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| Promo poster |
Stanley "Sam" August Miesegaes, a Dutch millionaire, was putting in Money to a band called The Joint but it didn't offer anything. He was disappointed in the band and gave Rick Davies (who also played in the band of Gilbert O'Sullivan) another chance if he would form a new band. That band would become Supertramp but they called it "Daddy" at first. When they release their first album the name "Daddy" was changed to prevent confusion with another band called "Daddy Longlegs". The name Supertramp came from "The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp" by William Henry Davies. A poet also named Davies like the founder of the band. Stanley financed the first two albums of the band "Supertramp" (1970) and "Indelibly Stamped" (1971). Both albums didn't do much. Rick Davies, Rodger Hodgson, guitarist Richard Palmer and drummer Robert Millar were part of the first lineup of the band. Only Rick And Roger were the solid part of the band. The second lineup included Dave Winthrop, Frank Farrell and Kevin Currie.
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| The Autobiography of a Super-tramp by W.H. Davies |
The third lineup would be the definitive one also with Roger and Rick of course. The more permanent other members in this lineup were: John Anthony Helliwell (Saxophone and Clarinet), Dougie Thomson (bass guitar), Bob Siebenberg (drums). With this band they finally had their breakthrough with the third album "Crime Of The Century" (1974). The album was dedicated to Sam. Which is the nickname for the dutch Millionaire Stanley Miesegaes. The songs were credited as Davies/Hodgson. Probably to be like Jagger/Richards for the Stones, Lennon/McCartney. Davies and Hodgson always wrote a song on their own so therefore songs were written by Roger or Rick independently. Although "School" and "Crime of the Century" on their third album really were written together by Roger and Rick. "Dreamer" would become their first hit single and they no longer needed to be funded by the dutch millionaire.
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| The first 4 albums by Supertramp |
The fourth album "Crisis? What Crisis?" is perhaps a good title since the album was recorded in a very short time with mainly leftovers of "Crime Of The Century". The band considered the album to be one of their weakest moments but Roger Hodgson mentioned it to be regarded their best album. The album did very well. However, this does not apply to the singles released of the album. They all flopped.
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| Supertramp in 1977 |
The band decided to record the next album outside of Los Angeles. So they moved to the Caribou Ranch on the mountaintop of Denver where Elton John recorded his albums "Caribou", "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" and "Rock of the Westies" and also Chicago recorded many albums there. The result was "Even In The Quietest Moments". The album reached #16 in the US, #12 in the UK and #1 in the Netherlands and Canada.
SONGSDavies wrote "Lover Boy", "Downstream" and "From Now On" and Hodgson wrote "Give a Little Bit", "Even in the Quietest Moments", "Babaji" and "Fool's Overture". Most of these song were written during a soundcheck for a show at the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen.
The first single from the album "Give a Little Bit" reached #15 in the US, #29 in the UK, #8 in Canada and #15 in the Netherlands.
"Fool's Overture" was originally titled "The String Machine Epic". A machine the band used on stage. First your hear excerpts of Winston Churchill's famous 4 June 1940 House of Commons speech regarding Britain's involvement in the Second World War ("Never Surrender") followed by sounds of police cars and bells from London's Big Ben clock tower. Also a short sample of the band's hit song "Dreamer" can be heared in the song.
"Lover Boy" was inspired by advertisements in men's magazines telling you how to pick up women. If you haven't slept with at least five women in two weeks you can get your money back.
ARTWORK
The Album cover displayed a piano with banch at the Eldora Mountain Ski Resort which was very near the Caribou Ranch Studios. The lyrics to "Fool's Overture" are placed on the piano.
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| Original album cover |
Even In The Quietest Moments (1977)
Give a Little Bit / Lover Boy / Even in the Quietest Moments / Downstream / Babaji / From Now On / Fool's Overture
AUDIO/VIDEO
Fool's Overture
Give A Little Bit