1970-1971

* Rick Davies - vocals, piano, harmonica, keyboards
* Roger Hodgson - vocals, piano, guitars, keyboards, cello
* Richard Palmer - vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, balalaika
* Robert Millar - percussion, harmonica

1971-1972

* Rick Davies - vocals, piano, harmonica, keyboards,
* Roger Hodgson - vocals, lead, acoustic and bass guitars
* Frank Farrell - backing vocal, bass, piano, accordion
* Kevin Currie - percussion
* Dave Winthrop - vocals, flute, saxophone

1973-1983

* Rick Davies - vocals, piano, harmonica, keyboards, Melodica
* Roger Hodgson - vocals, piano, guitars, keyboards
* Dougie Thomson - bass
* Bob Siebenberg - drums, percussion
* John Helliwell - saxophone, woodwinds, backing vocal, keyboards, melodica

1984-1988

* Rick Davies - vocals, piano, harmonica, keyboards
* Dougie Thomson - bass
* Bob Siebenberg - drums, percussion
* John Helliwell - saxophone, woodwinds, backing vocal, keyboards, melodica

with

* Marty Walsh - Guitars
* Mark Hart - vocals, keyboard, guitar
* Lee Thornburg - backing vocals, trombone, trumpet

1997

* Rick Davies - vocals, piano, harmonica, keyboards
* Bob Siebenberg - drums, percussion
* Mark Hart - vocals, keyboard, guitar
* John Helliwell - saxophone, woodwinds, backing vocal, keyboards, melodica
* Carl Verheyen - guitar
* Lee Thornburg - backing vocals, trombone, trumpet
* Cliff Hugo - bass
* Tom Walsh - percussion

1997-2002

* Rick Davies - vocals, piano, harmonica, keyboards
* Bob Siebenberg - drums, percussion
* Mark Hart - vocals, keyboard, guitar
* John Helliwell - saxophone, woodwinds, backing vocal, keyboards, melodica
* Carl Verheyen - guitar
* Lee Thornburg - backing vocals, trombone, trumpet
* Cliff Hugo - bass
* Jesse Siebenberg - backing vocals, percussion, acoustic guitar (playing "Give A Little Bit" in live performances)

Tour support musician

* Scott Page - saxophone, flute, guitar, percussion, vocals
* Fred Mandel - keyboards, guitar

Backed by a Dutch millionaire named Stanley August Miesegaes, vocalist and pianist Rick Davies (born Richard Davies, July 22, 1944 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England) used newspaper advertising in Melody Maker to recruit an early version of the band in August 1969, an effort which recruited vocalist/guitarist and keyboardist Roger Hodgson (born Charles Roger Pomfret Hodgson, March 21, 1950 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England). Other members of this embryonic Supertramp group included Richard Palmer (guitar, balalaika, vocals) (born Richard Jeffrey Charles Palmer-James, 11 June 1947, in Bournemouth, Dorset) and Robert Millar (percussion, harmonica) (born 2 February 1950). Initially, Roger Hodgson sang and played bass guitar (and on the side, guitar, cello and flageolet). The band was called Daddy from August 1969 to Early 1970, when the band became Supertramp.

They were one of the first groups to be signed to UK A&M Records. The first album, Supertramp, was released in July 1970 in the UK only (it was first issued in the US in 1977). Although it was very interesting musically, it proved a commercial disappointment. Richard Palmer abruptly quit six months after the album's release and Robert Millar suffered a nervous breakdown shortly afterwards. For the next album, Frank Farrell (bass) (born in 1947 in Birmingham, Warwickshire), Kevin Currie (percussion) (born in Liverpool, Lancashire) and Dave Winthrop (flute and saxophone) (born 27 November 1948, in New Jersey, USA) replaced Millar and Palmer, Roger Hodgson switched to guitar and recorded the new album Indelibly Stamped, released in June 1971 (in both UK and US). It featured rocking Beatlesque tunes, with vocal harmonies similar to Simon and Garfunkel songs, more commercial approach and eye-catching cover artwork. Supertramp had established themselves as a "cult" band. Sales, however, failed to improve and sold even less than their debut. In early 1972, Miesegaes withdrew his support from the band after paying off debts. All members gradually quit except Hodgson and Davies.

(These two first albums were later reissued during Supertramp's popularity peak and have maintained a certain appeal with die-hard fans. The first album is melancholic and quieter and the songs are spread out more than they would be later on. Roger Hodgson once called it his favourite Supertramp album. The second album is their most traditionally rock album, and certainly their heaviest sound.)

