Editing Supertramp (section)

===1969–1972: Formation, ''Supertramp'' and ''Indelibly Stamped''===
In 1969 Stanley "Sam" August Miesegaes, a Dutch millionaire, ceased providing financial support to a band called The Joint, as he was disappointed with them. He offered [[Swindon]]-born keyboardist [[Rick Davies]], a former bandmate of Irish singer-songwriter [[Gilbert O'Sullivan]], whose talent he felt had been "bogged down" by the group,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Melhuish|first=Martin|title=The Supertramp Book|place=Toronto, Canada|publisher=Omnibus Press|year=1986|isbn=0-9691272-2-7|page=22}}</ref> an opportunity to form his own band with Miesegaes's financial backing.<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/supertramp-p5562/biography |title=Supertramp |website=AllMusic |access-date=26 October 2011}}</ref> The band included [[Roger Hodgson]] (bass and vocals), [[Richard Palmer-James|Richard Palmer]] (guitars and vocals) and [[Keith Baker (musician)|Keith Baker]] (percussion).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trimaximalist |date=2022-04-16 |title=Supertramp - |url=https://jazzrocksoul.com/artists/supertramp/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |language=en-US}}</ref>

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 English private school to the music business and was fond of [[pop music|pop]]. Despite this, they hit it off during the auditions<ref>{{Cite book|last=Melhuish|first=Martin|title=The Supertramp Book|place=Toronto, Canada|publisher=Omnibus Press|year=1986|isbn=0-9691272-2-7|page=28}}</ref> and began writing virtually all of their songs together, with Palmer as a third writer in the mix. Hodgson and Davies collaborated on the songwriting while Palmer composed the lyrics.<ref name="HuffPostCrime">{{cite web|title=Crime Of The Century: Chatting with Roger Hodgson|website=[[HuffPost]] |date=16 December 2014 |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ragogna/crime-of-the-century-chat_b_6331502.html|access-date=8 August 2015}}</ref><ref name="AcousticStorm">{{cite web|title=The Eye of the Acoustic Storm: Supertramp/Roger Hodgson|url=http://www.acousticstorm.com/artists/view/99|access-date=8 August 2015}}</ref>

The group, having dubbed themselves "Daddy",<ref name="Fuentes, Abel 2021">Fuentes, Abel (2021). Tramp's Footprints: The History of Supertramp. UNO Editorial. ISBN 978-8418881374.</ref> after several months of rehearsal at a country house in [[West Hythe]], Kent, flew to [[Munich]] for a series of concerts at the P. N. Club.<ref name="MelhuishEarly">{{Cite book|last=Melhuish|first=Martin|title=The Supertramp Book|place=Toronto, Canada|publisher=[[Omnibus Press]]|year=1986|isbn=0-9691272-2-7|pages=31–41}}</ref> One 10-minute performance there of "[[All Along the Watchtower]]" was filmed by [[Haro Senft]] (''Daddy Portrait 1970'').<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0934585/ |title=Daddy Portrait 1970 |publisher=[[IMDb]] }}</ref> The rehearsals had been less than productive and their initial repertoire consisted of only four songs, two of which were covers.<ref name="MelhuishEarly"/>

In January 1970 Keith Baker left, replaced by former stage actor Robert Millar (b. 2 February 1950 – d. 22 July 2024),<ref>[https://www.thelogicalweb.com/mas-contenidos/noticias/1755-muere-robert-millar-el-bateria-del-primer-disco-de-supertramp.html Muere Robert Millar, el batería del primer disco de Supertramp], The Logical Web. Retrieved 13 October 2024</ref><ref>[http://www.tamworthbands.com/bakerloo/index.htm "Bakerloo"], Tamworth Bands: History 1960 to 1990. Retrieved 13 August 2011.</ref> and to avoid confusion with "Daddy Longlegs",<ref name="MelhuishEarly"/> at Palmer's suggestion, the band changed its name to "Supertramp", a moniker inspired by ''[[The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp]]'' by [[W. H. Davies|William Henry Davies]].<ref>[http://www.classicbands.com/supertramp.html "Supertramp"], www.classicbands.com. Retrieved 26 September 2011.</ref>

In April 1970 Supertramp, while back in Munich, returned the favour to their friend Haro Senft by contributing music to his next film, ''{{ill|Purgatory (1971 film)|de|3=Fegefeuer (1971)|lt=Purgatory}}'' (a.k.a. ''Fegefeuer''), and would also agree to have tracks from their first album used in a documentary, ''Extremes'' (1971), by [[Tony Klinger]] and Michael Lytton.

