Andy Summers

Andy Summers
Andy Summers in 2015
Background information
Birth name	Andrew James Summers
Born	(1942-12-31) 31 December 1942 Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England
Genres	Rock, jazz/fusion, post-punk, new wave, reggae, progressive rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, photographer, producer
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, piano, bass guitar, guitar synthesizer
Years active	1959–present
Associated acts	The Police, Circa Zero, Zoot Money's Big Roll Band, The Animals, Soft Machine, Robert Fripp, Kevin Ayers, John Etheridge, Gustavo Cerati, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Strontium 90
Notable instruments
Fender Telecaster Fender Stratocaster Gibson ES-335 Gibson Les Paul Manson guitars (custom)

Andrew James "Andy" Summers (born 31 December 1942) is an English musician, born in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire. Best known as the guitarist for the rock band The Police, he has also recorded twelve solo albums, collaborated with many other artists, toured extensively under his own name, published several books, and composed several film scores. He currently lives in Santa Monica, California.

Early life

During Summers' childhood, his family moved to Bournemouth in Dorset, England. After several years of piano lessons, he took up the guitar at the age of thirteen. By age sixteen he was playing in local clubs and by nineteen he had moved to London with his friend Zoot Money to form Zoot Money's Big Roll Band.

Musical career

Pre-Police career

Summers' 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. He is 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 Dantalion's Chariot, Summers joined The Soft Machine for a period of 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 guitar solo by Summers which runs a full 4 minutes and 15 seconds. To ensure he ended at the right place, Zoot Money kept count throughout the solo and gave him the cue out at bar 189. The LP also included a reworked version of Dantalion's Chariot's sole single "Madman Running Through the Fields".

After five years in Los Angeles, mostly spent at California State University, Northridge, he returned to London with his American girlfriend Kate Lunken.

In London, Summers recorded and toured with acts including Kevin Coyne, Jon Lord, Tim Essex, Neil Sedaka and Kevin Ayers. In 1975 he participated in an orchestral rendition of Mike Oldfield's seminal "Tubular Bells".

In 1977, Summers was invited by ex-Gong bassist Mike Howlett to join his band Strontium 90, along with future Police bandmates Sting and Stewart Copeland.

The Police (1977–1986)

Main article: The Police

Summers achieved international fame as the guitarist for The Police, which he joined in 1977, replacing original guitarist Henri 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 with "Reggatta de Blanc" (co-authored with Copeland and Sting), and again in 1980 with his instrumental "Behind My Camel".

Although Sting was the lead vocalist of the band, Summers occasionally contributed lead vocals, as with "Be My Girl/Sally" (1978), "Friends" (1980), "Mother" (1983), "Once Upon a Daydream" (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), and "Murder by Numbers" (1983). In early 1984, after seven years together and record sales around eighty million, the Police disbanded.

Although not officially credited, the "Every Breath You Take" guitar riff was written by Summers and recorded in one take with his 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 book, One Train Later.

Post-Police (1986–2007)

Summers in 1989

Summers' solo career has included touring, recording, composing for films (including 2010, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, The Wild Life and Weekend at Bernie's), writing books, and exhibiting his photography.

Summers' solo debut, XYZ was released in 1987, and is the only non-instrumental album in his catalogue. Although it featured some pop material, including the single "Love is the Strangest Way", it failed to dent the charts, prompting Summers to move from MCA to Private Music and embrace a more experimental sound.

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 (1990) and later contributing vocals to "'Round Midnight" in 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.

Over the years, Summers has collaborated with a number of guitarists, including Robert Fripp, John Etheridge, Victor Biglione and Benjamin Verdery. In December 2004, he and Copeland joined Incubus on stage in Los Angeles and performed "Roxanne" and "Message in a Bottle".

In March 2005, Summers made his debut at Carnegie Hall, playing the premier of "Dark Florescence", a concerto composed for him and Verdery.

His biography One Train Later (2006) was voted music book of the year by the UK's 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 along with his CD, Metal Dog.

Summers in 2006

The Police Reunion (2007–2008)

Main article: The Police Reunion Tour

During the 2007 Grammys Award show, The Police appeared, playing "Roxanne" and subsequently announcing 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

Summers formed a new band, Circa Zero, with Rob Giles from The Rescues. 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. The first single, "Levitation," was released to US adult album alternative radio on 3 March 2014; and reached number 36 on the Japan Hot 100 chart.

Awards

Summers' five Grammy Awards includes one for "Behind My Camel" in the Best Rock Instrumental category. Summers wrote the instrumental for the Police. Sting, however, refused to play so Summers also played bass.

He was voted number one pop guitarist for five years in Guitar Player before being inducted into the Guitar Player Hall of Fame.

