The Autobiography of Supertramp
The Autobiography of Supertramp is the first compilation album by the British rock band Supertramp, released in 1986.
The collection features the most popular songs from the albums Crime of the Century, Even in the Quietest Moments, Breakfast in America, ...Famous Last Words..., and Brother Where You Bound. The CD version adds three tracks, including a song from Crisis? What Crisis?.
The cover art shows a suit-wearing, faceless man seated in a train carriage reading a book with his own face on the cover. The view from the train window shows the platform with stylised versions of the cover art from three of Supertramp's albums. The title is a nod to the book The Autobiography Of A Super-Tramp by W.H. Davies, from which the band took its name.
The album was also released in the US as Classics, Volume 9, part of A&M's 25th Anniversary series.
The album was re-released as The Very Best of Supertramp in 1990 with "School" from Crime of the Century added as the first track.
Reception
AllMusic's retrospective review commented that The Very Best of Supertramp is a superior compilation with its choice of tracks.Track listing
All songs written by Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson, except where noted.Original release
LP album
- "Goodbye Stranger" – 4:25
- "The Logical Song" – 3:45
- "Bloody Well Right" – 4:16
- "Breakfast in America" – 2:37
- "Take the Long Way Home" – 4:03
- "Crime of the Century" – 5:20
- "Dreamer" – 3:19
- "From Now On" – 6:10
- "Give a Little Bit" – 4:03
- "It's Raining Again" – 4:25
- "Cannonball" – 4:47
Compact disc (Issued as A&M ''Classics, Volume 9'' in the U.S. and Canada)
- "Goodbye Stranger" – 4:29
- "The Logical Song" – 3:47
- "Bloody Well Right" – 4:17
- "Breakfast in America" – 2:38
- "Rudy" – 7:17
- "Take the Long Way Home" – 4:06
- "Crime of the Century" – 5:32
- "Dreamer" – 3:31
- "Ain't Nobody But Me" – 5:07
- "Hide in Your Shell" – 6:47
- "From Now On" – 6:10
- "Give a Little Bit" – 4:08
- "It's Raining Again" – 4:23
- "Cannonball" – 4:51
Personnel
;Supertramp- Rick Davies – keyboard, harmonica, vocals
- Roger Hodgson – guitar, keyboards, vocals
- Dougie Thomson – bass
- John Helliwell – saxophone, woodwinds, keyboards, glockenspiel
- Bob Siebenberg – drums, percussion
- Slyde Hyde – trombone on "Breakfast in America"
- Marty Walsh – guitar on "Cannonball"
- Doug Wintz – trombone on "Cannonball"
Production
- Producers: Ken Scott, Peter Henderson, David Kershenbaum and Supertramp
- Mastering: Bernie Grundman, Norman Hall - Bernie Grundman Mastering, Inc.
- Cover design: Richard Frankel, Norman Moore
- Photography: Ron Slenzak
- Poster illustrations: Holly Hollington