01	Good Winds			Inga Rumpf			10:11
	02	How the Gypsy was Born			Jean-Jacques Kravetz / Inga Rumpf			08:53
	03	Take Care of Illusion			Jean-Jacques Kravetz / Inga Rumpf			07:38
	04	Duty			Jean-Jacques Kravetz / Inga Rumpf			12:14

Frumpy - "Frumpy 2" (1971) The band was really focusing at the most progressive sides of their music with their second album, consisting of four long tracks and wrapped up in a weird plastic-bag sleeve! They had also added a new member and instrument to the band with guitarist Rainer Baumann. His guitar playing is quite creative, using both slide and wha-wha pedals. All the four compositions on the album are of a high quality and all of them features awesome duels between Kravetz and Baumann. Just listen to the jam-parts on "Duty" and you'll hear. This track has also got some Mellotron-drenched vocal-parts. "Take Care of Illusion" is a very dramatic track with the usual Hammond-orgies from Kravetz. "How the Gypsy Was Born" starts almost in a blues-tempo, but halfway into the track it turns into something that reminds me slightly of "Mirage"-styled Camel. And yet MORE fantastic Hammond! And the opening track "Good Winds" features melodic vocal-parts relieved by long and delightful solos on the (surprise, surprise!) Hammond-organ. Classic stuff.



Frumpy 2
Date of Release 1971

AMG REVIEW: Inga Rumpf's Frumpy was among the most startling bands on the entire German rock scene of the early '70s, an act so diametrically opposed to the Krautrock boom beloved by critics elsewhere that first impressions of their music always leave listeners scratching their heads. If Frumpy has any role models, it is a collision between Meddle-era Pink Floyd and a less-precocious Uriah Heep. Frumpy 2, unsurprisingly their second album, features just four tracks, but all are soaring slabs of emotive guitar and keyboards, deeply progressive of course, but unquestionably pop as well. Even at a shade over ten minutes, "How the Gypsy Was Born" sounds like a hit single, while the churning Hammond organ brings Deep Purple to mind in full on "Black Night"/"Woman From Tokyo" mode. Rumpf herself, meanwhile, has a range and depth comparable to Curved Air's Sonja Kristina, with an emotive strength which seems all the more remarkable when you remember that English is not her native language. The shifting, complex "Take Care of Illusion" brings the best out of her in every way imaginable, while the lengthy instrumental break during the closing "Duty" allows her bandmates to shine with equal aplomb. The guitar and keyboard solos and duels which take place above the tumultuous rhythms are as spectacular as anything else in the genre. But even while you're sitting slack-jawed in awe, it is very difficult to play favorites. Frumpy, like Rumpf's Atlantis after them, has antecedents aplenty, and their influences peep out behind every corner. But the manner in which they've been sewn together owes little to any Anglo-American role models and little to any Krautrock basics, too. Quite simply, Frumpy 2 is the prog album you'll be returning to long after the others have all dulled into wallpaper. - Dave Thompson


Rainer Baumann - Guitar, Guitar (Steel)
Carsten Bohn Bandstand - Bass, Percussion
Inga Rumpf - Guitar, Vocals
Jean Jacques Kravetz - Keyboards
Karl Heinz Schott - Bass

1971 LP Vertigo 6305098
1993 CD Repertoire REP 4339
2002 CD Repertoire 4339




Date of Release 1971 (release)

AMG EXPERT REVIEW: Inga Rumpf's Frumpy were among the most startling bands on the entire German rock scene of the early 1970s, an act so diametrically opposed to the "Kraut Rock" boom beloved by critics elsewhere that first impressions of their music always leaves listeners scratching their heads.

If Frumpy have any role models, it is a collision between Meddle-era Pink Floyd and a less precocious Uriah Heep: Frumpy 2, unsurprisingly their second album, features just four tracks but all are soaring slabs of emotive guitar and keyboards, deeply progressive of course, but unquestionably pop as well. Even at a shade over 10 minutes, "How The Gypsy Was Born" sounds like a hit single - while the churning Hammond organ brings Deep Purple to mind, in full on "Black Night"/"Woman From Tokyo" mode.

