Frumpy (band)
Encyclopedia
Frumpy was a German progressive rock
band based in Hamburg
, which was active between 1970–1972 and 1990–1995. Formed after the break-up of folk rockers The City Preachers, Frumpy released four albums between 1970–1973 and achieved considerable commercial success. The German press hailed them as the best German rock band of their time and their vocalist Inga Rumpf as the "greatest individual vocal talent" of the contemporary German rock scene. They disbanded in 1972 although the various members all worked together at various times over the following two decades and they reunited again in 1989, producing three more albums over five years after which they disbanded once more.
band The City Preachers, formed by Irishman
John O'Brien-Docker in Hamburg in 1965. In 1968, the band had split, with O'Brien-Docker and several other members parting company. Singer Inga Rumpf, a distinctive "un-feminine" sounding vocalist often compared favourably with Janis Joplin
, continued to use the band name with a line-up including drummer Udo Lindenberg
, singer Dagmar Krause
, French organist
Jean-Jacques Kravetz and bassist
Karl-Heinz Schott. In the spring of 1969, Lindenberg left to pursue a solo career and was replaced by Carsten Bohn
, who by November that year had grown disappointed with Krause and called for the band to pursue a new creative direction, "a fusion of rock, blues, classical, folk and psychedelic."
Reforming in March 1970 as Frumpy (a play on Rumpf's surname inspired by seeing the word "frumpy" in a CBS record catalogue) the new line-up of Rumpf, Bohn, Kravetz and Schott debuted at the Essen
International Pop & Blues Festival in April 1970, where two of their songs "Duty" and "Floating" were recorded and released on the live compilation album Pop & Blues Festival '70. This was followed by more tour dates in France, Germany and the Netherlands, and an appearance at the Kiel
Progressive Pop Festival in July 1970.
, as well as playing supporting slots with Yes
, Humble Pie
and Renaissance
. The album received both critical acclaim and commercial success.
Initially the band played without a guitarist, which was unusual in the rock genre, and the band instead made great use of Kravetz's "spacey [Hammond] organ excursions" and his powerful Leslie Rotating Speaker System
, a sound modification and frequency modulation
device. Rumpf said: "In the beginning we were happy enough as a quartet. I played and composed exclusively on an acoustic guitar. It was only later that we began to write songs that called for a guitar." In 1971, just before the band started recording their second album, called simply 2
, they recruited former Sphinx Tush guitarist Rainer Baumann to the line-up. The album, "heavier and more mature progressive rock with classical overtones in Kravetz's organ ([and] occasionally mellotron
) work," repeated the success of the first, and gave the band a hit single with "How the Gipsy Was Born," which would become their "signature tune." The German music magazine Musikexpress dubbed Frumpy as the best German rock act of the year, while Inga Rumpf, variously described as "smoky", "demonic" and "roaring," was declared by national newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
to be the "greatest individual vocal talent" of the German rock scene so far.
Due to "musical differences" Kravetz left the band in early 1972 to work with Lindenberg and his Das Panik Orchester and also to record a solo album, Kravetz (1972) which featured both Rumpf and Lindenberg. He was replaced in Frumpy by Erwin Kama, who had previously played in Murphy Blend, and Kama appears on several of the tracks on Frumpy's third album By The Way, being ousted halfway through recording in March 1972 when Kravetz rejoined the band. Baumann expressed a desire to establish a solo career also, and the band played a "farewell concert" on 26 June 1972. Musikexpress published an obituary for the band in August 1972. The obituary closed with: "We request that you refrain from messages of condolence, since you will soon be hearing from Inga, Karl-Heinz and Jean-Jacques under another name."
A double, live album, Live, was released posthumously in 1973.
-based jazz fusion
combo Emergency, to form a "supergroup" called Atlantis. Atlantis, which has been described as "Frumpy repackaged with a more commercial hard-rock style," recorded their first album Atlantis in 1972, which was released early in 1973. Rumpf was voted 'Best Female Rock Singer of 1973' by Musikexpress readers. Diez and Cress were replaced by George Meier and Lindenberg for the subsequent tour, who were themselves replaced by Dieter Bornschlegel and Ringo Funk when the tour ended. They then released It's Getting Better (1973), which had a strong Afrobeat
influence, and caused Die Zeit
to hail Rumpf as a "superstar", after which in early 1974 Kravetz left the band to join Randy Pie. Schnelle was replaced again by Adrian Askew and Bornschlegel by Curly Curve's Alex Conti. The third album Ooh Baby (1974) was written mostly by Askew and Conti and veered towards the P-funk
sound, and the band toured the U.S. as a support act for Aerosmith
and Lynyrd Skynyrd
. Following more changes in line-up two further albums were released, Get On Board (1975) and Live (1975) but, despite achieving commercial success in Germany, the group disbanded in January 1976. On 23 February 1983 the founder members played a one-off reunion concert in Hamburg.
