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Supertramp

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This article is about the British rock band. For their self-titled album, see Supertramp (album). For other uses, see Supertramp (disambiguation).
Supertramp
Supertramp, 1980: Dougie Thomson, Rick Davies, Roger Hodgson, John Helliwell, and Bob Siebenberg (hidden.)
Supertramp, 1980: Dougie Thomson, Rick Davies, Roger Hodgson, John Helliwell, and Bob Siebenberg (hidden.)
Background information
Also known asDaddy (1969–1970)
OriginUnited Kingdom
GenresRock, progressive rock, art rock
Years active1970–1988, 1996–2002, 2010–present
LabelsA&M, Oxygen, EMI, Super Cab, Chrysalis
MembersRick Davies
John Helliwell
Bob Siebenberg
Cliff Hugo
Lee Thornburg
Carl Verheyen
Jesse Siebenberg
Past membersSee: List of past members
Websitewww.supertramp.com

Supertramp is a British rock band formed in 1969 under the name Daddy before renaming themselves in early 1970. Though their music was initially categorised as progressive rock, they have since incorporated a combination of traditional rock and art rock into their music. The band's work is marked by the inventive songwriting of Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson and the distinctive voice of Hodgson. Supertramp were also well known for their prominent use of the Wurlitzer electric piano and saxophone.

While the band's early work was mainstream progressive rock, they would enjoy greater critical[1][2] and commercial success when they incorporated more conventional and radio-friendly elements into their work in the mid-1970s, going on to sell more than 60 million albums.[3][4][5][6] They reached their peak of commercial success with 1979's Breakfast in America, which has sold more than 20 million copies.[7][8]

Though their albums were generally more successful than their singles,[9] Supertramp did enjoy a number of major hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including "Dreamer", "Bloody Well Right", "Give a Little Bit", "The Logical Song", "Breakfast in America", "Goodbye Stranger", "Take the Long Way Home", "It's Raining Again" and "Cannonball". The band attained significant popularity in the United States, Canada, most of Europe, South Africa, Australia, and Brazil. Since Hodgson's departure in 1983, founder Rick Davies has led the band by himself.

History

1969–72: Early years

Supertramp Mark II. L-R: Roger Hodgson, Frank Farrell, Rick Davies, Kevin Currie, and Dave Winthrop.

In 1969 Stanley 'Sam' August Miesegaes, a Dutch millionaire, became disappointed with the band he was financially supporting, The Joint. He dropped his support for the band and offered Swindon-born keyboardist Rick Davies, whose talent he felt had been "bogged down" by the group,[10] an opportunity to form his own band, again with Miesegaes' financial backing.[11] Davies assembled Roger Hodgson (bass and vocals), Richard Palmer (guitars), and Keith Baker (percussion) after placing an advertisement in the weekly music newspaper, Melody Maker.

Davies and Hodgson had radically different backgrounds and musical inspirations: Davies was working class and fiercely devoted to blues and jazz, while Hodgson had gone straight from private school to the music business and was fond of pop and psychedelia. Despite this, they hit it off during the auditions[12] and began writing virtually all of their songs together, with Palmer as a third writer in the mix. Since none of the other band members were willing, Palmer penned all their lyrics.[13]

The group initially dubbed themselves "Daddy". Baker was almost immediately replaced by former stage actor Robert Millar,[14] and after several months of rehearsal at a country house in West Hythe, Kent, the band flew to Munich for a series of concerts at the P. N. Club.[15] The rehearsals had been less than productive, and their initial repertoire consisted of only four songs, two of which were covers.[15] In response to the emergence of similarly named bands (such as Daddy Longlegs),[15] the band changed names from Daddy to "Supertramp", a name inspired by The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp by William Henry Davies.[16]

Supertramp were one of the first groups to be signed to the UK branch of A&M Records and their first album, Supertramp, was released on 14 July 1970 in the UK and Canada only (it would not be issued in the US until late 1977). Stylistically, the album was fairly typical of progressive rock of the era, and Supertramp's sound bore obvious similarity to their British prog rock predecessor Cressida. Despite receiving a good deal of critical praise, the album did not attract a large audience.[15] Dave Winthrop (flute and saxophone) joined the group after the release of the first record and soon after Supertramp was able to earn a slot on the bill of the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. The membership continued to change as six months after the album's release, Palmer left the band due to personality conflicts with Davies and Hodgson,[15][13] followed shortly afterwards by Millar, who had suffered a nervous breakdown following a disastrous tour of Norway.[9]