[edit] Initial success and commercial breakthrough

In late 1972, after being persuaded to carry on, Davies and Hodgson went on an extensive search for replacements, which first brought aboard Dougie Thomson (born Douglas Campbell Thomson, March 24, 1951 in Rutherglen, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland) (bass), who played with the band almost a year before auditions resumed to complete the line-up. In 1973, auditions restarted and brought in Bob Siebenberg (born Robert Layne Siebenberg, October 31, 1949 in Glendale, California, USA, drums, and often credited as Bob C. Benberg), and John Helliwell (born John Anthony Helliwell, February 15, 1945 in Todmorden, Yorkshire, England) (saxophone, other woodwinds, occasional keyboards, backing vocals), joining original members Davies and Hodgson and the newly brought in Thomson, completing the line-up that would create the group's defining albums. Hodgson would also begin playing keyboards in the band in addition to guitar, usually acoustic and electric pianos on his own compositions. His inspirational piano method would become a staple in the band, as heard on "Dreamer," "The Logical Song," "Take the Long Way Home," and many others, and would earn him the nickname "hammerheads" in the band. The classic Supertramp keyboard is a Wurlitzer electric piano with its unmistakable bright sound and biting distortion when played hard.

Crime of the Century, released in September 1974, began the group's run of critical and commercial successes, hitting number four in Britain, supp

Hodgson and Davies' differing singing and songwriting styles provided these albums with an interesting counterpoint, contrasting Davies' determined blues-rockers and songs of broken relationships ("Another Man's Woman", "From Now On", "Goodbye Stranger") with Hodgson's wistful introspection ("Dreamer", "School", "Fool's Overture", "The Logical Song"), but Hodgson felt constrained by the arrangement and left the band after the tour for their next album, ...Famous Last Words... (1982) which contained the Top 20 hit "It's Raining Again" and the Top 40 hit "My Kind of Lady". There was much speculation behind the reasons why Roger Hodgson left Supertramp. In an interview in the 90's Hodgson stated that family was the main reason he left the band. He also went on to say that his wife at the time and Rick Davies' wife did not get along very well and it became a big conflict for the group. He said there was never any real personal or professional problems between him and Rick Davies as some people thought.

Having left the band in 1983, Hodgson began a solo career, his biggest hit "Had A Dream (Sleeping With the Enemy)" coming from his first solo album In the Eye of the Storm, in 1984.

The Davies-led Supertramp soldiered on, releasing Brother Where You Bound the same year. This included a Top 30 hit single, "Cannonball", along with the title track, a 16-minute exposition on Cold War themes highlighted by guitar solos from Pink Floyd's David Gilmour. The album reached #21 on the US charts. 1987's Free as a Bird included more straightforward Davies rockers, including "I'm Beggin' You", which reached Number 1 on the US dance charts, a curious accomplishment for an "art rock" band.

After 1987's tour, Thomson left the band due to a disagreement with Davies about the use of Hodgson-penned songs during live performances. One of the conditions of allowing Davies to continue with the name Supertramp was that no Hodgson songs would be performed. Hodgson was dismayed to attend a concert and find that the band was performing his songs such as "Take the Long Way Home" and "The Logical Song." These songs were usually sung by Crowded House's Mark Hart (Hodgson's replacement on stage), and the Scottish bass player was against this move. When Supertramp reunited in 1997, Thomson declined an invitation to return and eventually quit playing for good.

In 1993, Davies approached Hodgson in an effort to bring him back to the band, but this attempt failed. In interviews published on his and other fan forums, Hodgson later claimed he had been more than willing to rejoin Supertramp, but only if Davies's wife, Susan, abstained from interfering in band affairs (a problem that became an issue during the time before Hodgson originally left). Sue Davies was A&R at A&M (in charge of welcoming the band and helping them settle) when Supertramp moved to Los Angeles in the mid-70s, and, as the romance between Davies and her blossomed, she quit A&M and started managing the band. Having to deal with two Davieses instead of one increased Hodgson's frustrations, and prompted his departure. Davies declined to exclude his wife from his professional affairs, and Hodgson never heard from him again.

In 1997 Davies re-formed Supertramp with former members Helliwell, Siebenberg, and Hart and several new musicians. The result was Some Things Never Change, a polished effort which echoed the earlier Supertramp sound. Ironically, that same year saw the release of Rites of Passage, Roger Hodgson's first solo album since Hai Hai in 1987. Rites of Passage was a live album featuring both new works from Roger as well as three Supertramp songs ("Take the Long Way Home", "The Logical Song" and "Give a Little Bit").

In an ironic reversal two years later, the reformed Supertramp released a live album, It Was The Best Of Times while Roger released a studio album Open The Door.

Early 2002 saw the release of another album by Davies and the reformed Supertramp, Slow Motion (so