Supertramp were one of the first groups to be signed to the UK branch of [[A&M Records]] and their first album, ''[[Supertramp (album)|Supertramp]]'', was released on 14 August 1970 in the UK and Canada (it would not be issued in the US until late 1977). Stylistically, the album was fairly typical of [[progressive rock]] of the era. Despite receiving a good deal of critical praise, the album did not attract a large audience.<ref name="MelhuishEarly"/>

Dave Winthrop (flute and saxophone, vocals) had first auditioned for the group in March 1970 but did not join until July, just before the release of the first record. He performed with Supertramp at the [[Isle of Wight Festival 1970|1970 Isle of Wight Festival]] on 27 August 1970.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pratopublished |first=Greg |date=2019-09-18 |title=Anarchists, fire and rock'n'roll: the ultimate guide to the 1970 Isle Of Wight Festival |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/anarchists-fire-and-rocknroll-the-ultimate-guide-to-the-1970-isle-of-wight-festival |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=louder |language=en}}</ref> 

The membership continued to change in the six months following the album's release. Palmer left the band in December 1970, followed by Millar in January 1971, who had suffered a nervous breakdown.<ref name="Swindon profile">(8 March 2009). [http://www.swindonweb.com/?m=8&s=9&ss=1098&c=4981&t=30+Years+on+from+Breakfast+in+America "30 Years on from Breakfast in America"], Swindonweb.</ref> Palmer, as Richard Palmer-James, went on to work as a lyricist for [[King Crimson]]. Palmer was replaced by former [[The Nice]] guitarist [[David O'List]], who lasted for only one gig. A drummer from Birmingham, Dickie Thomas, was brought in during the interim until auditions brought the band Kevin Currie in February 1971.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://theprogressiveaspect.net/blog/2022/03/22/abel-fuentes-tramps-footprints-the-history-of-supertramp/|title=Abel Fuentes – Tramp's Footprints (The History of Supertramp)|first=Dave|last=Cookson|date=22 March 2022|accessdate=17 March 2023}}</ref>

South African Russel Pope, who started out working as a roadie for the band and later handled their sound, talks of his first joining them and their early days:
<blockquote>
"I joined on December 28th 1970. Rick and Roger shared a moth eaten flat in Maida Vale, West London, no furniture, just a couple of beds. Richard Palmer had just left, reasons unknown to me. Bob Millar quit soon afterwards, the first of many 'Spinal Tap' moments to come. I have a vague memory of David O'List being mentioned by Rick in some scathing way, but if he was involved it must have been for about five minutes. Richard Palmer was already gone when I arrived. There was no guitarist. The band was a four piece: Roger Hodgson on bass, Rick Davies on organ mostly, Dave Winthrop on sax and flute and Bob Millar on drums. Dave was pretty much the lead singer, Roger sang about a third of the set. Rick didn't sing at all. Very strange line up for a rock band but it worked, although the music had no relevance to who they became in later incarnations. I joined Supertramp as an extra pair of hands to load and unload the van. No more, no less. I was broke, freezing and about to be homeless and somebody said 'Does anyone want to go to Norway with some band or other for ten pounds a week'? It was a fortune to me at that time. I volunteered. Who knew? The infamous Norway expedition started on the 28th of December 1970. We took the ferry from Newcastle to Bergen and the first gig was on December 30th on top of a mountain and the audience mostly arrived on skis. At the end of the show they were all screaming drunk and commenced beating the crap out of each other with chairs. The van stayed on that mountain until the spring of 1971 as it expired after getting up the steep climb. The expedition lasted about ten days in a new rented van, ferries and icy roads with 1,000 feet drops into the fjiords. Beautiful, terrifying. All I could think was 'What the hell have I done'?<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thelogicalweb.com/mas-contenidos/the-logical-web/entrevistas-en-exclusiva/671-russel-pope-en-qthe-logical-webq-septiembre-2009.html?start=1 | title=English version - Página 2 }}</ref>
</blockquote>

For the next album, ''[[Indelibly Stamped]]'', released in June 1971 in both the UK and US, [[Frank Farrell (musician)|Frank Farrell]] (bass, keyboards, backing vocals)  joined, while Hodgson switched to guitar and Davies served as a second lead singer. With Palmer's departure, Hodgson and Davies wrote and composed separately for this and the band's subsequent albums.<ref name="RHArtistDirect">{{cite web|title=Roger Hodgson Biography|url=http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/bio/roger-hodgson/444643|access-date=18 August 2015|archive-date=23 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923175220/http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/bio/roger-hodgson/444643|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="CrypticRock">{{cite web|title=Roger Hodgson inspires at The Paramount Huntington, NY 11-11-14|date=26 December 2014 |url=http://crypticrock.com/roger-hodgson-inspires-at-the-paramount-huntington-ny-11-11-14/|access-date=18 August 2015}}</ref> The record sold even less than their debut.<ref name="Swindon profile"/> In the aftermath, all members gradually quit except Hodgson and Davies,<ref name="allmusic"/> and Miesegaes withdrew his financial support in October 1972.<ref name="MelhuishEarly"/>