For the next album, Indelibly Stamped, released in June 1971 (in both the UK and US), Frank Farrell (bass) and Kevin Currie (percussion) replaced Millar and Palmer, while Roger Hodgson switched to guitar. From this album forward, Hodgson and Davies were no longer able to use a lyricist, and Davies served as a second lead singer. Sales failed to improve, and the record sold even less than their debut.[9] In the aftermath, all members gradually quit except Hodgson and Davies[17] and Miesegaes withdrew his financial support in October 1972.[15]

1973–78: Initial success and commercial breakthrough

A search for new members brought aboard Dougie Thomson (bass), who had done stand-in gigs with the band for almost a year before auditions resumed. In 1973, auditions restarted and introduced Bob Siebenberg (drums & percussion) and John Helliwell (saxophone, other woodwinds, occasional keyboards, backing vocals), completing the line-up. Hodgson would also begin playing keyboards (particularly the Wurlitzer electric piano) in the band in addition to guitar.[17]

Meanwhile, the bond between Davies and Hodgson had begun weakening. In July of 1972 Hodgson had tried LSD for the first time, and offered some to Davies, who declined. Writing to Miesegaes in November 1972, Hodgson described taking LSD as "the happiest day of my life" and expressed his anxiety that Davies would not take it.[15] He would later describe this divergence in their experiences as the root of the rift between them.[18] Over Supertramp's history, their relationship would be amicable but increasingly distant as their lifestyles and musical inclinations saw less and less overlap. Their songwriting partnership gradually dissolved; though all of Supertramp's songs would continue to be officially credited as "written by Rick Davies and Rodger Hodgson", most of them were written by Davies or Hodgson individually.

Supertramp needed a hit record to continue working, and finally got one with Crime of the Century. Released in September 1974, it began the group's run of critical and commercial successes, hitting number 4 in Britain,[19] number 38 in the USA, and number 1 in Canada. The album underlined its ambitiousness: many of its songs were heavily orchestrated, and some even featured Davies and Hodgson singing in dialogue, such as the 1975 UK Top 20 single "Dreamer". US listeners preferred its B-side, "Bloody Well Right", which hit the US Top 40 in May 1975 and would be their only hit in the country for more than two years.[20] Most of the band have said they feel they hit their artistic peak on this album, though their greatest commercial success would come later.

The band continued with Crisis? What Crisis? released in November 1975, which broke both the UK Top Twenty[19] and the USA Top Fifty without even one hit single behind it. The following album, Even in the Quietest Moments..., released in April 1977, spawned a hit single with "Give a Little Bit" (no. 15 U.S., no. 29 U.K.). During this period, the band eventually relocated to the United States.

1979–88: Superstars

The band's switch to a more pop-oriented approach peaked with their most popular album, Breakfast in America, released in March 1979, which reached number 3 in the UK[19] and number 1 in the United States and Canada and spawned four successful singles: "The Logical Song" (no. 6 U.S., no. 7 U.K.), "Take the Long Way Home" (no. 10 U.S.), "Breakfast in America" (no. 9 U.K.), and "Goodbye Stranger" (no. 15 U.S., no. 57 U.K.).

The run of successes was capped with 1980's Paris, a 2-LP live album recorded mostly at the Pavillon de Paris.[21] It included nearly every song from Crime of the Century. The live version of "Dreamer" was released as a single in the U.S., where it reached no. 15, even though the studio version had failed to even chart there.[20]

At this point, Hodgson moved his family from the Los Angeles area to the mountains of northern California where he built a home and studio and focused on his family and spiritual life, while recording a solo album which would never be released.[22] This geographic separation widened the rift between him and the rest of the group; during the conceptualization and recording of their next album, ...Famous Last Words..., Davies and Hodgson found far greater difficulty in reconciling their musical ideas than they had before, and it was apparent to the rest of the band that Hodgson wanted out.[22] ...Famous Last Words... was released in 1982, and scored two more hits with "It's Raining Again" and "My Kind of Lady". A worldwide tour followed in 1983, during which Hodgson announced he would not be continuing with the band. Hodgson has stated that his departure was motivated by a desire to spend more time with his family and make solo recordings, and that there were never any real personal or professional problems between him and Davies, as some people thought.[9]

