Andrew James "Andy" Summers (born 31 December 1942) is an English guitarist born in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England.^[2] Best known as the guitarist for 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.

Name [link]

His birth name is Andrew James Summers. For a brief two-year period, Summers spelled his name Somers, but subsequently reverted to using his real family name Summers.^{[citation needed]}

Early life [link]

During his early childhood, his family moved to Bournemouth in the county of Dorset. After years of piano lessons, he took up the guitar at the age of thirteen. By age sixteen he was playing in local clubs. By nineteen, he had moved to London with his friend Zoot Money to form Zoot Money's Big Roll Band.^[3]

Musical career [link]

Pre-Police career [link]

Summers' professional career began in the mid 1960s in London as the guitarist for the British rhythm and blues band Zoot Money's Big Roll Band, which eventually came under the influence of the spreading psychedelic scene and morphed into the acid rock group Dantalian's Chariot.^[4] After the demise of Dantalion's Chariot, Summers joined The Soft Machine for a period of six 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 that runs a full 4 minutes and 15 seconds.

After a period of five years in Los Angeles, mostly spent at California State University Northridge in the Los Angeles suburbs, he returned to London with his American girlfriend Kate Lunken. Back in London, Summers recorded and toured with a number of acts, including Kevin Coyne, Jon Lord, Tim Essex, Neil Sedaka and Kevin Ayers. In 1975 he participated in an orchestral rendition of Mike Oldfield seminal piece Tubular Bells.

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

The Police (1977-1984) [link]

Summers achieved international fame as the guitarist for The Police, which he joined in 1977. Emerging from London’s punk scene, the Police gained international fame 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 tenure with the band, Summers twice won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, first with "Regatta de Blanc" (co-authored with Copeland and Sting in 1979), and then with his song "Behind My Camel" in 1980. 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) and "Someone to Talk to" (1983). Other notable Summers' compositions from this period are "Omega Man" (which would have been released as the debut single from the 1981 "Ghost in the Machine" album if Sting had not objected), "Shambelle" (1981) and "Murder by Numbers" (1983). In early 1984, after seven years and record sales around eighty million, the Police disbanded.^[5]

Post-Police (1984-2007) [link]

Summers' solo career has included touring, recording, composing for films (including 2010, Down and Out in Beverly Hills and Weekend at Bernie's), writing books, and exhibiting his photography. In 1992, he served a brief stint as Musical Director on the short-lived Dennis Miller Show.

Summers' solo debut, "XYZ" was released in 1986, and to this day is the only non-instrumental album in his entire catalogue. Although it featured some fine 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 favor 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" (1999). In the mid-1990s Summers briefly returned to a more rock-oriented sound with "Synathestesia" (1995) and "The Last Dance Of Mr X" (1997), before recording a string of jazz albums that highlighted his eclectic guitar talent.

Over the years Summers has contributed with a number of fellow-guitarists, including Robert Fripp, John Etheridge, Victor Biglione and Benjamin Verdery. In December 2004 he and Copeland joined Incubus in Los Angeles and performed "Roxanne" and "Message in a Bottle". In March 2005, he made his debut at Carnegie Hall playing the premier of Dark Florescense, a concerto composed for him and Verdery. His 2006 biography One Train Later was voted music book of the year in the UK’s Mojo magazine, and is to be released as a documentary film in 2011 by Yari pictures.^[6]

The Police Reunion (2007–2008) [link]

On the 2007 Grammys Award show, The Police appeared playing "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.^[7]

Awards [link]

He was voted number one pop guitarist for five years in Guitar Player Magazine 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.^[8]

In 2008, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Bournemouth University.^[9]

Summers was appointed, by the French Government, a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2007.

Producer career [link]

In 2012, Summers will produce the third solo album from Brazilian singer Fernanda Takai.^[10]

Equipment [link]

The Police years 1977–1984 [link]

Guitars [link]

• Fender
  • 1963 Fender Telecaster either purchased from Eric Clapton and then customized by Andy after he bought it (as he stated in '97 to Guitar World Magazine),^[11] or purchased from a student with most of the customization already done (as he told Fender when they wanted to make a tribute guitar)^[12]
  • 1961 Fiesta Red Fender Stratocaster^[13]

• Gibson
  • 1958 Gibson ES-335
  • 1957 Gibson Les Paul

• Roland
  • Roland G-303 Guitar Synthesizer controller

Amps [link]

• Marshall Stack and Roland Jazz Chorus Combo

Pedalboards [link]

• A custom Pete Cornish Guitar pedalboard
• Roland GR-300 Guitar Synthesizer
• Moog Taurus 205A Synthesizer Pedals

Discography [link]

Studio albums [link]

• I Advance Masked - 1982 (with Robert Fripp)
• Bewitched - 1984 (with Robert Fripp)
• 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)

Singles [link]

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

With the Police [link]

• Outlandos d'Amour (1978)
• Reggatta de Blanc (1979)
• Zenyattà Mondatta (1980)
• Ghost in the Machine (1981)
• Synchronicity (1983)

Miscellaneous [link]

• Love Is - 1968 (with Eric Burdon & The Animals)
• Matching Head and Feet - 1975 (with Kevin Coyne)
• Sarabande - 1976 (with Jon Lord)
• Flashback - 1978 (with Eberhard Schoener)
• Video Magic - 1978 (with Eberhard Schoener)
• Video Flashback - 1979 (with Eberhard Schoener)
• Ataraxis - 2007 (with Deeyah)

Bibliography [link]

• Throb (William Morrow Pubs 1983)^[14]
• Light Strings (Chronicle 2005)^[15]
• One Train Later (St Martins Press 2006)^[16]
• I'll Be Watching You (Taschen 2007)^[17]
• Desirer Walks The Streets (Nazraeli Press 2008)^[18]

References [link]

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Andy Summers

• Official website
• Andy Summers Fender tribute Telecaster homepage
• BBC interview with Andy Summers including audio
• Andy Summers in Fender News
• Book Review of Andy Summers' One Train Later
• Contemporary interview with Andy Summers
• Andy Summers Detailed Discography, Timeline and Equipment List
• Andy Summers Play-/Sound-Alike (German instructions)