PETER FRAMPTON Shares The Story Of His '64 Epiphone Texan, The Acoustic Guitar Behind Some Of His Biggest Hits; Video
November 7, 2024, a week ago
In the video below from Gibson TV’s The Collection, Peter Frampton shares the story behind his beloved 1964 Epiphone FT-79 Texan - an acoustic guitar that played a vital role throughout his legendary career and definitely a guitar you’ve heard before. This acoustic guitar, which even survived flood damage, is the guitar you can hear on many of Frampton’s greatest hits, including "Show Me The Way" and "Baby, I Love Your Way", and helped Frampton write some of the biggest hits in rock n’ roll history (some in the same day).
Watch as Frampton tells Mark Agnesi about how he took this guitar to the Bahamas, where he wrote both "Show Me The Way" and "Baby, I Love Your Way" - two iconic songs in one day - one inside a cottage and the other under a palm tree on the beach. He explains how the Texan’s dreadnought shape and maple back helped define his acoustic sound and the sound he gravitates toward. In fact, this acoustic guitar is on every Humble Pie album he contributed to and a guitar that also features on the seminal Frampton Comes Alive.
This Epiphone Texan is not just an acoustic guitar - it’s a piece of rock history, having accompanied Frampton through some of his most creative moments and a guitar that thankfully survived a flood, with just a bit of damage that left its mark on the headstock.
A Gibson player, (check out the Phenix video, also below) Frampton also tells Mark why he started playing Epiphone guitars and how Epiphones in the UK during his early days as a musician were more accessible at the time. Listen as he talks about how Epiphones, like his Texan, were more affordable and widely available than Gibsons, making them the go-to choice for many British musicians of the era like Paul McCartney and John Lennon of The Beatles as well as more artists. Epiphone guitars helped shape the sound of rock music during the British Invasion, and Frampton’s Epiphone Texan became a cornerstone of his own sound.
If you want to know which acoustic guitar Peter Frampton plays and hear more about the guitar that helped him write some of the most iconic acoustic songs in rock history (that you definitely have in your collection) this interview with Frampton is not to be missed. It’s a guitar you’ve heard before, we can almost guarantee it!