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Supertramp (album)

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Supertramp
Studio album by
Supertramp
Released14 August 1970
RecordedJune 1970
StudioMorgan, Willesden
Genre
Length47:31
LabelA&M
ProducerSupertramp
Supertramp chronology
Supertramp
(1970) 		Indelibly Stamped
(1971)

Supertramp is the debut album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in August 1970.[3] 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.[4]

Background and recording

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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.[5] The music to the songs were all composed jointly by Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson.[6]

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.[6][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"[7] 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.

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]

The critical response to the album was generally positive, with a review by Judith Simons in Daily Express commenting: "This debut record album by a group of promising musician-poets is rather more melodic than most discs which pass under the label 'progressive pop.'"[1] Despite this, the album was a commercial flop.[1]

Retrospective reviews are more negative. In their review, AllMusic said the album was "inundated with pretentious instrumental meandering, with greater emphasis and attention granted to the keyboards and guitars than to the writing and to the overall effluence of the music." However, they admitted that the album's "mixture of ardour and subtlety" is appealing.[8]

Track listing

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All songs written by Rick Davies, Roger Hodgson and Richard Palmer.

All lead vocals by Roger Hodgson, except where noted. Lead vocal credits per Richard Palmer.[6]

Side one
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
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"Palmer and Hodgson6:44
6."Home Again" 1:15
Side two
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
7."Nothing to Show"Hodgson and Davies4:53
8."Shadow Song"Davies[11]4:23
9."Try Again"Hodgson and Palmer[12]12:02
10."Surely (reprise)" 3:08
Total length:47:31

Personnel

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Supertramp
Production

Charts

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Chart (1978) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[4] 158

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[13] Gold 50,000^
France (SNEP)[14] Gold 100,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Melhuish, Martin (1986). The Supertramp Book. Toronto, Canada: Omnibus Press. p. 33. ISBN 0-9691272-2-7.
  2. ^ Plochinski, Gary (1998). "Supertramp". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. pp. 1110–1111.
  3. ^ "Great Rock discography". p. 802.
  4. ^ a b "Supertramp Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  5. ^ Interview with Richard Palmer-James in Calamity, Elephant Talk.
  6. ^ a b c Fuentes, Abel (January 2011). Interview with Richard Palmer, Supertramp Soap Box Asylum. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  7. ^ Melhuish, Martin (1986). The Supertramp Book. Toronto, Canada: Omnibus Press. p. 116. ISBN 0-9691272-2-7.
  8. ^ a b Supertramp at AllMusic
  9. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 7 (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 857. ISBN 0195313739.
  10. ^ Sheffield, Rob; et al. (2004). Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 797. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  11. ^ https://soapboxasylum.forumactif.org/t376-interview-tres-instructive-de-richard-palmer-james: "QUESTION: Is it Rick who is singing lead on "Shadow song"? RICHARD: Yes, it's Rick…
  12. ^ https://soapboxasylum.forumactif.org/t376-interview-tres-instructive-de-richard-palmer-james: "It's Rick and Roger on "Nothing to show", and it's Roger and I on "Try again".
  13. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Supertramp – Supertramp". Music Canada. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  14. ^ "French album certifications – Supertramp – Supertramp" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 14 July 2022. Select SUPERTRAMP and click OK. 
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