampton’s Limited Edition Frampton@50: In the Studio 1972-1975 All-Analog 180g 3LP Box Set Is Coming Our Way Via Intervention Records on July 28

Peter, we love your way. To wit: iconoclast British guitarist/vocalist Peter Frampton and Intervention Records have collectively announced that his all-analog Frampton@50: In The Studio 1972-1975 180g 3LP box set is being readied for release on July 28. This numbered, limited edition tops out at 2,500 copies.

Frampton@50 comprises three key albums from Frampton’s early solo career on A&M Records, following his departure from Humble Pie — namely, July 1972’s Wind of Change, May 1973’s Frampton’s Camel, and March 1975’s Frampton. These are three of the four solo releases that directly preceded and mainly fueled the setlist for Frampton’s career-defining double-live album, January 1976’s Frampton Comes Alive!

The Frampton@50 box set comes with an authentic reproduction of the Peter Frampton promo poster that was included only in the earliest original LP copies of Frampton’s Camel, along with a Certificate of Authenticity and a message from Peter himself.

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The box set stats are these: The Frampton@50 LPs have been “100 percent analog mastered” by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering from the “best-sounding” (their words) analog tape sources available. These 180g LPs have been pressed at Gotta Groove Records in Cleveland, Ohio.

In the videoclip below, Intervention Records head honcho Shane Buettner and mastering maestro Chris Bellman discuss their all-analog process — “no baking!” Bellman confirms at one point, and Buettner reiterates IR’s “no hot stampers!” policy — and Frampton himself chimes in along the way too. (Toward the end of the clip, Frampton does something I bet we’ve all done at one time or another with our favorite new LPs, right out of the sleeve.)

I’ve personally interviewed Frampton a number of times over the years. and we’ve often discussed how important vinyl is to him, both then and now. “Vinyl is instrumental to my listening habits,” Frampton confirmed with me before adding, “The last thing I played on my vinyl setup at home before I left for the [summer 2019 leg] of my Finale: Farewell Tour was my original mono version of [The Beatles’ seminal June 1967 LP] Sgt. Pepper.”

Frampton also told me the very first LP he bought growing up in the UK was the mono version of The Shadows’ self-titled September 1961 release on Columbia, The Shadows. “Before I got the album, I got all the singles, because in those days, you didn’t put the single on the album,” Frampton recalled. “The album was a separate entity. You had like three hit singles, and then the record company thought, ‘Well, if they had three hit singles, maybe we can do an album with this band.’ That’s the way it worked.”

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Back to the box! The jackets for all three Frampton@50 LPs are “old style” tip-ons by Stoughton Printing, with Wind of Change and Frampton’s Camel both sporting the “brown-in” blanks true to their original UK LP releases. The original LPs for Frampton came with an inner sleeve with lyrics printed on both sides, which Intervention has expanded to comprise the interior panels of its 1LP gatefold. All three LP jackets in this box set are printed on heavy stock, and they’re also film-laminated.

The box set itself comes in a deluxe slip case, with a matte-textured finish and spot Gloss UV highlighting the main image, and it boasts double-pass foil numbering.

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The SRP for the Frampton@50 box set is $159.99, and it can be pre-ordered directly from Intervention Records right here. Additionally, Frampton’s own official webstore has an exclusive allocation of 250 Frampton@50 vinyl box sets that include an autographed version of the aforementioned Frampton's Camel promo poster, with the proceeds benefitting the Peter Frampton Myositis Research Fund. This SRP for this special version of the box set is $259.00, and it can be pre-ordered here.

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PETER FRAMPTON
FRAMPTON@50: IN THE STUDIO 1972-1975
LIMITED EDITION BOX SET

180g 3LP (Intervention Records)

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WIND OF CHANGE (1972)
Side One
1. Fig Tree Bay
2. Wind Of Change
3. Lady Lieright
4. Jumping Jack Flash
5. It’s A Plain Shame
6. Oh For Another Day

Side Two
1. All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)
2. The Lodger
3. Hard
4. Alright

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FRAMPTON’S CAMEL (1973)
Side One
1. I Got My Eyes On You
2. All Night Long
3. Lines On My Face
4. Which Way The Wind Blows
5. I Believe (When I Fall In Love With You It Will Be Forever)

Side Two
1. White Sugar
2. Don’t Fade Away
3. Just The Time Of Year
4. Do You Feel Like We Do

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FRAMPTON (1975)
Side One
1. Day’s Dawning
2. Show Me The Way
3. One More Time
4. The Crying Clown
5. Fanfare

Side Two
1. Nowhere’s Too Far (For My Baby)
2a. Nassau
2b. Baby, I Love Your Way
3. Penny For Your Thoughts
4. (I’ll Give You) Money

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COMMENTS
Tom L's picture

when Winds of Change was released I bought it immediately. I was disappointed at first as it was kind of singer/songwriter oriented, not hard rockin' like the Pie, but it really grew on me. BTW, Frampton's autobiography "Do You Feel Like I Do?" is an excellent read.

