While some songwriters might flail away at coming up with their next big hit, Peter Frampton took a circuitous route. Classic rock music fans know that his big album Frampton Comes Alive! features Show Me The Way and Baby, I Love Your Way. Did you know that, in a short period of time, he came up with both songs’ lyrics?

Frampton recalled being creatively stifled while being a member of Humble Pie. He decided to strike out on his own. While taking a break from his own band and recording, Peter Frampton headed down to Nassau in the Bahamas. He said that he took up residence in Humble Pie frontman Steve Marriott’s place for a couple of days.

“I started writing Show Me The Way in Nassau,” the guitarist said in a story in Louder. Ten Years After member Alvin Lee also showed up in the Bahamas for a couple of weeks. Frampton said not much work was done in that time period.

When Lee left, Frampton returned to his pet project. “I picked up my guitar, and within about 20 minutes I came up with the opening chord sequence to Show Me The Way,” he said. “And a verse and a chorus of lyrics.” But the talented guitarist isn’t through.

Peter Frampton Remembers Writing Another Hit Song

“Then that afternoon, as the sun was setting, I sat under a palm tree and wrote Baby, I Love Your Way,” he said. “I’ve been trying to work out which side of the bed I got out on that day ever since!”

Peter Frampton said that he finished writing Show Me The Way when he got back to England. The guitarist added that he came up with the talk box riff while experimenting with it at the same time. He said that he’s glad that he did because, as he puts it, the talk box has a “certain comedic potential.” Frampton added that people go “nuts” when they hear it.

With the massive success of Frampton Comes Alive! came even more attention from the public. “Suddenly I couldn’t go to record shops anymore,” he said. “And even the elevator operators in hotels knew who I was. Be careful what you wish for, because there are parts of fame that are not so desirable.”

All in all, within a span of 20 minutes, Frampton had two songs down on paper. In time, they would be part of a record-selling album. Frampton Comes Alive! was his first double live album. It was released in 1976 by A&M Records. In January 1976, the album debuted on the Billboard 2011 at 191. When April 10, 1976, rolled around, Peter’s album roared into the No. 1 spot on the charts. He amassed 8 million albums sold in the United States in 1976. Rolling Stone readers named it Album of the Year in 1976.