In 2003, along with his band mates Sting and Stewart Copeland he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In 2007, the French Government appointed Summers (along with Sting and Stewart Copeland) a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

In 2008, Summers was awarded an honorary doctorate by Bournemouth University.

In November 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Summers as the eighty-fifth greatest guitarist of all time.

Equipment

The Police years 1977–1984

Guitars

• Fender
  • 1963 Fender Telecaster purchased from a student with most of the customization already done (as he told Fender when they wanted to make a tribute guitar)
  • 1961 Fiesta Red Fender Stratocaster
• Gibson
  • 1958 Gibson ES-335
  • 1957 Gibson Les Paul
• Roland
  • Roland G-303 Guitar Synthesizer controller

Amps

• Marshall Stack and Roland Jazz Chorus Combo

Effects

• Electro Harmonix Electric Mistress Flanger and Deluxe Memory Man Delay
• MXR Dynacomp Compressor
• custom Pete Cornish Guitar pedalboard
• Roland GR-300 Guitar Synthesizer
• Moog Taurus 205A Synthesizer Pedals

The above is a list of equipment used by Andy from the ’80’s. Since that time Summers has built a collection of 200 guitars and uses a wide variety of amplifiers and electronic equipment.

Photography

Since the 1980’s Andy Summers has done 35 photography exhibitions including:

• Leica Gallery Los Angeles (2013)
• Paris LA Independent Photo Show (2014)
• photokina Cologne (2014)
• Shanghai Kunst-Licht Gallery2014 C-C-C Gallery Beijing (2014)
• Leica Gallery Sao Paulo (2015)
• Etherton Gallery Tucson Arizona (2015)

Discography

Studio albums

• I Advance Masked – 1982 (with Robert Fripp)
• Bewitched – 1984 (with Robert Fripp)
• Down and Out in Beverly Hills soundtrack (1986)
• XYZ – 1987
• Mysterious Barricades – 1988
• The Golden Wire – 1989
• Charming Snakes – 1990
• World Gone Strange – 1991
• Invisible Threads – 1993 (with John Etheridge)
• Synaesthesia – 1996
• The Last Dance of Mr. X – 1997
• Strings of Desire – 1998 (with Victor Biglione)
• A Windham Hill Retrospective – 1998
• Green Chimneys: The Music of Thelonious Monk – 1999 (with vocals by Sting on the track "'Round Midnight")
• Peggy's Blue Skylight – 2000 (with vocals by Deborah Harry on the track "Weird Nightmare")
• Earth + Sky – 2004
• Splendid Brazil – 2005 (with Victor Biglione)
• First You Build a Cloud – 2007 (with Ben Verdery)
• United Kingdom of Ipanema: Roberto Menescal Convida Andy Summers – 2011
• Spirit Garden (Unreleased) – 2009 (with Andrew York)
• Fundamental – 2012 (with Fernanda Takai)
• Circus Hero – (Circa Zero) 2014 (with Rob Giles)
• Metal Dog – 2015

Singles

• "Parade" / "Train" – 1984 (with Robert Fripp)
• "2010" / "To Hal and Back" – 1984
• "Love is the Strangest Way" / "Nowhere" – 1987

With the Police

Main article: The Police discography

• Outlandos d'Amour (1978)
• Reggatta de Blanc (1979)
• Zenyatta Mondatta (1980)
• Ghost in the Machine (1981)
• Synchronicity (1983)
• Every Breath You Take: The Singles (1986)
• Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings (1993)
• Live! (1995)
• The Police (2007)
• Certifiable: Live in Buenos Aires (2008)

With Circa Zero

• Circus Hero (2014)

Miscellaneous

• It Should Have Been Me – 1965 (with Zoot Money's Big Roll Band)
• Zoot Live at Klooks Kleek' – 1966 (with Zoot Money's Big Roll Band)
• Chariot Rising – 1967 (with Dantalian's Chariot)
• Love Is – 1968 (with Eric Burdon & The Animals)
• Matching Head and Feet – 1975 (with Kevin Coyne)
• Heartburn – 1976 (with Kevin Coyne)
• Sarabande – 1976 (with Jon Lord)
• Video Magic – 1978 (with Eberhard Schoener)
• Video Flashback – 1979 (with Eberhard Schoener)
• Ataraxis – 2007 (with Deeyah)

Bibliography

• Throb (William Morrow Pubs 1983)
• Light Strings (Chronicle 2005)
• One Train Later (St Martins Press 2006)
• I'll Be Watching You (Taschen 2007)
• Desirer Walks The Streets (Nazraeli Press 2008)

External links

• Official website
• 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
• Contemporary interview with Andy Summers