Supertramp - genaral information

Supertramp were a British progressive rock band that released a series of top-selling albums in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Their early music included ambitious concept albums, from which were drawn a number of hits including "Bloody Well Right", "Dreamer", "Goodbye Stranger", "Give a Little Bit" and "The Logical Song". Supertramp attained superstardom in the United States, Canada, and most of Europe, although they were not quite as popular in their home country, the UK. Nonetheless, the album Breakfast in America was a big hit there, reaching number three on the UK charts and featuring two top 10 singles.

Backed by a Dutch millionaire named Stanley August Miesegaes, vocalist, pianist and ex-drummer Rick Davies (born Richard Davies, July 22, 1944 in Eastcott Hill, Swindon, Wiltshire, England) used newspaper advertising in Melody Maker to recruit an early version of the band in August 1969, an effort which recruited vocalist/guitarist and keyboardist Roger Hodgson (born Charles Roger Pomfret Hodgson, March 21, 1950 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England). Other members of this proto-Supertramp included Richard Palmer (guitar, balalaika, vocals) (born Richard Jeffrey Charles Palmer-James, 11 June 1947, in Bournemouth, Dorset) and Robert Millar (percussion, harmonica) (born 2 February 1950). Initially, Roger Hodgson sang and played bass guitar (and, on the side, guitar, cello and flageolet). The band was called Daddy from August 1969 to January 1970, at which time this was changed to Supertramp, a name taken from W.H. Davies' book, The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp, published in 1908.

They were one of the first groups to be signed to the UK branch of A&M Records. The first album, Supertramp, was released in July 14, 1970 in the UK and Canada only (it was first issued in the US in 1977). Although it was very intense and lyrical, it did not attract a large audience and few critics paid any attention to this first effort. However, Supertramp was able to earn a slot on the bill of the Isle of Wight Festival 1970. Richard Palmer abruptly quit six months after the album's release. Robert Millar suffered a nervous breakdown shortly afterwards. For the next album, Indelibly Stamped, released in June 1971 (in both UK and US), Frank Farrell (bass) (born in 1947 in Birmingham, West Midlands), Kevin Currie (percussion) (born in Liverpool, Merseyside) and Dave Winthrop (flute and saxophone) (born 27 November 1948, in New Jersey, USA) replaced Millar and Palmer, while Roger Hodgson switched to guitar. "Indelibly Stamped" featured rocking Beatlesque tunes, with vocal harmonies similar to Simon and Garfunkel songs (Davies now serving as the band's second lead singer, alongside Hodgson, who suggested that the band should have two lead vocalists), a more commercial approach and eye-catching cover artwork. Supertramp had established themselves as a "cult" band. Sales, however, failed to improve and sold even less than their debut. In early 1972, Miesegaes withdrew his support from the band after paying off debts. All members gradually quit except Hodgson and Davies.