Mike Mettler's picture
Do you have a favorite Humble Pie LP, Tom? Hard to beat that 1971 2LP live classic Performance Rockin' the Fillmore, though I'm also partial to the 1969 debut LP As Safe As Yesterday Is, and then I'd cherry-pick certain cuts from the albums in between. UMe released a 9LP Humble Pie collection called The A&M Vinyl Box-Set 1970 - 1975 in Europe circa 2017 -- pressed at GZ Media, and the lacquers were cut at Finyl Tweek -- but I haven't had a chance (or the spare $$$) to check it out yet.

Also agreed on PF's autobio. Bought it in hardback when it came out, and it's a great read. His co-author, Alan Light, did a great job in conveying Peter's natural voice all throughout the book.

Tom L's picture

and I loved it. It had so much energy for a studio recording, and I was already a Marriott fan from his Small Faces days. Having said that, the Fillmore album was one of the best live releases of its time. That's the one I still play. It's too loud for my wife to enjoy, at least the way I set the volume...

Mike Mettler's picture
Agreed! The playback volume for this live set essentially must go way past 11, lest you incur a sentence of 60 days in the hole...

Omnivore put out a great 4CD compilation called Performance: Rockin' The Fillmore: The Complete Recordings back in 2013, though it hasn't gotten a proper vinyl release as of yet, as best I can tell.

And this discussion area, of course, naturally brings up the eternal Q about what the best live rock album is. Certainly The Allman Brothers Band's At Fillmore East has to be up there at, and/or near, the very top -- agreed? What say y'all on that? All suggestions welcome!

Anton D's picture

Answers vary by day, but….sticking to rock/popular…

I consider ‘Waiting for Columbus’ to contain the definitive version of each song it contains.

Be Bop Deluxe’s ‘Live in the Air Age’ is similarly great.

If ‘Stop Making Sense, counts, it’s on the list. If not, then ‘The Name of the Band is Talking Heads’ slides in.

I like ‘Rock of Ages,’ yeah, it rates.

The expanded and less compressed rerelease of ‘Made in Japan’ really tickles my fancy.

It’s too proggy, but Yessongs spent time in the hazy high school party rotation.

Bob Marley’s two live albums are well done.

Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, and The Grateful Dead all have so much enjoyable live material, I don’t keep a ranking of their live recordings.

I haven’t played any live Paul Simon records in a long time, I remember them as being pretty good.

I’m sure I will slap myself on the forehead when people mention theirs!

StonedBeatles1's picture

Allman's at The Fillmore is hands down the #1 best live album ever released. The Pie is up there as well, but now since I'm thinking about live albums, Ellington at Newport, Count Basie at Newport and The J Geils Band's Full House is also up there, however the bootleg/WPLJ radio broadcast from the last night at The Fillmore (Allman's were on that bill as well) is even better. That one needs a ligitamate full show release (songs have been released on various CD's but not the entire show).

Miro's picture

Two of my favorites: Little Feat- Waiting for Columbus, and Wishbone Ash- Live Dates

Mike Mettler's picture
So many great choices here so far! I too am partial to Waiting for Columbus (and I do wish Rhino would put the 2022 deluxe CD box set version of it out on LP) and Live Dates, for starters.

Speaking of Wishbone Ash, I recently spoke with Andy Powell about the 50th anniversary box set that's on the way for Argus. That vinyl-centric piece will be posted sometime in April, close to the box set's mid-month release date. Stay tuned for that.

Stop Making Sense indeed counts, and there's an updated version of it on the way in August, which we'll be covering.

Rock of Ages is indeed great -- as is the expanded 2013 CD-only version, Live At The Academy Of Music 1971 (The Rock Of Ages Concerts), which needs a vinyl-edition equivalent, STAT. I also dig, of course, The Last Waltz and Before the Flood.

Also, while I'm thinking of it, some other live faves of mine include the late-2022 release of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' Live at The Fillmore - 1997 6LP box set, which is simply stunning in its full scope (and I may still cover it here, if I can figure out the 36-hour day), and let's not forget The Who's Live at Leeds, Genesis' Seconds Out, Peter Gabriel's Plays Live, the expanded Hendrix/Band of Gypsys Songs For Groovy Children: The Fillmore East Concerts box set, and Porcupine Tree's Anesthetize.

I'm sure I'll think of some more later on, but these are the live LPs and box sets that came to mind at the moment.

Anton D's picture

If that’s the Hendrix collection that has his cover of ‘Wild Thing,’ best version of that song, ever.

Very dynamic recording, as well!

