Editing Supertramp (section)

===1973–1978: ''Crime of the Century'' and commercial breakthrough===
After Farrell's departure in the spring of 1972, 20-year-old bassist Nick South (from [[Alexis Korner]]'s band) came in for a temporary stint until [[Dougie Thomson]] (from [[The Alan Bown Set]]) joined in July. In the summer of 1973 more auditions to replace the departed Curry and Winthrop started and introduced [[Bob Siebenberg]], initially credited as Bob C. Benberg, and another Alan Bown alumnus, [[John Helliwell]] adding saxophone, other [[woodwind instrument|woodwinds]], occasional keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals, completing the lineup in the summer of 1973. Hodgson would also begin introducing compositions featuring keyboards, particularly the [[Wurlitzer electric piano]], in the band in addition to guitar.<ref name="allmusic"/> This lineup of Supertramp would remain in place for the next ten years.

Meanwhile, the bond between Davies and Hodgson had begun weakening. Hodgson mused, "There's a very deep bond, but it's definitely mostly on a musical level. When there's just the two of us playing together, there's an incredible empathy. His down-to-earth way of writing, which is very rock 'n' roll, balances out my lighter, melodic style."<ref name="UltimateClassicRockBIA">{{cite web|title=35 Years Ago: Supertramp Release 'Breakfast in America'|url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/supertramp-breakfast-in-america/|access-date=28 February 2015}}</ref> Over Supertramp's history, their relationship would be amicable but increasingly distant as their lifestyles and musical inclinations drifted apart. Their songwriting partnership gradually dissolved. Although all of Supertramp's songs would continue to be officially credited as "written by Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson", most of them were written individually.

In 1973 a young [[A&M Records]] [[A&R]] executive, Dave Mergerson, was impressed by their new demos and was instrumental in getting them resigned to A&M. By 1974 he had left the label to take over as Supertramp's full-time manager.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/supertramp-manader-dave-margereson | title=How manager Dave Margereson rebuilt Supertramp and helped them deliver a set of classic prog albums | date=29 October 2024 }}</ref>  With money advanced from A&M, the group, with family, friends and crew, moved to a cottage called Southcombe in [[Somerset]], where they spent the rest of 1973 and a good part of 1974 living together and working on material for their third album.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/supertramp-breakfast-in-america | title="There have never been fisticuffs in this band… Just tense silences": How Supertramp made the classic Breakfast in America | date=16 March 2024 }}</ref> 

But Supertramp needed a hit record to continue working and finally got one with ''[[Crime of the Century (album)|Crime of the Century]]''. Released in September 1974, it began the group's run of critical and commercial successes, hitting number 4 in Britain,<ref name="UK chart"/> number 38 in the US and number 4 in Canada. This album made the top 100 albums in Canada three years in a row in 1974, 1975 and 1976, even though it did not have a Top 40 hit in Canada. "[[Dreamer (Supertramp song)|Dreamer]]", the 1975 UK Top 20 single written by Hodgson, was the band's first hit single and drove the album to the top of the charts.<ref name="HodgsonTourRelease">{{cite press release| title = SUPERTRAMP Co-Founder ROGER HODGSON...| publisher = PR Newswire | date = 23 October 2014 | url = http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/supertramp-co-founder-roger-hodgson-readies-fall-tour-as-crime-of-the-century-celebrates-40th-anniversary-682074984.html  | access-date = 13 August 2015 }}</ref> Another single from the record, "[[Bloody Well Right]]", hit the US Top 40 in May 1975 and would be their only hit in the country for more than two years.<ref name="Billboard">[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=supertramp|chart=all}} Supertramp chart history], Billboard.com. Retrieved 6 August 2011.</ref>

With a hit album under their belt, pressures on the band increased and the follow-up ''[[Crisis? What Crisis?]]'' had to be recorded in the few months between two scheduled concert tours. As a consequence, most of the material consisted of leftover songs from ''Crime of the Century''. Decades later the band would continue to regard the album as one of their worst moments.<ref>30th Anniversary Supertramp Feature, http://www.inthestudio.net/''[[In the Studio (radio show)|In the Studio]]''.{{Cite book|last=Melhuish|first=Martin|title=The Supertramp Book|place=Toronto, Canada|publisher=Omnibus Press|year=1986|isbn=0-9691272-2-7|page=120}}</ref>  Nevertheless, Hodgson said in a 2015 interview that ''Crisis? What Crisis?'' was his favourite Supertramp album.<ref>{{Citation|title=Roger Hodgson: Will Supertramp reunite? - Wird es eine Supertramp Reunion geben?|date=16 July 2015|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdd6FGJulAw| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/Tdd6FGJulAw| archive-date=30 October 2021|access-date=4 March 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Despite Supertramp's own misgivings, the album was well received by critics. When released in November 1975, it broke both the UK Top Twenty<ref name="UK chart"/> and the US Top Fifty in spite of its singles all being commercial flops.

The following album, ''[[Even in the Quietest Moments...]]'', released in April 1977, spawned a hit single with "[[Give a Little Bit]]" (number 15 US, number 29 UK, number 8 in Canada), first written by Hodgson at 19 or 20 years of age before he introduced it to the band for recording five to six years later.<ref name="DPRP">{{cite web|title=Giving A Little Bit: A Conversation With Roger Hodgson|url=http://www.dprp.net/specials/2006_hodgson|access-date=28 February 2015}}</ref> As usual, the popularity of the album itself eclipsed that of its singles and ''Even in the Quietest Moments...'' hit number 16 in the US,<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/album/even-in-the-quietest-moments-mw0000191948/awards Even in the Quietest Moments... Billboard charts], Allmusic. Retrieved 1 November 2012.</ref> number 12 in the UK and number 1 in Canada.<ref name="UK chart"/> During this period, the band permanently relocated to [[Los Angeles]].