Peter Frampton bonus Q&A: 'David Bowie reinvigorated my career incredibly'

A: (laughs uproariously)

Q: What do you think when you look at the cover photos of you on "Frampton Comes Alive" and "I'm in You?"

A: Well, I think I have nothing to say about the "Comes Alive" cover, apart from the fact I thought it was perfect for the time and a very exciting, blurred photo. As for "I'm in You," I had — and have — a total disregard for it. I hate that cover and should have been wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt, without my hair done up.

I should have been so much more natural, but that was (a reflection of) the time. When that album came out, unfortunately, punk and the Sex Pistols had started up, so I was out of date (in just a year). The way I was dressed for the "I'm in You" cover, I thought that's what I had to do. Then, we had the ceremonial burning of the satin pants!

Q: You are on the ballot this year for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, for the first time, even though you've been eligible for induction since 1997.

A: People say: "You must have been upset since you've been eligible for so many years." And I say: "I never expected anything. I always worked for what I got, and this is something I can't control." I think the public was more upset than I was that I hadn't even been nominated until now. I've never thought about that. Do I personally feel I deserve it? Yeah, I guess so. But if I don't, as my mother used to say to us: "What is to be will surely come true."

Q: We last spoke in 2014. It was shortly after you had done a concert near Indianapolis, during which you grabbed the cellphone of an obnoxious fan who would not stop filming you despite requests to stop. You tossed his phone into some unoccupied seats behind the stage and the audience cheered. Have things improved or gotten worse in the past 10 years?

A: Most people turn the lights off on their phones now when they film you at your concerts, because they don't need the light on. So, that's sort of an improvement. We had a situation on this tour where someone was sitting in front of me, like, 6 to 8 feet away from the front of the stage. They were talking to the person next to them and never looked at me once during the first three songs, which lasted a good 12 minutes.

I lost it with him, and said: "If you want to talk, buddy, why don't you move? You're distracting me and the audience." In the end, the guy left. And the fact was that he was on his own and was chatting up the married women next to him!

Q: Music journalist Cameron Crowe wrote the liner notes for your "Frampton Comes Alive" album. He went on to direct and write the screenplay for his 2000 film, "Almost Famous," in which you are credited as an "expert music consultant." What exactly did that job entail?

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