Tracklist front / back album covers
Side one
1. "Surely" 0:31
2. "It's a Long Road" 5:33
3. "Aubade / And I Am Not Like Other Birds of Prey" 5:17
4. "Words Unspoken" 3:59
5. "Maybe I'm a Beggar" 6:44
6. "Home Again" 1:15
Side two
7. "Nothing to Show" 4:53
8. "Shadow Song" 4:23
9. "Try Again" 12:02
10. "Surely (reprise)" 3:08
Total length: 47:31
Supertramp Band Members / Musicians
Richard Davies – organ (tracks 2–5, 7–10), piano (tracks 1, 7, 8, 10), electric piano (tracks 2, 7, 9), harmonica (track 2), backing and lead vocals
Roger Hodgson – bass guitar, acoustic guitar (tracks 1, 6, 10), cello (tracks 3, 4), flageolet (tracks 5, 8, 9), lead and backing vocals
Richard Palmer – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, balalaika (Track 4), backing and lead vocals
Robert Millar – drums, percussion
Supertramp – producer
Robin Black – engineer
Supertramp is the self-titled debut album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in July 1970. The first UK press was released under the title "And I'm Not Like Other", but this title was printed on the labels only. In some countries it was released under the titles Surely (Singapore), and Now and Then (Spain).
It was not released in the United States until late 1977, but available through importers and was usually carried in record stores that specialised in British imports. The 1977 issue reached No. 158 on the US Billboard 200.
All the album's lyrics were written by Richard Palmer, since none of the other members of Supertramp were willing to write any. Palmer himself later said that he considered writing lyrics "like having to do school work" at the time. The music to the songs was all composed jointly by Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson.
The album was recorded entirely in night sessions running from 12 am to 6 am, due to a superstition on the part of the band members (fuelled by their having heard that Traffic and Spooky Tooth recorded at late hours) that there was some "magic" to recording at night. Hodgson later recalled "Invariably our engineer, Robin Black, would fall asleep on us in the middle of the sessions, which were pretty intense as it was, because we fought a lot with Richard Palmer." He was fond of the resulting album, however, and commented over a decade later that "It was very naïve, but it has a good mood to it."
To promote the album, the band played at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, held a few weeks after release.
As the songs for Supertramp's third album, Crime of the Century (1974), were introduced into the band's live set, the songs from Supertramp were all dropped, never to return. The two exceptions are "Home Again" and "Surely", which were occasionally played during encores for several years after. "Surely" has also been included on some of the band's compilation CDs.
Songs from this album, including "Words Unspoken" and "I Am Not Like Other Birds of Prey", were used as part of the soundtrack for the UK film Extremes (1971), along with music from other groups.
Supertramp were an English rock band that formed in London in 1969. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards, and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), they are distinguished for blending progressive rock and pop styles as well as for a sound that relied heavily on Wurlitzer electric piano. The group's line-up changed numerous times throughout their career, with Davies being the only consistent member throughout the decades. Other longtime members included bassist Dougie Thomson, drummer Bob Siebenberg, and saxophonist John Helliwell.
The band were initially a prog-rock group, but starting with their third album, Crime of the Century (1974), they began moving towards a more pop-oriented sound. They reached their commercial peak with 1979's Breakfast in America, which yielded the international top 10 singles "The Logical Song", "Breakfast in America", "Goodbye Stranger", and "Take the Long Way Home". Their other top 40 hits included "Dreamer" (1974), "Give a Little Bit", (1977) and "It's Raining Again" (1982). In 1983, Hodgson left the group to pursue a solo career. Davies took over as the band's sole leader until 1988, after which they disbanded and periodically reformed in various configurations.
As of 2007, Supertramp album sales exceeded 60 million. They attained significant popularity in North America, Europe, South Africa, and Australia. Their highest sales levels were in Canada, where they had two diamond-certified (ten-times platinum) albums (Crime of the Century and Breakfast in America), and their only number 1 singles anywhere ("The Logical Song" and "Dreamer").
Supertramp Band Members / Musicians
Rick Davies – vocals, keyboards, harmonica, songwriting (co-founder; 1970–1988, 1996–2002, 2010–2011)
Roger Hodgson – vocals, keyboards, guitars, bass guitar, songwriting (co-founder; 1970–1983)
Richard Palmer-James – guitars, vocals, percussion, songwriting (1970–1971)
Robert Millar – drums, percussion, harmonica (1970–1971)
Dave Winthrop – saxophone, flute, vocals (1970–1973)
Kevin Currie – drums, percussion (1971–1973)
Frank Farrell – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (1971–1972, died 1997)
Dougie Thomson – bass (1972–1988)
Bob Siebenberg – drums, percussion (1973–1988, 1996–2002, 2010–2011)
John Helliwell – saxophones, woodwinds, keyboards, backing vocals (1973–1988, 1996–2002, 2010–2011)
Steve Reid – percussion (1987–1988)
Mark Hart – vocals, keyboards, guitar (1996–2002, 2015; touring musician: 1985–1988)
Carl Verheyen – guitars, percussion, backing vocals (1996–2002, 2010–2011, 2015; touring musician: 1985–1986)
Cliff Hugo – bass (1996–2002, 2010–2011)
Lee Thornburg – trombone, trumpet, keyboards, backing vocals (1996–2002, 2010–2011)
Tom Walsh – percussion (1996–1997)
Jesse Siebenberg – vocals, guitars, percussion (1997–2002, 2010–2011, 2015), keyboards (2010–2011)
Gabe Dixon – keyboards, vocals (2010–2011)
Cassie Miller – backing vocals (2010–2011)
Supertramo Discography Full
1970 Supertramp
1971 Indelibly Stamped
1974 Crime of the Century
1975 Crisis? What Crisis?
1977 Even in the Quietest Moments...
1979 Breakfast in America
1982 ...Famous Last Words...
1985 Brother Where You Bound
1987 Free as a Bird
1997 Some Things Never Change
2002 Slow Motion
Live albums
1980 Paris
1999 It Was the Best of Times
2001 Is Everybody Listening?
2006 Live, 1997
2010 70-10 Tour
Compilation albums
1986 The Autobiography of Supertramp
1990 The Very Best of Supertramp
1992 The Very Best of Supertramp 2
2005 Retrospectacle – The Supertramp Anthology
