Rather than hijack the Fleetwood Mac thread, my question:
Frampton had had some pretty modest success prior to his live album, so how did the live album become such an explosive hit?
Yeah, right, because lots of people bought it, but if there’s any other insight about that, what was it?
It’s one of the most vibrant live albums of all time; that may be it in a nutshell.
My understanding is that the same cuts on the studio albums are quite meh and pleased only his (then) smallish fan base. Compiling the live album lit up the tunes - I’m humming killer descending guitar riffs as I type, here.
The novelty of the talk box. Notice that everything he’s done before and since have sold for shit.
Maybe.
I heard a wry on-stage quip from him 10-15 years later: “You want to see me put this thing in my mouth, don’t you?” (Audience goes bazonkers.)
Novelty of the talk box.
One of the best live albums I’ve ever owned.
A lot of girls had a crush on him, myself included.
No idea. It’s not that good. Pretty bland.
Every generation there seems to be one album that sells loads that leaves you wondering how now, see also Hootie & the Blowfish.
Extremely high production values for a live album, at it’s time. Most live recordings heretofore were Too loud ambient crowd noise ridden, very poor recording quality, never really approaching capturing the feel of the live event. This recording really stood out for addressing those issues, I believe.
Marijuana has a lot to answer for.
Because of the version of “Do You Feel like We Do” that it contains.
Frampton’s first couple of albums were such bombs that I remember seeing a rack of copies at the Wherehouse priced at one penny.
LIKE Fleetwood Mac, Peter Frampton was both talented and lucky, in that he was (briefly) able to sell his albums to two large but completely different groups of customers.
Peter Frampton was a solid, respected veteran rock guitarist before 1976. He had played with Humble Pie, among other bands, so he was able to get heavy airplay on rock radio stations.
But he was ALSO a young cute guy, which means he could be sold heavily to the teenybopper Tiger Beat crowd.
He put out a very good live album that was appealing both to Zeppelin fans and to Shaun Cassidy fans.
So, why did he disappear so quickly? His followup album,*** I’m In You ***, sold decently, but it was a much more pop-oriented album than he’d done before, one that was clearly aimed (as his airbrushed cover photo proves) at the teenyboppers. The saccharine title track turned off the rock fans who’d liked him.
Then Frampton made a terrible movie, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was also aimed at the teenyboppers. I think that movie turned off rock fans who’d liked him for good. And even teenyboppers found the movie confusing and boring.
And as teenyboppers grew older, they lost interest in him (just as they outgrew Donny Osmond). That left Frampton without a natural base of fans.
The voice box sure had a lot to do with it.
In 1976 disco was still very much part of the scene. For those of us who hated disco, and were looking for the kind of album rock we were used to, this was the ticket.
The alternatives were ABBA and Captain & Tennille.
Also, I think the album cover had something to do with it. Great shot and instantly memorable.
Plus 2 or 3 fantastic songs, and the “he can make his guitar talk” thing.
It’s like Cheap Trick’s Live at Budokan - the live versions were better. And yes it was well recorded, and yes he had crossover/teeny-bopper appeal.
But the truth is that the double album sleeve was great for sorting the stems and seeds out of your stash 
My older sister thought he was HOT (if that was the term 10 year old-ish girls used in the 1976-1977 timeframe).
LOL. Thanks man.
I’d agree that he hasn’t had anywhere close to the commercial success since 1975
errr…8x platinum is hard to follow-up…for anyone… but you’re wrong about his pre-“Frampton Comes Alive” success.
Frampton was already quite successful as a member of The Herd, founding member of Humble Pie, and frequent contributor for many other artists. He was also well known for his guitar abilities long before his solo career and incorporation of the talk box.
Also, while his 4 previous studio albums were only moderately successful, they weren’t complete bombs either.
As to the OP, the talk box was what caught peoples’ attention but there were some other important factors that made the whole album popular.
Oh and he’s a great guitar player, with or without the talk box.
I found “Cracked Rear View” a few years after the fact for 25 cents at Goodwill. IMNSHO, it was one of those albums where the songs on the radio were good and the rest was just meh.
Thing is, it was selling to people who don’t normally buy rock music. Here’s an example that I read about quite a few times in the mid 1990s. A mall record store opens up, and there’s an elderly couple standing there, having walked the mall early in the day, and the wife usually has a fanny pack on. They say, “We just came back from visiting our grandchildren, and they like this colored singer named Hootie. Do you have any records by him? We liked his music too.”
Store clerk: “Colored?” 
The couple says, “Oh, sorry, nowadays they’re called black or African American.”
The clerk also had to explain that they didn’t have LPs (that wouldn’t be the case now!) but they did have CDs and cassettes.
Well, having been at the Winterland gig, I can say it WAS a great show. The Bay Area had always had a soft spot for him, and that night it all came together.
As others have noted, Frampton is a really talented and charismatic performer, and he’s worked hard throughout his career. He hit a bad patch when FCA! became cliche, I’m In You bombed, and he was nearly killed in a car accident.
Still, he kept working as a session and sideman…and a lot of his fans stuck with him. The Frampton Comes Alive! 35th Anniversary was very successful, and if you’re a fan at all, you should check out the DVD. He still has the all that talent and charisma, but, as he readily admits with a smile, a lot less hair.
It was priced pretty good. $7.98 for a double album when a single album was $6.98. You felt like you were good value. Especially when his previous records hadn’t sold that well. Many people didn’t have him in their collections.