In 1980, a cargo plane carrying guitarist Peter Frampton’s equipment crashed in Venezula, and all the instruments on board were believed to be destroyed. But at the end of last year, Frampton's beloved guitar miraculously resurfaced on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, and it was returned to him in December. The 1954 Gibson Les Paul has been lovingly restored by the Gibson Custom Shop in Nashville; here's video of Frampton getting his baby back:
Frampton's going to bring back the recovered axe at the Beacon Theater on February 18th, when he returns for an encore performance celebrating the 35th anniversary of multi-platinum selling live album "Frampton Comes Alive!" The guitar was given to him in 1970 by a man named Marc Mariana when Frampton was playing at the Filmore West with Humble Pie.Frampton borrowed Mariana's guitar for the show and afterward tried to buy it from him, but says, "To my surprise he said he couldn't sell it to me—he wanted to give it to me! I am still in a state of shock, first off, that the guitar even exists let alone, that it has been returned to me. I know I have my guitar back, but I will never forget the lives that were lost in this crash."
We recommend checking out Frampton at the Beacon; we caught his "Frampton Comes Alive!" show last time he came through town, and while it's true that "Baby I Love Your Way" song is extra cheesy, the man can still shred, and that album is a classic.
Frampton with the guitar when he was first reunited with it, before it was restored. (Gregg Roth)
