Rock 'n' roll never forgets, Pt. 10 -- Peter Frampton

There was a time when there was nobody on the planet hotter than Peter Frampton.

There was also a time when there was nobody on the planet colder than Peter Frampton.

Frampton isn't one of those one-hit wonders who fades into rock 'n' roll obscurity after crashing the Top 10 for a short time.

He is arguably one of the most underrated guitar players of his time and well respected by his fellow musicians, even though he has had some pretty deep dips personally and professionally.

He was a child prodigy of former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman; a member of The Herd, a very popular English group, when he was 16; he was a member of the hard-rocking, blues-based, gritty outfit called Humble Pie in the late '60s. He was still in his teens.

So, before he turned 20, he had done a lot of recording and touring and had built up enough of a reputation that he was asked to play on George Harrison's debut solo album, "All Things Must Pass," along with Dave Mason and Eric Clapton -- pretty heady stuff for a 20-year-old.

Frampton found a new muse and decided it was time to move on to pursue a solo career. He recorded "Wind of Change," "Frampton's Camel," and "Somethin's Happening." He toured tirelessly. His commercial success was minimal.

He had, however, the blessing of the rock 'n' roll press.

In the Art District with Ivan Guaderrama

San Jose del Cabo is a place of inspiration.

Hemingway and Steinbeck walked these streets decades ago when it was little more than a fishing village.

Today, a whole new generation of artists has settled here, soaking in the beauty and tranquility of this little colonial village on the edge of the Sea of Cortes.

I made it a priority to meet one of those artists, a gentle, warm young man named Ivan Guaderrama.

Even before we moved here I was taken aback by his art.

It began when we flew down to look for a place to live. We wandered the Art District of San Jose del Cabo one day, taking in the beauty created by the assemblage of world-class artists who have opened galleries here.

There's one place that has my wife's favorite piece -- a woman reaching out to a classical guitar, done in soft Earth tones.

But, the gallery that we absolutely fell in love with was Ivan's.

Dora decides to explore some other place

We dodged another bullet.

Hurricane Dora, which sounded like it was about to unleash a torrent on the tip of The Baja last week, dissipated, leaving us with nothing more than big surf for a couple of days and a pile of humidity.

We knew, coming down here, that we would be in the hurricane zone. But, there is no place on the globe where you can escape natural disasters. Either its hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, drought or whatever else Mother Nature decides to dish your way.

But, it was interesting as we got our closest look yet at hurricane effects.

We saw a lot of thick clouds, some very heavy surf with 10- to 12-foot breakers crashing the beach near the shoreline.

Saving the sea turtles and finding our purpose

We all search for our purpose, for that one thing we were put on this Earth to do.


It's different for all of us, of course, but deep inside we all have a passion that sustains our hopes, our dreams, our souls.


We found ours at Land's End on the tip of Baja California.


During our first trip here, my wife and I sat on a beach and watched the whales play gently offshore.


We were humbled as we were reminded of the power of the sea and the graceful beauty of those that live beneath its surface. It's why we spend so much time by the water, where we have also seen dolphins, manta rays, sharks, sea lions, and lots of different birds. Soon we will have an encounter with baby sea turtles.

Rock 'n' roll never forgets, Pt. 9 -- Rod Stewart

If you work in the media long enough, you're sure to make a few enemies.

As a columnist for The Spectrum & Daily News in St. George, Utah, I had plenty of detractors. They would revile me regularly in letters to the editor, leave nasty messages on my voice mail, send vicious e-mails and even make threats against my well being. I was warned that they would run me out of town and worse.

The first time I was threatened? Rod Stewart, who didn't particularly like a review I had given one of his concerts.

It was a particularly bad show. Stewart was in, for him at the time, a particularly drunken state, gave a sloppy performance and had spent most of the night on the stage at The Forum in Los Angeles posing. He was touring behind a string of two hugely successful albums -- "A Night on the Town" and "Foot Loose & Fancy Free." He was as hot as you can get in the music business and was fodder for the tabloids and gossip columnists with his on-again-off-again romance with Britt Ekland.

I had been a longtime fan, particularly of his early work with Jeff Beck, Faces and his first few solo albums. He had a way of re-inventing solid, old R&B songs -- particularly his remakes of Sam Cooke's catalog -- and put on an energetic, fun show. The Faces lineup that backed him was outstanding.