Peter Frampton Covers Radiohead’s ‘Reckoner,’ Instrumental Covers LP ‘Frampton Forgets the Words’ Out 4/23 (Preview)

On April 23, Peter Frampton will add to his illustrious career with a new album titled Frampton Forgets the Words — a clever title for an album of instrumental covers from The Peter Frampton Band.

The revered guitarist dropped the news on Friday along with a new video for a gorgeous instrumental version of “Reckoning,” originally a song by Radiohead released on the English band’s 2008 album In Rainbows.

(1/2) New Peter Frampton Band album “Frampton Forgets The Words” out April 23rd! This album is a collection of ten of my favorite pieces of music. My guitar is also a voice and I have always enjoyed playing my favorite vocal lines that we all know & love. https://t.co/rIyzyWm4kf pic.twitter.com/16bI6mZeKQ

— Peter Frampton (@peterframpton) January 29, 2021

Here’s the new music video for Frampton’s reinvention:

Fully a showcase of Frampton’s classic guitar chops, the record is a collection of some of Frampton’s personal favorite songs.

“This album is a collection of ten of my favorite pieces of music,” he said in a statement. “My guitar is also a voice and I have always enjoyed playing my favorite vocal lines that we all know and love. These tracks are my great band and me paying tribute to the original creators of this wonderful music. So much fun to do and I really hope you enjoy it too.”

The album was recorded in Nashville and co-produced by Frampton and Chuck Ainlay, and features his trusty 1954 Les Paul Phenix — the guitar famously lost by Frampton in a 1980 plane crash and recovered 30 years later.

Click here to pre-order Frampton Forgets the Words on CD from our Rock Cellar Store
Click here to pre-order Frampton Forgets the Words on LP from our Rock Cellar Store

Other artists covered by the Peter Frampton Band on the album include George Harrison, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Lenny Kravitz, and more.

Here’s the track listing:

1. If You Want Me To Stay (Sly Stone cover)
2. Reckoner (Radiohead cover)
3. Dreamland (Michel Colombier ft. Jaco Pastorius cover)
4. One More Heartache (Marvin Gaye cover)
5. Avalon (Roxy Music cover)
6. Isn’t It A Pity (George Harrison cover)
7. I Don’t Know Why (Stevie Wonder cover)
8. Are You Gonna Go My Way (Lenny Kravitz cover)
9. Loving The Alien (David Bowie cover)
10. Maybe (Alison Krauss cover)

The Peter Frampton Band (Photo: Austin Lord)

This release comes as Frampton continues to deal with the progressive muscle disease IBM (inclusion body myositis). In a 2019 interview with Rock Cellar’s Jeff Slate, Frampton discussed the disease and its effects:

“There will be a point over the next few years where I won’t be able to play, at least at this level. So that’s not a nice thought, obviously, but being that I’ve learnt so much, and hopefully gained wisdom along the way, I’ll find new things to do.”

In a follow-up interview from October 2020, Frampton updated his battle with IBM:

“Well, it’s progressing. That’s all I’ll say, really. It goes through plateaus and progressions, and right now I’m in a progressive stage. I’ve already gone down from nines to eights (gauge strings) on my guitar now, which is what I used to play, anyway.”