Peter Frazier is one fine entertainer. He plays drums with bands, and in his current incarnation plays superior 12 string guitar and sings excellent classic rock. Pete is at RumRunners on the noon shift, where he does a karoake thing with Big Boy some days and a single others. He's there most of the time. Why? Because he's excellent at what he does.
Pete began his set with Neil Young's "Heart Of Gold" which he does well. His 12 string doesn't leave you missing the original arrangement at all. He's a good enough player to make you hear it in his one instrument.
I was delighted along with the rest of the crowd with his next selection, Ringo Starr's classic tune "Octopus's Garden", recorded by the Beatles. Frazier's rhythm is perfection.
It's karoake day. Jane, from Holiday, Florida sings "Unchained Melody" She's a talented amateur. Her buddies do the wave in support, which causes Pete to claim, "We're not worthy"! This man knows how to work a crowd. They love it.
Now Pete sets us on fire with "Good Love", which has everybody happy. He does this one just the way you want to hear it. The man can really rock. Maybe that's why he was with Molly Hatchet? Pete announces a song by Neil Diamond that the Monkees recorded, "I'm a Believer". I love it. This one sets `the young and the strange' crowd (probably MTV wannabes) dancing, I think. If it's not dancing, they are fighting off airplanes the rest of us can't see.
How often do you hear an artist do a piano song on a 12 string guitar? Pete sings Billy Joel's wonderful "Piano Man", and it has all the arrangement in it. That's talent. It also shows off Pete's remarkable range.
His between song ad libs are hilarious. Captain Blues comes in and sings "After the Loving" which sets off another wave, this time complete with cigarette lighters. Captain Blues continues with "Celebrate". Everybody sings along and the Captain dances across the stage. Pete sings back-up.
The MTV crowd dances out, leaving us boomers. Pete surprises us witha little known Englebert Humperdinck song, "Another Time, Another Place", which is tres romantic.
Just when I hink Peter Frazier cannot surprise me, he does Charlie Daniels' "Devil Went Down To Georgia" and plays Buddy Spicher's great fiddle licks chordally on his guitar, leaving me with only one word, wow!
How does he follow this? With John Lennon's "Imagine". There's not a style of music Peter Frazier can't do wonderfully. His voice is fine, his musicianship phenomenal.
On a personal note I can tell you that God couldn't have given all that talent to a sweeter, better man. If you can call Pete Frazier friend, you are lucky indeed. I can and am. Stay cool.