HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Andrew James Summers (born 31 December 1942), is an English guitarist who was a member of the rock band The Police. He was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
as a band member in 2003. Summers has recorded solo albums, collaborated with other musicians, composed film scores, and exhibited his photography in galleries.


Early life

Andrew James Summers was born in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England, on 31 December 1942. During his childhood, his family moved to
Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
, which was then in Hampshire. After several years of piano lessons, he took up the guitar. At an early age, he played jazz guitar. In his teens, he saw a concert by Thelonious Monk and
Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...
in London that left a lasting impression. By 16, he was playing in local clubs, and by 19, he had moved to London with his friend Zoot Money to form
Zoot Money's Big Roll Band Zoot Money's Big Roll Band is a British rhythm and blues and soul group, also influenced by jazz, formed in England by Zoot Money, in the early autumn of 1961. The band has had a number of personnel changes over the years and was still perform ...
.


Musical career


Pre-Police career

Summers's professional career began in the mid-1960s in London as guitarist for the British rhythm and blues band Zoot Money's Big Roll Band, which eventually came under the influence of the psychedelic scene and evolved into the acid rock group Dantalian's Chariot. In September 1966, Summers was the first guitarist encountered by
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
after landing in the UK. The young Summers is portrayed in fiction as one of the "two main love interests" in Jenny Fabian and Johnny Byrne's 1969 book ''Groupie'', in which he is given the pseudonym "Davey". After the demise of Dantalian's Chariot, Summers joined
Soft Machine Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966–196 ...
for three months and toured the United States. For a brief time in 1968, he was a member of the Animals, then known as Eric Burdon and the Animals, with whom he recorded one album, '' Love Is''. The album features a recording of Traffic's "Coloured Rain", which includes a 4minute and 15 second guitar solo by Summers. The LP also included a reworked version of Dantalian's Chariot's sole single "Madman Running Through the Fields". After five years in Los Angeles, mostly spent studying
classical guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...
and composition in the music programme at
California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...
, from which he graduated in 1972, he returned to London with his American girlfriend, Kate Lunken. In London, Summers recorded and toured with acts including Kevin Coyne, Jon Lord, Joan Armatrading, David Essex, Neil Sedaka and Kevin Ayers. In October 1975 he participated in an orchestral rendition of Mike Oldfield's '' Tubular Bells''. In 1977, Summers was invited by ex- Gong bassist Mike Howlett to join his band Strontium 90, but was soon coaxed away by future Police bandmates
Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...
and Stewart Copeland.


The Police

Summers achieved international fame as the guitarist for the Police, which he joined in 1977, eventually replacing original guitarist Henry Padovani. Emerging from London's punk scene, the Police gained international renown with many hit songs, including " Message in a Bottle", " Roxanne", " Don't Stand So Close to Me", " Every Breath You Take", and " Every Little Thing She Does is Magic". During his time with the band, Summers twice won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, first in 1979 for " Reggatta de Blanc" (written with Copeland and Sting) and in 1980 for "
Behind My Camel "Behind My Camel" is the eighth track from the 1980 album ''Zenyatta Mondatta'' by the British rock band The Police. The song was written by guitarist Andy Summers and was the first one to be composed solely by him during his career in The Polic ...
". Although Sting was the lead singer of the band, Summers occasionally contributed lead vocals, as in "Be My Girl/Sally" (1978), "Friends" (1980), "Mother" (1983), and "Someone to Talk To" (1983). Other notable Summers compositions from this period are "Omegaman" (which would have been released as the debut single from the 1981 '' Ghost in the Machine'' album had Sting not objected), "Shambelle" (1981), "Once Upon a Daydream," and "Murder by Numbers" both co-written with Sting (both 1983). In early 1984, after seven years together and record sales around 80 million, the Police disbanded. Summers wrote the guitar riff for "Every Breath You Take", though was not given a songwriting credit. It was recorded in one take with his 1961 Fender Stratocaster during the ''Synchronicity'' sessions. The song was number one for eight weeks. Sting won the 1983 Grammy Award for Song of the Year, and the Police won Best Pop Performance by a Duo Or Group With Vocal for this song. Summers provides an account of the session in his memoir, ''One Train Later''. As a member of the Police, Summers created a trademark guitar sound, which relied heavily on a chorus effect. He explained in 2017 how the sound came about:
"I created it sort of out of necessity; my mission was 'We're going to play for two hours each night as a trio,' so I wanted to have this fantastic, coloured guitar sound that was different for every song. So, I used the Echoplex, then a chorus, and a few other pedals…envelope filters. As we went on, I acquired more stuff and got a
Pete Cornish Pete Cornish is a British designer of electric guitar effects and other electronic musical instruments. He is mainly noted for his elaborate fully custom guitar pedalboard systems. He has worked for Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, T ...
board, but what was driving it was to invade and push the edge of what the guitar was supposed to sound like, and make it really interesting over a show. So, it wasn't just one straight sound all the time. I could move it around. And it was appreciated by many millions of people (laughs). Of course, it's very tired and a bit 'retro' now; I'm not very keen on it anymore. But in those days it was new, fresh, and exciting."


