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01 |
Surely |
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00:31 |
02 |
It's A Long Road |
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05:33 |
03 |
Aubade And I Am Not Like Other Birds Of Prey |
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05:14 |
04 |
Words Unspoken |
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03:59 |
05 |
Maybe I'm A Beggar |
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06:44 |
06 |
Home Again |
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01:16 |
07 |
Nothing To Show |
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04:55 |
08 |
Shadow Song |
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04:22 |
09 |
Try Again |
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12:05 |
10 |
Surely |
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03:11 |
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Studio |
Morgan Studios |
Country |
United Kingdom |
Original Release Date |
1970 |
Cat. Number |
393 149-2 |
Packaging |
Jewel Case |
Spars |
DDD |
Sound |
Stereo |
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Producer |
Supertramp |
Engineer |
Robin Black |
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Supertramp is the self-titled debut album by progressive rock band Supertramp, released in July 1970 (see 1970 in music). It has sometimes been published under the title Now and Then. The album explored a more conventional style of progressive rock than their later works, and was their only album recorded without a saxophonist.
It was not released in the United States until late 1977, but it was available in the US through importers and was usually carried in record stores that specialised in British imports. The 1977 issue reached #158 on the U.S. Billboard 200.
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.[2]
The album was recorded entirely in night sessions running from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m., 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.[3] Roger 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."[3] He was fond of the resulting album, however, and commented over a decade later that "It was very naive, but it has a good mood to it."[3]
As the songs for Supertramp's third album, Crime of the Century, were introduced into the band's live set, the songs from Supertramp were all dropped, never to return. The one exception is "Home Again", which was occasionally played during encores for several years after.[4]
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.'"[3] Despite this, the album was a commercial flop.[3]
In their retrospective 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.
All music written by Rick Davies, Roger Hodgson, and Richard Palmer. All lyrics written by Richard Palmer.[2]
Except where noted, all lead vocals are by Roger Hodgson.
Side one
"Surely (reprise)" – 0:31
Listed simply as "Surely"
"It's a Long Road" – 5:33
"Aubade" / "And I Am Not Like Other Birds of Prey" – 5:17
"Words Unspoken" – 3:59
"Maybe I'm a Beggar" – 6:44
Lead vocals: Richard Palmer and Roger Hodgson
"Home Again" – 1:15
Side two
"Nothing to Show" – 4:53
Lead vocals: Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies
"Shadow Song" – 4:23
"Try Again" – 12:02
Lead vocals: Roger Hodgson and Richard Palmer
"Surely" – 3:08
Personnel
Richard Davies – organ, harmonica, piano, electric piano, vocals
Roger Hodgson – acoustic guitar, bass guitar, cello, flageolet, vocals
Robert Millar – drums, percussion, harmonica
Richard Palmer – acoustic guitar, balalaika, electric guitar, vocals
Production
Supertramp – producer
Robin Black – engineer