Frumpy: Seventies' krautrock from Hamburg, Germany

A short-lived, but very interesting band from Hamburg "Frumpy" was formed in the late 60s by the native of the folk ensemble "The City Preachers", drummer Carsten Bohn. Having conceived to plunge into the waves of the then fashionable progressive, he called on the vocalist Inga Rumpf, bassist Karl-Heinz Schott and French keyboardist Jean-Jacques Kravetz to help him. The band began their touring activity in 1970 with a visit to France, and then performed in their homeland, supporting Spooky Tooth. Also in 1970, the team baked their first vinyl pancake called "All Will Be Changed". 

Built around the dominance of the Hammond organ sound, the album was a mixture of rock, jazz, blues, soul and classical elements. The audience accepted the disc well, and the delighted musicians set about creating the second LP. Calling it simply "Frumpy 2", the ensemble moved away from the previous hodgepodge and finally released a real progressive, which was in good demand at that time. To improve the sound, guitarist Rainer Baumann was invited to the team. "Frumpy 2", which consisted of four lengthy tracks, became the best album in the group's discography. The sound of the organ and guitars is very organically intertwined on it. 

Frumpy was voted the best German rock band of the year by opinion polls from Musik Express magazine, and Inga Rumpf was named “the greatest national talent” by the FAZ newspaper. However, not everything went well. In September 1971, the band decided to test their skills on the British public and went to Albion to support Mott The Hoople. But either the music of the bands was very different, or something else, and "Frumpy" failed to win the hearts of the British. As a result, the notorious "musical disagreements" began in the group, the result of which was the departure of the keyboardist. 

Jean-Jacques recorded a solo disc, and the remaining "Frumpy" also went to the studio, inviting Wolf-Rüdiger Uhlig to help. When the sessions came to an end, Kravets, who consoled his ambitions with the release of a solo album, returned to the team. So on "By The Way" some of the material is played by him. As for the album itself, it looked more mainstream than its predecessors, with a focus on traditional hard rock and blues rock. After the release of the disc, conflicts in the group flared up with renewed vigor and, in the end, led to its disintegration. The musicians announced the disbandment of "Frumpy" in advance and played a few goodbye concerts. The epitaph for the band was the posthumously released "Live" double. 

In subsequent years, the name of Carsten Bohn could be found in the projects Linder & Bohn and Dennis, and Rumpf, Kravets and Schott took part in the Atlantis group. The resuscitation of "Frumpy" took place in 1989, when Rumpf, Bon and Kravets got together. They recorded a couple of studio works, but little remains of the "progressive" past. These discs featured a cross between blues and soul, so the fans of the group were not very interested in them. Another (and apparently the last) reincarnation took place in 1995 when the classic line-up released the live album "Live Ninety-Five" but again nothing was left of the “progressive” past.