Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases.

Peter Frampton Live Premiere: “Georgia on My Mind”

Photo by Amy Harris

The beloved guitarist is performing on his farewell tour in top form, bringing us a blues classic written by his mother’s favorite composer.

In 1966, Peter Frampton began his professional career in England at age 16 when he joined the Herd. Now, more than 50 years later, as he celebrates a hugely successful solo career, not to mention an epic run with Humble Pie, the beloved guitarist is currently on his Farewell Tour, playing music from his latest album, All Blues, which has stayed at No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Albums Chart for 14 weeks.

This live performance video we’re premiering here was recorded at the Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, Georgia, on August 11. “This is the first music we have filmed from my Farewell Tour,” Frampton told us.

The tune featured is a cover of “Georgia on My Mind,” one of the tracks from All Blues. The classic song, made famous by Ray Charles, was written in 1930 by Hoagy Carmichael, who is Frampton’s mother’s favorite songwriter. “I couldn’t believe when I looked up who wrote ‘Georgia,’” Frampton says. “It’s the standard: I’ve heard Ray Charles kill it, I’ve heard Steve Winwood kill it. I would never attempt to sing this song—there’s just too many great versions by so many great singers. Being that I have a desire to play guitar, I decided we would do this as an instrumental.”

Frampton announced in February that this tour would be his last, revealing that he was diagnosed with a degenerative muscular disease called inclusion body myositis, a rare and incurable condition that causes muscles to weaken slowly. Frampton says he does feel the effects of this condition in his body, but thankfully his guitar playing has not been affected yet. As you can see from this live clip, Frampton’s tone and phrasing are just as beautiful as ever.

Frampton’s Farewell Tour ends this month at a sentimental spot near San Francisco, where his career comes full circle. The wildly popular and critically acclaimed Frampton Comes Alive! was recorded at various venues in 1975, including San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom. The double-live album was released in 1976 and went on to become one of the best-selling live albums in history.