Garage Sale Vinyl: Peter Frampton
I’m In You / A&M / June 1977
by Christopher Long
Following his departure from Humble Pie in 1971, singer-songwriter and renowned guitarist Peter Frampton embarked on what was likely expected to be a fast trek to a successful solo career. Um, not so fast. To say that his first three studio solo albums underperformed would be an understatement. In fact, Wind of Change (1972), Frampton’s Camel (1973), and Somethin’s Happening (1974) all failed to escape from the ass end of the Billboard Top 200 album chart. But, as they say, persistence pays off. And in 1975, the album Frampton bolted (nearly) into the Top 30 and ultimately achieved “gold” status. Whew, finally! Then came the tsunami.
Shortly after its January 1976 release, his fifth album, the irresistible double record Frampton Comes Alive! surprisingly had raced into the Billboard Top Ten, and Peter Frampton was well on his way to becoming THE rock success story of the year. Truth be told, if you didn’t own a copy of Comes Alive! in late ‘76, you carried about as much rock cred as the kid sitting alone in the school cafeteria, sporting a “Muskrat Love” lunchbox.
By the spring of ‘77, Peter Frampton had become a bona fide “golden god” — rock’s latest and greatest poster boy — having racked up ten weeks at #1 on the album chart, firing off three massive Top 40 hits, selling out concert halls worldwide, gracing seemingly every magazine cover on the planet, AND moving nearly ten million records in the process. And the time was now right for his follow-up. Or, was it?
In 1975, Frampton would probably have given his right nut to sell (just) a million copies of an album that (only) went to #2. And that’s precisely what happened with I’m In You, the 1977 studio follow-up to Comes Alive! Compared to Frampton’s first four studio sets, the stats achieved by I’m In You would have made the suits at A&M Records as giddy as a gaggle of schoolgirls at a Tay-Tay meet-and-greet. Unfortunately for I’m In You, its predecessor had sold millions and millions (and millions) of copies. Hence, to many onlookers, the Top Ten, (single) platinum-selling I’m In You was perceived as sorta disappointing. Which is tragic, ‘cuz it’s actually a really good record and deserved a warmer reception. Why didn’t the elevator go all the way up to the penthouse suite? Well…
As a longtime professional rock and roll armchair quarterback, I recognize that the album itself was impressive. A solid, creative, forward progression, it owned well-crafted, primarily rock-oriented songs, and the production was world-class. Frampton’s (also) now-famous band members, keyboardist Bob Mayo, bassist Stanley Sheldon, and drummer John Siomos, all were back for the attack. Even legendary artists, including Stevie Wonder and Mick Jagger, made guest appearances. So, the problem wasn’t that the record sucked, it was just mismanaged.
At that moment, Frampton had become a bankable “cash cow,” and the push was on to get I’m In You into stores and onto the airwaves, PDQ. But it didn’t take a music marketing major to recognize that the record was gonna drop at least six months too soon. Even I knew that, and I was only 14. What could his team have possibly been thinking? Hint: \(\)$$. Heck, Comes Alive! was still riding fairly high on the charts, and with his heartthrob image pasted everywhere, it was just a case of too much Frampton, too fast, too soon.
From the get-go, Frampton had an acknowledged rep for penning and producing a bounty of (much-loved) mellower-sounding fare. “Wind of Change,” anybody? However, he was still regarded widely as a guitar-driven rock artist. So, although the title track became his most successful single to date, it can be argued that leading off with such a saccharine-soaked ballad was a full-blown blunder. Had the second single, the crisp and crunchy, upbeat remake of the classic Stevie Wonder hit, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” actually been released first, and the title track second, I’d wager a bet that the album’s initial “wimp factor” would have been diminished significantly.
Arguably, “strike three” was the album’s cover. Sure, Frampton’s poster boy looks always had the girlies swooning worldwide. But he also possessed a pure rock and roll soul, which was compromised greatly by his lacy, silk and satin-draped image on the front cover. Just ask Billy Squier how crazed, carnivorous consumers react when “golden gods” trade in their comfy “rock and roll shoes” for more awkward-fitting “fruity boots.”
Like I said, I’m In You was a really good record. Its “strikes” were not the record’s fault. In short, I’m In You was merely mishandled. The title track was not as dreadful as Frank Zappa once asserted so famously. The talkbox-injected “(Putting My) Heart on the Line” and the Jagger-glossed “Tried to Love” were both sunny-sounding standouts, while “(I’m A) Road Runner” was a fiery, signature-style Frampton rocker. However, my personal picks of the litter remain the swaggering, eight-minute opus “Won’t You Be My Friend” and the heartache ballad “You Don’t Have To Worry.”
I’ve owned many copies of I’m In You over the years, in various configurations: LP, 8-track, and CD. I scored my latest vinyl copy for FREE, not too long ago, from my Florida nail tech who gifted me a couple of crates’ worth of her now-unwanted old LPs. “Are you still doing that vinyl thing?’” she asked. “You betcha,” I fired back. “I’m ABSOLUTELY still doing that vinyl ‘thing!’” BTW, one of the crates also included a pristine copy of Humble Pie Rockin’ the Fillmore!
4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I’m In You Track List
*All songs written by Peter Frampton except where noted.
SIDE ONE
1. I’m In You – 4:10
2. (Putting My) Heart on the Line – 3:42
3. St. Thomas (Don’t You Know How I Feel) – 4:15
4. Won’t You Be My Friend – 8:10
SIDE TWO
1. You Don’t Have to Worry – 5:16
2. Tried to Love – 4:27
3. Rocky’s Hot Club – 3:25
4. (I’m A) Road Runner – 3:40 (B. Holland, L. Dozier, E, Holland)
5. Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours) – 3:54 (L. Garrett, L.M. Hardaway, S. Wonder, S. Wright)
