NASHVILLE, Tennessee- The Les Paul Foundation partnered with Gibson Gives to award Peter Frampton last week with the annual Les Paul Spirit Award. Bob Weir, Nile Rodgers, and U2’s The Edge are previous recipients of this award. Frampton continues to write and perform despite being diagnosed with inclusion body myositis in 2019.
Les Paul was a trailblazer with recording technology, sound effects, and the solid body guitar. He championed music trailblazers, paving the way for rock and roll, metal, punk, country, pop, and all forms of modern music. The Les Paul Foundation inspires innovative and creative thinking by sharing Paul’s legacy through the support of music education, recording, innovation, exhibits about Paul, and medical research related to hearing.
Gibson Gives Executive Director Erica Krusen stated, “Peter Frampton personifies the spirit of excellence through his musicianship and industry recognition. Gibson Gives is proud to partner with the Les Paul Foundation to present the prestigious Les Paul Spirit Award to this legendary artist who embodies the innovative spirit of Les Paul himself and his landmark contributions to music.”
Michael Bronstein, executive director of the Les Paul Foundation, stated, “Les Paul was an original shredder, and he brought the guitar from the back of the stage to front and center. He influenced the next generation of great guitarists, including Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Peter Frampton.
While accepting the award Frampton shared, “I remember the very first time my father played me some music of Les Paul and Mary Ford. I just wondered how the hell is he doing all those guitars at the same time, you know because it was multi-track recording.”
Frampton was nine years old when he first learned about sound-on-sound recording. After hearing Paul, he already had a reel-to-reel recorder and realized that if he got another tape machine, he could play the rhythm part on one machine and play it back, then add the lead guitar over here or the voice or whatever.
Frampton explained, “So I told Les that I had commandeered the family bathroom for an echo chamber. I took the extension speaker my father had from the radio in the living room, which was in the kitchen. I took that off the wall and I put that up in the bathroom. And I sent my guitar sound through the speaker and then I had a microphone on the windowsill, and I had my first live chamber.”
The physical Les Paul Spirit Award for Frampton is made from actual hand-carved acoustic boards built by Paul that he used in his home studio. Paul designed and created this now historical memorabilia while he was still alive.
The rocker stated, “It’s an amazing honor, and I can’t thank Gibson and obviously Les Paul Foundation more than this. Thank you so much. This is wonderful.”
The evening was concluded when Frampton played a spellbinding instrumental version of “Georgia On My Mind,” followed by his hits “Show Me the Way,” “Baby, I Love Your Way,” and a fourteen-minute jam session of “Do You Feel Like We Do.”
Frampton was joined by his music director, Rob Arthur, on keyboards and rhythm guitar and bass player, Alison Prestwood.
Frampton will be officially inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on October 19.
Follow Frampton here. Follow the Les Paul Foundation here. Follow Gibson Guitar here.
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Bethany Bowman is a freelance entertainment writer. You can follow her blog, Instagram, and X.
