Supertramp - Self Titled (1970)

 Supertramp were a British rock band that formed in London in 1970. They experienced their greatest global success in 1979 with their sixth album Breakfast in America. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), the group were distinguished for blending progressive rock and pop styles as well as for a sound that relied heavily on Wurlitzer electric piano.^[5][6] The group's lineup changed numerous times throughout their career, with Davies being the only constant member throughout its history. Other longtime members included bassist Dougie Thomson, drummer Bob Siebenberg and saxophonist John Helliwell.

Tracklist: 1. Surely - 0:00 2. It’s a Long Road - 0:35 3. Aubade (And I Am Not Like Other Birds of Prey) - 6:15 4. Words Unspoken - 11:35 5. Maybe I’m a Beggar - 15:40 6. Home Again - 22:26 7. Nothing to Show - 23:40 8. Shadow Song - 28:35 9. Try Again - 33:05 10. Surely (Reprise) - 45:10

 

Supertramp is the debut album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in August 1970.^[2] 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.^[3]

Background and recording

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.^[4] The music to the songs were all composed jointly by Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson.^[5]

The album was recorded entirely at Morgan Studios 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.^[5][1] 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."^[1] 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."^[1]

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 mostly dropped, never to return. The two exceptions are "Home Again"^[6] 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.