“I was behind the times already and out of sync”: Peter Frampton reflects on I’m In You – and it’s somewhat risqué cover
“I was just very disappointed that I couldn’t have the time to spend another couple of years writing.”
Image: Ross Marino / Icon and Image via Getty
Not only did Peter Frampton not feel happy with the material he recorded for his 1977 album, I’m In You, but he also was not fond of that outfit he wore on the cover – one he describes as “the Little Lord Fauntleroy” outfit.
At the time of its release, the musical landscape was changing and bands such as the Sex Pistols were rising to popularity, thus making Frampton’s get-up feel “behind the times”.
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Pretty much every artist out there has a handful of things they perhaps would have done differently over the course of their careers if they could go back in time, and Frampton is one of them, it seems.
The guitarist has previously discussed the worries he felt when deciding to leave Humble Pie to go solo, a risk which, of course, did pay off given the success of his live album, 1976’s Frampton Comes Alive! The record that followed the year after, however, was a different story.
Frampton recalls feeling discomfort when making I’m In You, and did not want it to be put out: “I’m kind of writing it in the studio. I’m drinking, it’s drugs, it’s all these distractions, and it was demoralising,” he remembers in an appearance on The Bob Lefsetz Podcast (via Ultimate Classic Rock).
He later recalls handing it over to his label, much to his own reluctance, and stating: “‘I don’t want this out, but I know you guys are going to put it out.’” He continues: “I was just very disappointed that I couldn’t have the time to spend another couple of years writing.”
Going on to reflect on the infamous cover, he adds, “I should have been in jeans and a T-shirt on the cover with a leather jacket or something, but I was still in the Lord Fauntleroy outfit with the satin pants, the white nurse’s shoes and some god awful woman’s top.”
Apparently the cover was supposed to catch the eye of more pop listeners and female fans. “[The outfit would have] looked fine the year before, but now, Sex Pistols are happening,” he explains. “Things have changed drastically overnight. And I’m behind the times already and out of sync.”
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