In 1969, Sam August Miesegaes, a Dutch millionaire, stopped supporting The Joint (band) with money, He gave band member Rick Davies a chance to make his own band with his financial support. The band included Roger Hodgson, Richard Palmer and Keith Baker. Roger Hodgson had came from a private school and had recently tried making a band called Argosy, releasing a 7" single, "Imagine / Mr. Boyd". The group went through many name ideas, including "Daddy" and "Idle Hands", this name used on one of their 4 songs lined up, 2 being covers. The repotroire included All Along The Watchtower, Remember, Goldrush and another song. Then, after several months of rehearsal at Hythe, The Idle Hands flew to Munich for a series of concerts. One of their songs was a 10 minute cover of 'All Along The Watchtower'. One of their original songs, "Remember", was found on aceate disc, and was put onto Circus Days Vol 6 (UK Psychedelia 1966-1972), a compilation of rare music from the Psychedelic era of music. "Remember" was edited and later became "Words Unspoken".
The cover for Imagine / Mr. Boyd
The cover for Circus Days Vol. 6
In 1970, Keith left and Robert Millar replaced him. To avoid confusion with the band, "Daddy Longlegs", Palmer suggested that they change their name from Daddy to Supertramp, inspired by The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp by William Henry Davies. In April 1970, Supertramp, played music as the soundtrack to the movie Fegefeuer (purgatory), 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, was released on 14 August 1970 in the UK and Canada. The album did not attract a large audience and would'nt get very popular until their peak, when everyone wanted to hear more Supertramp.
The Supertramp logo in 1970, used on Supertramp
Dave Winthrop 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 1970 Isle of Wight Festival on 27 August 1970. The membership continued to change in the six months following the album's release, with Palmer leaving the band in December 1970, followed by Millar in January 1971. For the next album, Indelibly Stamped, released in June 1971 in both the UK and US, Frank Farrell 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, writing their own songs. The record sold even less than their debut, and the band lost hope. All members quit except Hodgson and Davies, and Miesegaes withdrew his financial support to them.
The Supertramp logo in 1971, used on Indelibly Stamped
Supertramp was at an all time low. After failing twice, auditions began for new members.