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band based in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, which was active between 1970–1972 and 1990–1995. Formed after the break-up of folk rockers The City Preachers, Frumpy released four albums between 1970–1973 and achieved considerable commercial success. The German press hailed them as the best German rock band of their time and their vocalist Inga Rumpf as the "greatest individual vocal talent" of the contemporary German rock scene. They disbanded in 1972 although the various members all worked together at various times over the following two decades and they reunited again in 1989, producing three more albums over five years after which they disbanded once more.
Formation
All of the band members met as performers with Germany's first folk rockFolk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
band The City Preachers, formed by Irishman
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
John O'Brien-Docker in Hamburg in 1965. In 1968, the band had split, with O'Brien-Docker and several other members parting company. Singer Inga Rumpf, a distinctive "un-feminine" sounding vocalist often compared favourably with Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
, continued to use the band name with a line-up including drummer Udo Lindenberg
Udo Lindenberg
Udo Lindenberg is a German rock musician and composer.-Career:Lindenberg started his musical career as a drummer. In 1969 Lindenberg founded his first band Free Orbit and also appeared as a studio and guest musician . In 1970 he collaborated as a drummer with jazz-saxophonist Klaus Doldinger in...
, singer Dagmar Krause
Dagmar Krause
Dagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
, French organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
Jean-Jacques Kravetz and bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Karl-Heinz Schott. In the spring of 1969, Lindenberg left to pursue a solo career and was replaced by Carsten Bohn
Carsten Bohn
Carsten Bohn is a musician from Hamburg, Germany with a long career on the German music scene. He is known for his earlier works as drummer, founder and composer with the kraut rock band Frumpy, and also under his pseudonym of 'Bert Brac'.He has recorded with Peter Baumann and played as Drummer...
, who by November that year had grown disappointed with Krause and called for the band to pursue a new creative direction, "a fusion of rock, blues, classical, folk and psychedelic."
Reforming in March 1970 as Frumpy (a play on Rumpf's surname inspired by seeing the word "frumpy" in a CBS record catalogue) the new line-up of Rumpf, Bohn, Kravetz and Schott debuted at the Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
International Pop & Blues Festival in April 1970, where two of their songs "Duty" and "Floating" were recorded and released on the live compilation album Pop & Blues Festival '70. This was followed by more tour dates in France, Germany and the Netherlands, and an appearance at the Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
Progressive Pop Festival in July 1970.
Recordings
They recorded their debut album All Will Be Changed in August 1970. To promote the album the band embarked on a fifty-night German tour with Spooky ToothSpooky Tooth
Spooky Tooth are an English rock band principally active, with intermittent breakups, between 1967 to 1974. In recent years, the band has been reconstituted at various points, and continues to perform occasionally.-Career:...
, as well as playing supporting slots with Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
, Humble Pie
Humble Pie (band)
Humble Pie was a rock band from England, finding success both in the UK and the US. They are remembered for songs such as "Black Coffee" "30 Days in the Hole", "I Don't Need No Doctor", and "Natural Born Bugie"...
and Renaissance
Renaissance (band)
Renaissance are an English progressive rock band, most notable for their 1978 UK top 10 hit "Northern Lights" and progressive rock classics like "Carpet of the Sun", "Mother Russia" and "Ashes Are Burning".-Original incarnation :...
. The album received both critical acclaim and commercial success.
Initially the band played without a guitarist, which was unusual in the rock genre, and the band instead made great use of Kravetz's "spacey [Hammond] organ excursions" and his powerful Leslie Rotating Speaker System
Leslie speaker
The Leslie speaker is a specially constructed amplifier/loudspeaker used to create special audio effects using the Doppler effect. Named after its inventor, Donald Leslie, it is particularly associated with the Hammond organ but is used with a variety of instruments as well as vocals. The...
