''Somethin's Happening'' is the third studio album by English rock musician Peter Frampton, released in 1974. It reached #125 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 album chart.

Background

Following the release of the 1973 album ''Frampton's Camel'', keyboard player

Mick Gallagher Michael William Gallagher (born 29 October 1945) is an English Hammond organ player best known as a member of Ian Dury and the Blockheads and for his contributions to albums by the Clash. He has also written music for films such as ''Extremes ...

chose to leave the group, and for the next album Peter Frampton played keyboards (except on 'Sail Away' and 'Waterfall' played by

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, most notably ...

) in addition to his more customary guitar duties. Frampton retained British bassist

Rick Wills Richard William Wills (born 5 December 1947) is an English bass guitarist. He is best known for his work with the rock band Foreigner and his associations with the Small Faces, Peter Frampton, Spooky Tooth, David Gilmour, Bad Company and The J ...

, and drummer John Siomos (credited as John Headley-Down) for ''Somethin's Happening'' which was recorded, with Chris Kimsey engineering, at Olympic and Island Studios in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and at Headley Grange in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, a former workhouse which had been previously used by

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

for some of their notable recordings. The

Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black Sabbath, UFO, 10c ...

-designed album cover is notable for its freeze-frame photos of the band having buckets of water thrown in their faces. Sales of ''Somethin's Happening'', like those of its predecessors, were disappointing. However, three of the eight songs from it appeared in energised concert performances from 1975 on the highly successful ''

Frampton Comes Alive! ''Frampton Comes Alive!'' is the first double live album by English rock musician Peter Frampton, released in 1976 by A&M Records. It is one of the best-selling live albums. " Show Me the Way", "Baby, I Love Your Way", and "Do You Feel Like We D ...

'' album.

Track listing

All songs were written by Peter Frampton except where noted ;Side one #"Doobie Wah" – 4:04 (Frampton, John Siomos,

) #"Golden Goose" – 5:30 #"Underhand" – 3:39 #"I Wanna Go to the Sun" – 7:29 ;Side two #"Baby (Somethin's Happening)" – 4:46 #"Waterfall" – 6:00 #"Magic Moon (Da Da Da Da Da!)" – 3:49 #"Sail Away" – 7:32

Personnel

* Peter Frampton – electric guitar, acoustic guitar,

guitar synthesizer A guitar synthesizer is any one of a number of musical instrument systems that allow a guitarist to access synthesizer capabilities. Overview Today's guitar synths are direct descendants of 1970s devices from manufacturers (often in partnersh ...

, piano, organ, drums (track 7), percussion, vocals *

– bass, vocals * John Siomos (credited as John Headley-Down) – drums, percussion ;Additional personnel *

– piano on tracks 6 and 8

Charts

Album

References

{{Authority control Peter Frampton albums 1974 albums Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis A&M Records albums Albums produced by Peter Frampton Albums recorded at Olympic Sound Studios