Rumpf herself, meanwhile, has a range and depth comparable to Curved Air's Sonja Kristina, with an emotive strength which seems all the more remarkable when you remember that English is not her native language. The shifting, complex "Take Care Of Illusion" brings the best out of her in every way imaginable, while the lengthy instrumental break during the closing "Duty" allows her bandmates to shine with equal aplomb. The guitar and keyboard solos and duels which take place above the tumultous rhythms are as spectacular as anything else in the genre.

But even while you're sitting slack-jawed in awe, it is very difficult to play favorites. Frumpy, like Rumpf's Atlantis after them, have antecedents aplenty, and their influences peep out behind every corner. But the manner in which they've been sewn together owes little to any Anglo-American role models, and little to any Kraut Rock basics either. Quite simply, Frumpy 2 is the prog album you'll be returning to, long after the others have all dulled into wallpaper. - Dave Thompson


FRUMPY
Personnel:
CARSTEN BOHN d
JEAN-JAQUES KRAVETZ kb
KARL-HEINZ SCHOTT b
INGA RUMPF v
ERWIN KAMA kb C
RAINER BAUMANN g B, C
THOMAS KRETSCHMER g D
ALBUMS (up to '76):
(A)"All Will Be Changed" (Phillips 6305 067) 1970
(B)"2" (Phillips 6305 098) 1971
(C)"By The Way" (Vertigo 6360 604) 1972
(D)"Live" (2 LP) (Phillips 6623 022) 1974
NB: 1 was re-released on CD by Repertoire (RR 4146-WZ) in 1991 including 2 bonus tracks.

2 was re-released on CD by Repertoire (REP 4339-WP) in 1993.

Frumpy were one of the few progressive bands to receive considerable commercial success in their own lifetime. The band was formed on the initiative of Carsten Bohn in November 1969. They had all departed from the Irish-German folk band City Preachers which had existed since 1965 and also included the later famous Slapp Happy vocalist Dagmar Krause. Frumpy performed their first concerts in France in March 1970. In August they recorded their first album in Hamburg (though some parts were recorded in Holland with the producer Rainer Goltermann. All Will Be Changed (1970) was a fine example of vintage German progressive rock. Kravetz' very long solo passages of spacey organ excursions and Bohn's inventive percussion work-outs was both impressive and innovative. Albums recorded without guitars were quite rare in this musical field! lnga Rumpf's forceful voice also made the shorter blues and soul influenced rock songs a delight. These songs were comparable to Traffic or Spooky Tooth. There were five tracks in all, if one discounts the solo sections of "Rosalie" and "Floating". Two of the short tracks were also issued as a single: "Life Without Pain" coupled with "Morning". The album had a very uncommon gimmick fold-out cover: a semi-transparent printed plastic exterior picturing a chameleon on the front and back. Inside, line patterns form a picture of the group if the plastic exterior is drawn out in the right way. Indeed the packaging of their wonderful second album, simply entitled 2, was spectacular: a round, six part fold-out cover (with portraits of all members) put in a plastic bag. The record was even pressed on multi-coloured vinyl! Guitarist Rainer Baumann had joined in time for the recordings in 1971. The four tracks revealed a heavier and more mature progressive rock with classical overtones in Kravetz' organ (occasionally mellotron) work. Rainer Baumann also got his share of the limelight with his stunning blues-based guitar solos. Frumpy's best ever track was the closing number "Duty" (12:09) - with organ and guitar solos galore! The album is highly recommended. Due to musical differences Jean-Jaques Kravetz left Frumpy in the Spring of 1972 (and made a good solo album), but rejoined halfway through the recording of By The Way (1972). The other keyboard player on the album was Erwin Kama, the leader of the recently defunct Murphy Blend. By The Way was a more straight forward rock album, released on the legendary "swirl" Vertigo label and including a poster. In the Summer of 1972 Frumpy gave their last concerts, now with Thomas Kretschmer on guitar. A double live set was released posthumously in January 1973, containing a good selection of their live repertoire, but the technical quality was disappointing. For those of you who are keen to hear more Frumpy, there are two contributions ("Duty" & "Floating") on the live sampler Pop & Blues Festival '70. Rumpf, Kravetz and Schott formed Atlantis in 1972, a group that released several albums in a more mainstream style. Carsten Bohn recorded an album with Wolfgang "Zabba" Lindner (the drummer from Tomorrow's Gift) and the group Dennis.