Mike Mettler's picture
Anton, are you perhaps thinking of the version of "Wild Thing" Jimi did at Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967 where he set his guitar on fire as the denouement? It's available on various versions of Jimi's Live at Monterey release -- and it's truly an amazing version of that classic Troggs song, even outside the literal pyrotechnics...
Anton D's picture

Winterland

Rykodisc in 1987.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VbLIq8DWLjU

Alas, digital.

The album is worth checking out.

Mike Mettler's picture
Oh yes -- that's a great version! Also love Jimi's take on "Sunshine of Your Love" near the beginning of the set. Pretty sure I got this Winterland releases on CD before I got the 2LP version -- and I even have it on MiniDisc too.

And, if memory serves, this 1987 release was also circa the green-hued jewel case era of Rykodisc CDs, and they also dabbled with those 3-inch Mini CDs around that time too. "Day Tipper" was the the one they put out on the Mini CD circa 1988, culled from one of Jimi's late-1967 Top Gear appearances/broadcasts on the BBC -- and all three of those tracks have long since made it to being on an LP, or two...

xtcfan80's picture

To ignore This Box Set....please

Miro's picture

Hi Mike
Thanks for the Argus news. Looking forward to the box set. As far as Live Dates is concerned; not sure who manufacured the 2 LP's in 1973, however after some 50 years and hundreds of plays. the records still sound like new. I have the pink MCA label, Made in England , probably the best quality vinyl I have.
Regards

Mike Mettler's picture
The release date for that Argus 50 mega box set is April 14. If you want to see more details about what's in it, go here. As long as my schedule permits, I'm planning on posting my interview with Andy Powell about it all on April 13, the day before the release.

I have a 1973 rainbow-on-black-background-label MCA pressing of Live Dates that's a bit long in the tooth, so your pink label version (of which I've never seen, personally) likely still sounds better than my of-era copy.

There have also been some Live Dates reissues from Music on Vinyl and Culture Factory in the past decade, plus a 2020 yellow/blue translucent 2LP set via MCA/UMe, but I don't have confirmation of the source material for any of those offhand (though I do own one of them, as yet unplayed).

And, of course, there is a sequel of sorts, the 2LP Live Dates Two, that's worthy of attention if you're an Ash acolyte.

Anton D's picture

Great live collection.

His 'residency' at The Fillmore was killer.

We lived there then and caught 5 of the shows...he was in a great mood each night.

Really miss that guy.

Mike Mettler's picture
Nice to hear you caught some of those Fillmore residency shows, Anton! I was lucky enough to catch TP&THB on their final 40th anniversary tour at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on June 16, 2017 (fifth time overall, and with Joe Walsh opening). It was a last-minute decision as I was going on the road out West for about 10 days with a long, early morning flight on the books to Portland, Oregon the very next day, but I'm glad I saw it. Tom was so genuinely giving and appreciative that night, and The Heartbreakers were also in top form.

I also like the full scope of the 7LP The Live Anthology box set from 2009. The 2LP Pack Up the Plantation - Live! set from 1985 has both its merits and its flaws, for various reasons...

Puffer Belly's picture

...not part of the box? Lack of tapes, ownership problems maybe? It seems to me the obvious question that no one is asking.

Mike Mettler's picture
That's a legit Q indeed, similar to one I had about that March 1974 LP as well. (Someone asked me about this over on FB too.) Though it wasn't addressed per se, my own conclusion is either a) the master tapes couldn't be found or were lost/damaged because of you-know-what (i.e., the vault fire), or b) perhaps parent company/label UMe has their own re-release plans for that album.

If the masters are indeed a-ok and available, the latter makes sense to some degree, since that album has some key PF cuts on it like "Doobie Wah," "I Wanna Go to the Sun," and "Sail Away," among others...

IR Shane's picture

I never intended this as a completist set, hence it's called "In the Studio 1972-1975" and not "The Complete Studio Albums" or something like it. I dd the three albums I thought absolutely essential to track Peter's growth from Humble Pie to Solo Superstardom. If there is enough demand we may very well revisit this decision and do Something's Happening at a later date standalone. I'm sure Peter would be up for it!

All of the experiences I've had with the A&M catalog suggest there are viable tape sources for it, and for this project we had several sets of tapes to evaluate, some from the 1990s era A&M Safety Program and others contemporaneous to the 70s. So no, wasn't a question of tapes not being available.

Mike Mettler's picture
Thanks for the update re Something's Happening, Shane. I for one am all-in for a standalone release of that album.

May I also humbly request y'all also do May 1981's Breaking All the Rules, if you happen to start to consider releasing any of the LPs from the next decade of Peter's work?

IR Shane's picture

Consider them both considered!

Working with Peter and his team is AMAZING! Already talking.

Mike Mettler's picture
January 1986's Premonition also comes to mind -- though I'm sure y'all are talking about that one too. And when it comes to latter-period stuff, August 2003's Now sure would be great to have on vinyl since it's only available on CD and digitally, and I could also go for a refresh of 2010's Thank You Mr. Churchill, which I do have in 2LP form.
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