, a sound modification and frequency modulation
Frequency modulation
In telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency. This contrasts with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant...
device. Rumpf said: "In the beginning we were happy enough as a quartet. I played and composed exclusively on an acoustic guitar. It was only later that we began to write songs that called for a guitar." In 1971, just before the band started recording their second album, called simply 2
Frumpy 2
Frumpy 2 was the second album by the German progressive rock band Frumpy. It was released in 1971.-Side two:#"Take Care Of Illusion" – 7:30 #"Duty" – 12:09This is the original tracklist, and it can be verified at-Personnel:...
, they recruited former Sphinx Tush guitarist Rainer Baumann to the line-up. The album, "heavier and more mature progressive rock with classical overtones in Kravetz's organ ([and] occasionally mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
) work," repeated the success of the first, and gave the band a hit single with "How the Gipsy Was Born," which would become their "signature tune." The German music magazine Musikexpress dubbed Frumpy as the best German rock act of the year, while Inga Rumpf, variously described as "smoky", "demonic" and "roaring," was declared by national newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , short F.A.Z., also known as the FAZ, is a national German newspaper, founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt am Main. The Sunday edition is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .F.A.Z...
to be the "greatest individual vocal talent" of the German rock scene so far.
Due to "musical differences" Kravetz left the band in early 1972 to work with Lindenberg and his Das Panik Orchester and also to record a solo album, Kravetz (1972) which featured both Rumpf and Lindenberg. He was replaced in Frumpy by Erwin Kama, who had previously played in Murphy Blend, and Kama appears on several of the tracks on Frumpy's third album By The Way, being ousted halfway through recording in March 1972 when Kravetz rejoined the band. Baumann expressed a desire to establish a solo career also, and the band played a "farewell concert" on 26 June 1972. Musikexpress published an obituary for the band in August 1972. The obituary closed with: "We request that you refrain from messages of condolence, since you will soon be hearing from Inga, Karl-Heinz and Jean-Jacques under another name."
A double, live album, Live, was released posthumously in 1973.
Post-Frumpy
Shortly after Frumpy disbanded, Rumpf, Kravetz and Schott recruited guitarist Frank Diez and drummer Curt Cress, both formerly with MunichMunich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
-based jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
combo Emergency, to form a "supergroup" called Atlantis. Atlantis, which has been described as "Frumpy repackaged with a more commercial hard-rock style," recorded their first album Atlantis in 1972, which was released early in 1973. Rumpf was voted 'Best Female Rock Singer of 1973' by Musikexpress readers. Diez and Cress were replaced by George Meier and Lindenberg for the subsequent tour, who were themselves replaced by Dieter Bornschlegel and Ringo Funk when the tour ended. They then released It's Getting Better (1973), which had a strong Afrobeat
Afrobeat
Afrobeat is a combination of traditional Yoruba music, jazz, highlife, funk and chanted vocals, fused with percussion and vocal styles, popularised in Africa in the 1970s. Its main creator was the Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who gave it its name, who used it to...
influence, and caused Die Zeit
Die Zeit
Die Zeit is a German nationwide weekly newspaper that is highly respected for its quality journalism.With a circulation of 488,036 and an estimated readership of slightly above 2 million, it is the most widely read German weekly newspaper...
to hail Rumpf as a "superstar", after which in early 1974 Kravetz left the band to join Randy Pie. Schnelle was replaced again by Adrian Askew and Bornschlegel by Curly Curve's Alex Conti. The third album Ooh Baby (1974) was written mostly by Askew and Conti and veered towards the P-funk
P-Funk
P-Funk is a shorthand term for the repertoire and performers associated with George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic collective and the distinctive style of funk music they performed...
sound, and the band toured the U.S. as a support act for Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
and Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...
. Following more changes in line-up two further albums were released, Get On Board (1975) and Live (1975) but, despite achieving commercial success in Germany, the group disbanded in January 1976. On 23 February 1983 the founder members played a one-off reunion concert in Hamburg.
Frumpy reunion
In 1989, Rumpf, Bohn and Kravetz reformed Frumpy and released two albums, Now! (1990) and News (1991) but by 1992 the members had moved in different directions and the group was once more disbanded in 1995.Discography
- All Will Be Changed (1970)
- Frumpy 2Frumpy 2Frumpy 2 was the second album by the German progressive rock band Frumpy. It was released in 1971.-Side two:#"Take Care Of Illusion" – 7:30 #"Duty" – 12:09This is the original tracklist, and it can be verified at-Personnel:...
(1971) - By the Way (1972)
- Live (1973)
- Now! (1990)
- News (1991)
- Live NinetyFive (1995)