Post-Police

Summers's solo career has included recording, touring, composing for films (including '' Down and Out in Beverly Hills'' and '' Weekend at Bernie's''), and exhibiting his photography in art galleries around the world. He recorded the duet albums '' I Advance Masked'' (1982) and ''Bewitched'' (1984) with guitarist Robert Fripp of King Crimson, as well as duet albums with Victor Biglione, John Etheridge, and
Benjamin Verdery Benjamin Verdery (born 1955) is an American classical guitarist, composer and teacher.Summerfield, Maurice J ''The Classical Guitar: Its Evolution and Its Players Since 1800'' Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK: Ashley Mark Publishing, 1991. Retrieved Nove ...
. His solo debut album, '' XYZ'', was released in 1987 and is the only noninstrumental album in his solo catalogue. Although it included pop material, such as the single "Love is the Strangest Way", it failed to dent the charts. In 1987, Sting invited Summers to perform on his second album '' ...Nothing Like the Sun'', a favour the singer returned by playing bass on ''
Charming Snakes ''Charming Snakes'' is an album by the English musician Andy Summers. It was released in 1990. Summers supported the album by opening the 1991 Montreal International Jazz Festival; he also played shows with John McLaughlin. Production The album ...
'' (1990) and later contributing vocals to " 'Round Midnight" on Summers' tribute album to Thelonious Monk, ''Green Chimneys'', in 1999. In the mid-1990s Summers briefly returned to a more rock-oriented sound with ''Synesthesia'' (1995) and ''The Last Dance of Mr X'' (1997) before recording a string of jazz albums. He also participated in the formation of Animal Logic. In 1992, he led the house band (credited as musical director) for '' The Dennis Miller Show''.


The Police reunion

During the
2007 Grammy Awards The 49th Annual Grammy Awards was a ceremony honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2005 and ending September 30, 2006 in the United States. The awards were handed out on Sunday, February 11, 2007 at the Staples Ce ...
show, the Police played "Roxanne" and subsequently announced that they would be going on tour. The Police Reunion Tour began in Vancouver, Canada, on 28 May 2007 and continued until August 2008, becoming the third-highest-grossing tour of all time.


Circa Zero

In August 2013, Summers announced he had formed the band Circa Zero with Rob Giles from
the Rescues The Rescues are an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2008. Their music can be classified as indie pop/rock, and is notable for its use of three and four-part vocal harmonies. History "The Rescues" were formed in 2008 ...
. Originally, drummer Emmanuelle Caplette was also a member of the band. Their debut show was 25 July 2013 at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. The band's debut album, '' Circus Hero'', was released 25 March 2014. It is titled after a malapropism of the band's name made by a radio disc jockey during an interview of Summers.


Call the Police

In March 2017, Summers announced he had formed Call the Police, a Police tribute band, with two Brazilian musicians, Rodrigo Santos ( Barão Vermelho or Red Baron) on bass guitar and vocals and Joao Barone ( Os Paralamas do Sucesso) on drums.


Material loss

In 2019, '' The New York Times Magazine'' listed Summers among hundreds of musicians whose material was destroyed in the
2008 Universal fire On June 1, 2008, a fire broke out on the backlot of Universal Studios Hollywood, an American film studio and theme park in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County, California. The fire began when a worker used a blowtorch to warm asph ...
.


Awards and honours

* Grammy Award, Best Rock Instrumental, "Reggatta de Blanc", 1979 * Grammy Award, Best Rock Instrumental, "Behind My Camel", 1980 * Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction with the Police, 2003 * Chevalier of the
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...
, with the Police, 2007 * Honorary doctorate, Bournemouth University, 2008 * Hall of Fame, ''Guitar Player'' magazine * Vote number one pop guitarist, five years, ''Guitar Player'' magazine * Guiding Light Award, Progressive Music Awards, 2016 * 85th guitarist of all time, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine * Lifetime Achievement Award, Gibson Guitar Awards, 2000 * Lifetime Achievement Award, Roland and BOSS, 2017 * ''One Train Later'' (2006) was voted music book of the year by '' Mojo'' and was turned into the 2012 documentary '' Can't Stand Losing You: Surviving the Police''. The documentary was released on DVD in July 2015.


