cover image Do You Feel Like I Do?: A Memoir

Do You Feel Like I Do?: A Memoir

Peter Frampton, with Alan Light. Hachette, $28 (304p) ISBN 978-0-316-42531-5

Frampton ascended to rock-god heaven on the propulsive riffs of his 1976 album Frampton Comes Alive! —and almost as quickly, his career plummeted. In this rambling memoir, Frampton chronicles his lifelong passion for music, but also delves into his depression and alcoholism, bouts of ill health, and recovery from a near-fatal car crash. Frampton was playing the guitar at eight years old; six years later, his band the Preachers opened for the Rolling Stones. In 1968, he and Steve Marriott formed the blues-rock band Humble Pie, but Frampton departed a few years later to “be in charge of his own destiny” and released four solo albums between 1972 and 1976. He confesses that the sudden popularity of Frampton Comes Alive! left him afraid of never living up to its success, which “had a lot to do with my starting to drink too much and do drugs and whatever.” Touring and partying tales are packed with cameos from “Dave” Bowie, “Mick and Keith,” and Stevie Wonder. In the end, Frampton finds optimism in sobriety and songwriting: “when you least expect it, you get a new idea.” There’s a perhaps surprising tuneless feel to the work, which comes across more as a meandering monologue than a fully formed narrative. Frampton’s fans, though, will likely hang on his every word. [em]Agent: Steve Troha, Folio Literary Management. (Oct.) [/em]