The Davies-led Supertramp soldiered on to continued success, releasing Brother Where You Bound in 1985. The album was a step away from the pop approach of their last two studio albums, and reached no. 20 in the UK charts[19] and no. 21 in the US charts.[20] It included the Top 30 hit single "Cannonball", along with the title track, a 16-minute exposition on Cold War themes highlighted by guitar solos from Pink Floyd's David Gilmour. 1987's Free as a Bird experimented in heavily synthesised music,[23] such as "I'm Beggin' You", which reached number 1 on the US dance charts. The stylistic change was generally not well-received, however, and the album itself reached only no. 93 in the UK and 101 in the USA, breaking a streak of seven consecutive top 100 efforts on the American charts. After 1988's tour, the group fragmented.

1996–2009: Later years

In 1996 Davies re-formed Supertramp with Helliwell, Siebenberg and guitarist/vocalist Mark Hart, who was new to the official lineup but had prominently contributed to Free as a Bird and its supporting tour. The result of this reunion was Some Things Never Change, an album that echoed the earlier Supertramp sound,[24][23] released in March 1997. It reached no. 74 in the UK.[19] In 1999 Supertramp released the live It Was the Best of Times, followed by Slow Motion in 2002 and a worldwide tour, after which the band went inactive once again. Another attempt to bring Hodgson back into the band failed in 2005.[25]

In 2008 it was announced that Supertramp's music would be featured in the film adaptation of Irvine Welsh's best-selling novel Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance.[26] In 2009 Hodgson said he could not see a Supertramp reunion ever happening: "We've looked at it and talked it over...I would never say never but Rick [Davies] has pretty much retired right now and I'm in the prime of my life. The reaction I am getting from fans is 'please don’t reunite'."[27]

2010–present: Re-formation

Supertramp 2010. L-R: Cliff Hugo, Rick Davies, Bob Siebenberg, John Helliwell, Gabe Dixon, and Carl Verheyen

On 21 April 2010 it was announced[28] that Supertramp would give 35 concerts in late 2010. Dates were announced for concerts in Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, Italy, France and other European countries. This tour called "70-10" was to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the group's first release. Roger Hodgson, who was not included in this tour,[29] embarked on a solo 2010 tour to Australia, New Zealand, South America, Europe, Canada, and the US.[30]

In 2011 both Hodgson and Supertramp continued to tour separately.[31][32] When asked whether Roger Hodgson might appear on some of the 2011 dates Davies replied, “I know there are some fans out there who would like that to happen. There was a time when I had hoped for that too. But the recent past makes that impossible. In order to play a great show for our fans, you need harmony, both musically and personally. Unfortunately that doesn’t exist between us any more and I would rather not destroy memories of more harmonious times between all of us.”[33]

Members

Further information: List of Supertramp band members
Visualization of the years various members played with Supertramp.
Supertramp Timeline

Current members

  • Rick Davies – vocals, keyboards, harmonica, composition, melodica (1970–1988, 1996–2002, 2010–present)
  • John Helliwell – woodwinds, keyboards, backing vocals (1973–1988, 1996–2002, 2010–present)
  • Bob Siebenberg – drums, percussion (1973–1988, 1996–2002, 2010–present)
  • Cliff Hugo – bass (1996–2002, 2010–present)
  • Lee Thornburg – trombone, trumpet, keyboards, backing vocals (1988 as a session musician, 1996–2002, 2010–present)
  • Carl Verheyen – guitars, percussion, backing vocals (1985–1986 as a touring musician, 1996–2002, 2010–present)
  • Jesse Siebenberg – percussion, vocals (1996–2002) keyboards, guitars, vocals (2010–present)
  • Gabe Dixon – keyboards, tambourine, vocals (2010–present)
  • Cassie Miller – background vocals (2010–present)

Past members

  • Roger Hodgson – vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass, composition (1970–1983)
  • Richard Palmer-James – guitars, vocals, balalaika (1970–1971)
  • Bob Millar – percussion, harmonica (1970–1971)
  • Dave Winthrop – woodwinds, vocals (1970–1973)
  • Kevin Currie – percussion (1971–1973)
  • Frank Farrell – bass, keyboards, backing vocals (1971–1972)
  • Dougie Thomson – bass (1972–1988)
  • Mark Hart – vocals, keyboards, guitar (1985–1988, 1996–2002)
  • Tom Walsh – percussion (1996–1997)