Personal life

Summers was married to American singer Robin Lane between 1969 and 1970. He married his second wife, Kate, in 1973 and they had one daughter in 1978, Layla Zoe Summers. Summers' years with The Police took its toll on their marriage, however, leading them to divorce in 1981, although they remarried in 1985. In 1987, Kate and Andy's twin sons Maurice X and Anton Y were born. As of 2022, Summers resides in Santa Monica, California, with his wife and family.


Discography


Solo albums

* '' XYZ'' (
MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gene ...
, 1987) * ''Mysterious Barricades'' ( Private Music, 1988) * ''The Golden Wire'' (Private, 1989) * ''
Charming Snakes ''Charming Snakes'' is an album by the English musician Andy Summers. It was released in 1990. Summers supported the album by opening the 1991 Montreal International Jazz Festival; he also played shows with John McLaughlin. Production The album ...
'' (Private, 1990) * '' World Gone Strange'' (Private, 1991) * ''Synaesthesia'' (CMP, 1995) * ''The Last Dance of Mr. X'' (BMG/
RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...
, 1997) * ''A Windham Hill Retrospective'' (Windham Hill Records, 1998) (compilation) * ''Green Chimneys: The Music of Thelonious Monk'' (BMG Classics/RCA Victor, 1999) * ''Peggy's Blue Skylight'' (BMG Classics/RCA Victor, 2000) * ''Earth + Sky'' (Golden Wire, 2003) * ''The X Tracks'' (Golden Wire, 2004) (compilation) * ''Metal Dog'' (Flickering Shadow, 2015) * ''Triboluminescence'' (Flickering Shadow, 2017) * ''Harmonics of the Night'' (Flickering Shadow, 2021)


Collaborations

* '' I Advance Masked'' with Robert Fripp ( A&M, 1982) * ''Bewitched'' with Robert Fripp (A&M, 1984) * ''Invisible Threads'' with John Etheridge (Mesa, 1993) * ''Strings of Desire'' with Victor Biglione (R.A.R.E., 1998) * ''Splendid Brazil'' with Victor Biglione (R.A.R.E., 2005) * ''
First You Build a Cloud ''First You Build a Cloud'' is an album by guitarists Andy Summers and Ben Verdery on the Rare Recordings label. The album consists of twelve guitar duets, with Verdery on acoustic and Summers on electric. Origin Summers and Verdery originally ...
'' with Ben Verdery (R.A.R.E., 2007) * ''Fundamental'' with Fernanda Takai (2012) * '' Circus Hero'' with Rob Giles as Circa Zero (
429 Records 429 Records was an American record label. It was a subsidiary label of Savoy Label Group/Nippon Columbia focusing on indie rock and adult album alternative performers. In addition to releasing new material from musicians such as Dr. John, Little F ...
, 2014)


Film soundtracks

* ''The Wild Life'' (MCA, 1984) * ''
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
'' (A&M, 1984) (contributor) * ''Band of the Hand'' (1985) * '' Down and Out in Beverly Hills'' (MCA, 1986) * ''Weekend at Bernie's'' (Arista, 1989) * ''The Craft'' (Columbia, 1996)


Singles

* "Parade"/"Train" with Robert Fripp (1984) * "
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
"/"To Hal and Back" (1984) * "Love is the Strangest Way"/"Nowhere" (1987)


