“I’m so pushy,” Peter Frampton says with a laugh, explaining how he came to be on not one, but two tracks on Dolly Parton's Rockstar album.
How did you come to be on Dolly’s record?
My manager got me in touch with Dolly’s producer, Kent Wells. I said: “I’d love to play a guitar solo on the album.” And Kent said: “Really, that’s all you want to do?” I said: “Obviously I’d love to do a duet…” Then he called back and said: “Dolly’s screaming that she wants to do Baby I Love Your Way with you.” I said: “Let me think about it – yes!” [laughs] So my band tracked it, and I sang it all the way through, and I told Kent: “Have Dolly dip me wherever she wants to sing.”
Did hearing her voice on it make you hear the song in a new way?
There was this extra Dolly energy on there – very emotional - and she’s doing these wonderful ad libs, singing around me. I thought: “Holy shit, I better up my ante here!” So I went back in at the end and ad libbed with her. But the energy that she brought to the track, you can’t help but get chills and smile when you hear it.
On the cover of Let It Be, you play the guitar solo.
With Paul, Ringo and Mick Fleetwood playing with me, no less! I told Kent I’m not going to do the George solo, because I’ve got to be me; if I had been in the room with The Beatles in 1969, this is what I would have played. I just closed my eyes and off I went. It’s very in-the-moment. I got a big thumbs-up from Dolly.
And Paul?
Well I know he likes my playing. I’d love to know what he thought of the solo. But the bottom line is, I love it.
When we spoke last year, you were finishing what you thought would be your final dates. I’m happy to see you on tour again.
Thanks. It’s been a welcome surprise that my IBM [inclusion body myositis, a muscle disease] is progressing very slowly. I was very nervous about that last tour in Europe. But after a couple of shows it was kind of evident that everything was good.
Have you adapted your playing?
Yes, it’s not quite the same. I have to sit down to play now, and the band sits down with me. It makes the audience lean in. It’s like they’re watching us in the living room. I literally felt that the whole audience were a big pair of arms that embraced me. It’s very emotional every night, I almost lose it. And sometimes I do when I say goodbye, because you couldn’t wish for better audiences. It would be one thing if I came up there, we did an hour and I could barely get through it. But we do two and a half hours, we’re rocking, and the band is killing it!
