CARLSBAD, Calif. – December 6, 2018 –
GRAMMY® award-winning guitarist, singer, songwriter, and innovator Peter Frampton
will receive the prestigious Les Paul Innovation Award at the 34th Annual NAMM
Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards (NAMM
TEC Awards), being held Saturday, January 26, 2019, in Anaheim, CA. The award is given
to those individuals who personify the innovative thinking of Les Paul,
the Father of Modern of Music. The Les Paul Foundation partners with
NAMM each year
to honor the individuals that have set the highest standards of
excellence in the creative application of recording technology, which
also celebrates the legacy of the late, great Les Paul.
Frampton
notes, “It is a distinct honor to receive the Les Paul Innovation
Award. I would say that many of my career highlights occurred while
holding an instrument in my hands that
bears Les Paul’s name. I was lucky enough to know him personally, and I
owe him so much. He was a wonderful character as well as a genius! An
incredible guitar player as well as the inventor of so much music
technology. Les changed the way we record forever.
I can only hope that I’ve been able to make a fraction of the positive
impact that Les Paul made in his iconic career.”
Frampton
is one of music’s renaissance men, having begun a career in his early
teens, and still making his mark today in the areas of recording and
touring. A multi-platinum-selling
artist, he recently celebrated the 42nd
anniversary of his fifth solo album,
Frampton Comes Alive!, an album that remains one of the
top-selling live records of all time with over 17 million copies sold
worldwide. In 2007 he won the GRAMMY award for “Best Pop Instrumental
Album” for
Fingerprints and in 2014 was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame.
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| Photo Credit: David Wolff - Patrick/Redferns/Getty Images |
“Peter
Frampton remains one of the most skillful and celebrated artists in
rock history. He also was a friend of Les Paul’s and has played a
pivotal role in helping the Foundation
keep Les’s legacy alive,” shared Michael Braunstein, Executive
Director, The Les Paul Foundation. “Like Les, he is an undeniable master
of his instrument and in many ways ahead of his time. We are honored to
have Peter join the impressive list of Les Paul
Innovation Award recipients.”
Frampton’s
storied career began at 16 as the lead singer and guitarist for the
British band The Herd. By 18, he co-founded one of the first supergroups
– the seminal rock act Humble
Pie. His touring years have included work with a whos-who of the top
names in music, such as David Bowie, Stevie Nicks, Gregg Allman, Ringo
Starr, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Cheap Trick, Steve Miller Band, Bill Wyman's
Rhythm Kings, and many others. Additionally, he
took his eponymous Peter Frampton's Guitar Circus on the road for two
years with special guests B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Vince Gill, Larry
Carlton, Robert Randolph, Don Felder (formerly of The Eagles), Dean
DeLeo (Stone Temple Pilots), Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Sonny
Landreth, Robert Cray, and Roger McGuinn (The Byrds).
His
session work includes collaborations with artists who have made their
mark on the industry including George Harrison, Harry Nilsson, Jerry Lee
Lewis, John Entwistle, Mike McCready,
and Matt Cameron (Pearl Jam), among many others.
Frampton’s
talent has also stretched beyond music and into the realm of television
and film. He was called upon by Oscar-winning writer/director Cameron
Crowe to serve as technical
advisor for the film Almost Famous (2000) and even appeared in the film and composed several songs for the soundtrack. Frampton has appeared as himself in
The Simpsons and Family Guy.
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| Photo Credit: David Wolff - Patrick/Redferns/Getty Images |
Les Paul invented the solid body electric guitar, multi-track recording, overdubbing, echo, reverb and numerous other recording techniques. Without Les Paul, the music industry would not be what it is today. He is often called the “Father of Modern Music,” “The Wizard of Waukesha” and even the “Thomas Edison of Music.” Les founded the Foundation prior to his passing and wanted to inspire young people to invent, create, innovate, and get involved in music while exploring their own creative ideas. Today, The Les Paul Foundation works with organizations throughout the country in support of music education, engineering, and medical research. The Les Paul Innovation Award at NAMM and the Les Paul Spirit Award are two of the most prestigious awards celebrated by the Foundation.
With the honor, Frampton joins Jackson Browne, Joe Perry (Aerosmith), Don Was, Slash, Todd Rundgren,
Pete Townshend, Steve Vai,
and others, who have received the Les Paul Innovation Award since it began in 1991.
Announced early this year,
Leslie Ann Jones, the Grammy-winning groundbreaking
engineer, producer, and Director of Music and Scoring for Skywalker
Sound, will be inducted into the NAMM TEC Hall of Fame that same night.
Jones joins luminaries Rose Mann
Cherney, Skunk Baxter, Hal Blaine, Jack Douglas, Nathan East, Geoff
Emerick, and others with her induction, the industry’s highest honor for
pioneers of audio technology and the music industry’s most accomplished
producers and audio technicians.