As band member

With The Police * '' Outlandos d'Amour'' (1978) * '' Reggatta de Blanc'' (1979) * '' Zenyatta Mondatta'' (1980) * '' Ghost in the Machine'' (1981) * ''
Brimstone and Treacle ''Brimstone and Treacle'' is a 1976 BBC television play by Dennis Potter. Originally intended for broadcast as an episode of the series '' Play for Today'', it remained untransmitted until 1987. The play was made into a film version (released i ...
'' (1982) * '' Synchronicity'' (1983) * '' Every Breath You Take: The Singles'' (1986) * '' Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings'' (1993) * ''
Live! Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...
'' (1995) * '' The Police'' (2007) * '' Certifiable: Live in Buenos Aires'' (2008) * ''Every Move You Make: The Studio Recordings'' (2019) With Eric Burdon and the Animals * '' Love Is'' (1968) With Kevin Ayers * ''First Show in the Appearance Business'' (1996) * ''Too Old to Die Young'' (1998) * ''Yes We Have No Mananas, So Get Your Mananas Today'' (EMI/Harvest, 2009) With Kevin Coyne * ''
Matching Head and Feet ''Matching Head and Feet'' is a studio album by musician Kevin Coyne, released in 1975 on the Virgin label. Awarding the album a B+, Robert Christgau wrote: Coyne is the kind of minor artist whose faults-mainly an undeniable narrowness of emot ...
'' (Virgin, 1975) * ''Heartburn'' (Virgin, 1976) * ''In Living Black and White'' (Virgin, 1976) * ''Sign of the Times'' (Virgin, 1994) * ''On Air'' (Tradition & Moderne, 2008) With Dantalian's Chariot * ''Chariot Rising'' (Wooden Hill, 1996) With
Eberhard Schoener Eberhard Schoener (born May 13, 1938, Stuttgart) is a German musician, composer, conductor, and arranger. His activities combine many styles and formats. Originally a classical violinist and conductor of chamber music and opera, he was one of th ...
* ''The Book'' (Ariola 1977) * ''Trance-Formation'' (Harvest/EMI Electrola 1977) * ''Video-Flashback'' (Harvest, 1979) * ''Video Magic'' (Harvest, 1978) With Strontium 90 * ''Police Academy'' (Pangaea, 1997) With
Zoot Money's Big Roll Band Zoot Money's Big Roll Band is a British rhythm and blues and soul group, also influenced by jazz, formed in England by Zoot Money, in the early autumn of 1961. The band has had a number of personnel changes over the years and was still perform ...
* ''It Should Have Been Me'' (1965) * ''Zoot!'' (Columbia, 1966) * ''Transition'' (1968) * ''Were You There?'' (Indigo, 1999) * ''Fully Clothed & Naked'' (Indigo, 2000)


As guest

* Joan Armatrading, ''
Back to the Night ''Back to the Night'' is the second studio album by the British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. The album was released in April 1975 by A&M Records (AMLH 68305). Musical background Musically, the album shows a development of the mood of A ...
'' (A&M, 1975) * Manuel Barrueco, ''Nylon & Steel'' (Angel, 2001) * David Bedford, ''The Odyssey'' (Virgin, 1976) * Gregg Bissonette, ''Gregg Bissonette'' (Mascot, 1998) * Toni Childs, '' House of Hope'' (A&M, 1991) * Deeyah Khan, ''Ataraxis'' (Heilo, 2007) * Jo Jo Laine, ''Dancin' Man'' (Polydor, 1980) * Jon Lord, ''
Sarabande The sarabande (from es, zarabanda) is a dance in triple metre, or the music written for such a dance. History The Sarabande evolved from a Spanish dance with Arab influences, danced by a lively double line of couples with castanets. A dance cal ...
'', (Purple, 1976) * Juicy Lucy, ''Blue Thunder'' (Outer Music, 1996) * Roberto Menescal, ''Bossa Nova Meets the Beatles'' (Deck/Jingle Bells 2017) * Anthony Moore, ''Out'' (Virgin, 1976) * Paolo Rustichelli, ''Capri/Mystic Jazz'' (Verve Forecast, 1991) * Neil Sedaka, ''Live at the Royal Festival Hall'' (Polydor, 1974) * Michael Shrieve, ''Stiletto'' (Novus/RCA/BMG, 1989) *
Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Thin ...
, '' Hello Big Man'' (Warner Bros., 1983) *
Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...
, '' ...Nothing Like the Sun'' (A&M, 1987) * Andrew York, ''Centerpeace'' (2010)


Books

* ''Throb'' (William Morrow, 1983) * ''Light Strings'' (Chronicle, 2005) * ''One Train Later'' (St Martins, 2006) * ''I'll Be Watching You'' ( Taschen, 2007) * ''Desirer Walks the Streets'' ( Nazraeli Press, 2008) * ''The Bones of Chuang Tzu'' ( Steidl, 2018) * ''A Certain Strangeness'' ( University of Texas Press, 2019) * ''Fretted and Moaning'' (Rocket88, 2021)


References


External links

*
The Police official site

Circa Zero official website

Interview: "Andy Summers: The Blessing and The Curse" - Rockerzine.com 2015

BBC interview with Andy Summers including audio

Book Review of Andy Summers' One Train Later

Police Guitarist Andy Summers to Release Short Story Debut, 'Fretted and Moaning'
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Summers, Andy 1942 births Living people People from Poulton-le-Fylde People from Chipping Barnet British rhythm and blues boom musicians California State University, Northridge alumni Canterbury scene Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres English jazz guitarists English male guitarists English new wave musicians English rock guitarists Jazz fusion guitarists Lead guitarists British male jazz musicians A&M Records artists Private Music artists Progressive rock guitarists The Animals members The Police members Soft Machine members Strontium 90 (band) members Spooky Tooth members