Peter Frampton: I'm In You - 1977


Even more blatantly AOR and totally incongruous in 1977 was this easy-going offering. Once more it sounds so much like the stuff George Harrison was starting to put out around the same time. The bare-chested, long-haired cover image was anathema to much of what was going on in 1977. It was everything punk wanted to eradicate. Or so you might think. There was still a big market for summery AOR rock lite, something that is often overlooked.

It starts in decidedly low-key style with the plaintive, dreamy I'm In You, before the glorious AOR of (Putting My) Heart On The Line attempts to merge Baby I Love Your Way with Show Me The Way, quite attractively, actually. 

The very mid-seventies-ish slow groove of St. Thomas (Don't You Know How I Feel) is the album's best track, and Won't You Be My Friend, You Don't Have To Worry and the excellent Tried To Love are all extremely pleasant AOR numbers that the US market will have swallowed up greedily.

Rocky's Hot Club is a quirky slightly calypso-ish groover that felt like a sad goodbye to previous hedonistic days. Maybe Peter was running out of material and inspiration too, because the album ends with two covers that segue into each other in Jr. Walker & The All-Stars' (I'm A Road Runner) and Stevie Wonder's Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours. However, a now seasoned guitar man like Frampton gives them a powerful rock sheen. I really like both of them, particularly the former. 

As with many albums like this, I find that I like and appreciate a lot more in the 2020s than I would have done in 1977. I was going to give it three stars but the lively appeal of those final two covers earned it another half star. I'm feeling generous to old goldilocks today.


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