Search - Frumpy :: Live

ProgRock - made in Hamburg

Golovanov Alexey | Limassol, Cyprus | 12/31/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Excellent progressive rock band from Germany was formed in Hamburg (where else?). Since 1965 the nucleous of future "Frumpy" was peddling around a blend of UK-US folk music (inspired by "Beatles"), but by 1969 Carsten Bohn (guitars) had enough, let himself get seduced by different sounds, and deserted "The City Preachers". On the way out he kidnapped the singer Inga Rumpf, recruited French keyboard player Jean-Jacques Kravetz and Karl-Heinz Schott (bass).

The next year the band toured almost non-stop (in France mainly), opening for the likes of Yes, Spooky Tooth, Humble Pie and Renaissance. Finally they've got signed by Philips and recorded the first LP All Will Be Changed. In 1971 Rainer Baumann joined the band for "Frumpy 2" (also for Philips - Frumpy 2) and in 1972 the 3rd LP - "By the Way" By the Waywas released on "Vertigo".

In 1973 an excellent live album was released, which showed the musical prowess of Hamburg prog-rockers - by the way, in many aspects they are far superiour to their British peers: pure distinctive melodies are not buried under piles and piles of lengthy solos, virtuoso improvisations and other pompous feedling and fooling around...

But in 1972 Inga Rumpf/Kravetz/Schott ventured to form "Atlantis" (Atlantis, and that was the end of "Frumpy" in its original form.

"Frumpy" is an absolutely world-class progressive rock band, and it's a disgrace to call it "Krautrock" (moaning and false "Scorpions" might be aptly called "Krautrockers").

Without "Frumpy" the international legacy of prog-rock is not complete."