Frumpy - By the Way. 1973 Germany

When I first bought Frumpy's 3rd album in the 1980s, I had little use for it. That opener alone is for the dogs. It's obvious at this point, Inga Rumpf would just assume to be Janis Joplin. And the rest of the band is not to be found. I sold the LP off back then, and hadn't thought about it again until last night. Ah, but the title track takes us back to Frumpy 2, and the band are firing on all cylinders again. Welcome back Jean-Jacques Kravetz (organ) and Rainier Baumann (guitar). It's these long flights of instrumental jams that makes Krautrock such a compelling genre. Songwriting will never be Frumpy's strength, but they certainly knew how to rock. This album sounds much better to me now, and definitely going to hold onto it for awhile.

Ownership: 1973 Billingsgate (USA). This was part of the same buy as mentioned in the LP Commodity 2.49 post. I must be the only person who looks deep into the bins here, because no way anyone should miss this title (especially at $3). Billingsgate was such a weird label. Located in Chicago, their entire catalog was based on the growing Krautrock movement. They were about 30 years too early, as I don't think your common American audience was that enamored yet with the scene. Their best selling group was Lucifer's Friend, but otherwise the sales just weren't there, and two years later they were gone. But one has to admire the sheer audacity of releasing the music they did. And even their slogan included "ass kickin'". That was racy stuff for 1973, at least here in the States. I'm sure many here in America will credit the label for introducing them to today's legends, such as Neu, Scorpions, Epitaph, and the two groups above. What's also interesting is that their inner sleeve advertised three other groups they were to release: Guru Guru, Jane, and Elias. My guess is they would have released the self titled Guru Guru album and Jane's Together. And who is Elias? Most assuredly that would be Grobschnitt, as that's how they were known back then (Elias Grobschnitt). The first album or Ballermann maybe? Too bad the label wasn't around in 1971, as the choices would have been endless.