Supertramp - Their First Album

Growing up in the 1970's Supertramp were a big part of my youth. My elder brother did a light show for them when they appeared in Wells, Somerset, England, before they were well known. This would have been sometime in late 1970.

The album they were touring with then was their self titled debut album, released 14th July the same year (The album was not released in the States until 1977). An album that is still a strong favourite of mine and one that I feel is still one of the best Supertramp albums.

The songs have a strong melancholy feel to them but in places they rock. The band were very much a prog-rock type of band then with guitar solos and riffs far away from the keyboard based band they would become. 

This album should not be overlooked. The lyrics were mainly written by Richard Palmer and deserve to be listened to. It's a pity these songs are not sung live by Supertramp or Roger Hodgson. I'm sure many die-hard Supertramp fans would love to hear them.

The album, despite critical acclaim, was not a success. Their second album, Indelibly Stamped also failed, selling fewer copies than their first album. Apart from Davies and Hodgson the other members quit the band. Their mentor, Stanley 'Sam' August Miesegaes, (a Dutch millionaire who the band dedicated their next album to) paid off their debts and after recruiting new members the band took refuge on a farm in Somerset to work on their future. It would be here that most of Crime of the Century (their breakthrough album) and other tracks were written.

The track above, Maybe I'm a Beggar is the only track I can find on You Tube from the first album. I did try uploading my own video of the song Words Unspoken for the purposes of this blog, but the internet police took it down pretty quickly.   

If you haven’t already heard this album of theirs I strongly recommend you purchase a copy. I don’t think you will be disappointed.