Supertramp – If Everyone is Listening

 

This version of 'If Everyone Was Listening' recorded in 1972 is a rare find..... 






I am a massive fan of the 70’s progressive rock and progressive pop band Supertramp and have been for years. I especially like the Albums Crime of the Century , Even in the Quietest Moments and Crisis what Crisis? and like every track on those albums , I can (and do) listen over and over again over the years, starting with Vinyl records when I was younger and Cassette tapes for the car and even had Supertramp Album on an old 8 Track cassette tape at one time. – then Later on Youtube came along and it was like a dream come true with the amount of Supertramp Content on there

– I also like Roger Hodgson’s (one of the lead singers) Solo video’s up on Youtube which he has a lot on there. I even listen to supertramp cover bands from around the world on youtube and most of them are extremely good and I would definitely try to get to their concerts if I could if they ever decided to play near us.

The other night I was doing a search on youtube and up came a real gem of an early version of one of their tracks ‘If everyone was listening’ from the hugely successful 3rd Studio Album ‘Crime of the Century’ released in 1974 (the previous 2 Albums flopped with just Roger and Rick at the helm without the other band members)

This particular version of the song (Written by Roger) was called ‘If everyone is Listening’ and recorded in 1972 at the Maida Vale Studio in London for the The John Peel/BBC Sessions .

I was so excited to find this early version of ‘If everyone was (is) listening’ recently on youtube and found it fascinating that the songs lyrics originally reflected what I would say of a soldier going to war – quite a striking difference to the lyrics of the 1974 version on the Crime of the Century Album that I depict to be a love song of possibly a couple going through a rough patch and trying to repair their marriage – have a look at the lyrics of the 2 and decide for yourself what the songs are meant to be about.

If Everyone is Listening The John Peel/BBC Sessions Tape 1972\

(not very good quality) – Rogers Voice Enhanced by Ai



....and here is their original that I am sure everyone knows how it sounds:

If Everyone Was listening 1974 Studio Album Track from Crime of the Century