Past touring musicians

  • Scott Page – woodwinds, guitar, percussion, backing vocals (1983–1986)
  • Fred Mandel – keyboards, guitar, backing vocals (1983)
  • Marty Walsh – guitars, backing vocals (1984–1988)
  • Brad Cole – woodwinds, keyboards (1986–1988)
  • Steve Reid – percussion (1987–1988)

Discography

Main article: Supertramp discography

Remixes and cover versions

References

  1. ^ Stephen Holden (14 June 1979). "Breakfast In America | Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  2. ^ Marsh, Dave. "Sez Who? Bands & Singers Critics Love to Hate". New Book of Rock Lists. Sidgwick & Jackson. 1994.
  3. ^ "The Times – London, Review from Royal Albert Concert". Roger Hodgson: Full Biography. VH1. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
  4. ^ The Buffalo News Archives: Rare appearance. The Buffalo News. 25 May 2007. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  5. ^ Johnstone, Duncan. Review: Roger Hodgson in Auckland. stuff.co.nz. 15 April 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  6. ^ Wuensch, Yuri. "Roger Hodgson returns with solo tour". CANOE. 21 November 2006. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
  7. ^ Doran, John. Supertramp: Breakfast in America review. BBC. 29 October 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  8. ^ Todd, Ben. Supertramp feud as Roger Hodgson accuses former bandmate Rick Davies of playing 'his songs'. Daily Mail. 8 October 2010. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  9. ^ a b c d (8 March 2009). "30 Years on From Breakfast in America", Swindonweb.
  10. ^ Melhuish, Martin (1986). The Supertramp Book. Toronto, Canada: Omnibus Press. p. 22. ISBN 0969127227. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  11. ^ Thomas, Stephen. "Supertramp". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  12. ^ Melhuish, Martin (1986). The Supertramp Book. Toronto, Canada: Omnibus Press. p. 28. ISBN 0969127227. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  13. ^ a b Interview with Richard Palmer-James in Calamity, Elephant Talk.
  14. ^ "Bakerloo", Tamworth Bands: History 1960 to 1990. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g Melhuish, Martin (1986). The Supertramp Book. Toronto, Canada: Omnibus Press. pp. 31–41. ISBN 0969127227. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  16. ^ "Supertramp", www.classicbands.com. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  17. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Supertramp biography. Allmusic. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  18. ^ Melhuish, Martin (1986). The Supertramp Book. Toronto, Canada: Omnibus Press. pp. 139–161. ISBN 0969127227. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  19. ^ a b c d e Supertramp in the UK Charts, The Official Charts. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  20. ^ a b c Supertramp chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  21. ^ Melhuish, Martin (1986). The Supertramp Book. Toronto, Canada: Omnibus Press. pp. 163–5. ISBN 0969127227. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  22. ^ a b Melhuish, Martin (1986). The Supertramp Book. Toronto, Canada: Omnibus Press. pp. 167–175. ISBN 0969127227. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  23. ^ a b Bollenberg, John "Bobo" (26 June 2000). Interview with Rick Davies, John Helliwell, Jack Douglass, and Georges Ohayon, ProgressiveWorld.net.
  24. ^ Thomas, Stephen (3 June 1997). "( Some Things Never Change > Review )". allmusic. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  25. ^ Coleman, Andy (28 September 2007). "Supertramp star plans tribute to city colleague". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  26. ^ "Ecstasythefilm: Ecstasy Soundtrack". Ecstasythefilm.blogspot.com. 12 April 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  27. ^ "Roger Hodgson Cannot See Supertramp Reforming at". Undercover.com.au. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  28. ^ "Breakfast In Spain.com Supertramp & Roger Hodgson – Supertramp and Roger Hodgson latest WORKS and TOURS". Supertramp.es. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  29. ^ "News". RogerHodgson.com. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  30. ^ "Tour". RogerHodgson.com. 4 July 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  31. ^ "Home". Supertramp. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  32. ^ "Tour". RogerHodgson.com. 30 September 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  33. ^ "Supertramp Announces Spring and Summer 2011 Tour Dates". Supertramp. 1 March 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2011.

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