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Andy Summers

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Andy Summers

Andy Summers (born Andrew James Somers 31 December 1942) is an English guitarist and composer best known for his work in The Police. Summers' primary guitars are the Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster when playing rock, and Gibson electric guitars when playing jazz fusion and jazz. His playing has been influenced by years of jazz and classical music studies, as well as his work in new age, rock, and other musical genres. He was born in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England.

Education

Although Andy Summers had been essentially self-taught when he began his professional musical career, he studied classical guitar at California State University at Northridge (CSUN) for four years until 1973.

Performing career

Though born in Lancashire, Summers grew up in Bournemouth, Dorset, where he started playing jazz guitar as a teenager in local clubs. While a teen he worked in a Bournemouth music store frequented by a young Robert Fripp.

Career prior to the Police

Summers began his recording career in the 1960s as the guitarist for Zoot Money's Big Roll Band and its subsequent psychedelic-era incarnation, Dantalian's Chariot. Both were popular acts on the London club scene. Summers was a member for a couple of months (May-July 1968) of the Canterbury scene jazz fusion band Soft Machine, although he did not record with the group. He also recorded with Eric Burdon and The Animals (Love Is), and spent much of the mid-seventies doing session work for Neil Sedaka, Joan Armatrading, Kevin Ayers, Kevin Coyne, Tim Rose, and Jon Lord, and others. At one point, Summers was considered as a replacement for Mick Taylor, as lead guitarist for The Rolling Stones; the group eventually chose Ron Wood instead. He was also a member of the pre-Police band Strontium 90 along with Sting, Stewart Copeland and Mike Howlett which was a group formed by Howlett as a part of a reunion concert with his former band Gong where each band member presented a group of their own. Howlett is also credited with getting Summers, Sting and Copeland together to play music together for the first time in a group setting.

In the mid-1970s, in order to avoid having to spell it out for people, Summers changed his surname from "Somers" to "Summers".

The Police

Summers achieved international prominence as the guitarist for The Police, most notably on popular hits such as "Message in a Bottle", "Don't Stand So Close to Me", and "Every Breath You Take". Summers also wrote songs for the Police, such as "Omegaman" and "Mother", and his instrumental "Behind My Camel" won the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental in 1980. Summers provides vocals for the song "Be My Girl - Sally" (from the album Outlandos D'Amour), taking the part of the narrator telling - in a broad Yorkshire accent - about his adventures with Sally, the inflatable doll. He is also the vocalist for the songs "Mother", "Friends", and "Someone To Talk To". "Mother" appeared on the Synchronicity album. "Friends", and "Someone To Talk To" never appeared on a Police studio album, but are part of the box set Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings.

Eschewing fancy guitar pyrotechnics, Summers' style is notable for its depth of sound, characterized by tasteful use of compressor, chorus, and echo effects[citation needed]. Summers' tone, produced by a battered, heavily customized Fender Telecaster run through various modulation and delay units, ranked with that of Eddie Van Halen and The Edge as one of the most frequently copied of the 1980s. He was also an early adopter of Roland guitar synthesizer technology, best demonstrated with the Police on the Synchronicity track "Walking in Your Footsteps." He is also known for syncopative rhythm playing.

Career subsequent to the Police

Summers' musical credits include film scores, most famously Down and Out in Beverly Hills and Weekend at Bernie's. He also dabbled in late night television as the band leader and composer for actor/comic Dennis Miller's brief-lived first talk show. Summers guest-starred in an episode of TV's The Hitchhiker and had a bit part in the comedy Another You, starring Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. Summers also was briefly a member in 1987 of the group Rush Hour, which became Animal Logic with ex-Police drummer Stewart Copeland.

Summers has released numerous recordings as a leader or in collaboration with other musicians, including John Etheridge, Vinnie Colaiuta, Robert Fripp, Herbie Hancock, Brian Auger, Eliane Elias, Tony Levin, Ginger Baker, Deborah Harry, Q-Tip, and Sting, among others. Summers also taped a two-part guitar instructional video for Hot Licks.

The Police reunion

In March 2003, Summers, Sting and Copeland reunited for the induction of The Police into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Later that year, Summers released his tenth solo album, Earth + Sky, which consisted of instrumental music. His most recent release is an album called The X Tracks, which is something of a retrospective of his musical efforts between 1997 and 2002. Recently, Summers has been performing at jazz clubs and other venues a few times each year.

At the 2007 Grammy Awards, Summers, Stewart Copeland and Sting performed together again as The Police. This marked the band's first public performance since 1986 other than their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. One day later, the band announced that in celebration of The Police's 30th anniversary, they would be embarking on a worldwide reunion tour beginning on May 28 2007. By the final leg of the tour, Summers will be 65 years of age.

Writing and photography career

In addition to being a musician, Summers is a published writer and photographer. His recent book with Ralph Gibson, Light Strings: Impressions of the Guitar, published by Chronicle Books, contains various passages about different types of music, guitars, and personal stories.

His autobiography, One Train Later: A Memoir, (with a foreword by U2's The Edge) was released in October 2006.

Summers is well-known for frequently carrying a camera and taking pictures of his experiences. In August 2007, he has published I'll Be Watching You, a photographic journal of his years with The Police. He has continued his photography during The Police's current reunion tour and has switched to using digital cameras for the first time. An exhibit of some of the photographs from I'll Be Watching You has toured several cities in Canada.[1]

Equipment

Summers owns a notable collection of various guitars and has used many combinations of guitars, effects, and amplifiers over the years.

Andy's Guitar

1977 – 1984

During Summers' career with The Police, he used a wide array of guitars. He used different guitars on each album, on tour, and even in Police music videos. His most notable guitar was a modified 1961 Fender Telecaster that purchased from one of his guitar students for approx. $200. This guitar featured a Gibson PAF humbucking pickup in the neck position and an active on-board preamp that is responsible for much of what fans consider the "classic" Police guitar sound. Summers used this guitar extensively while recording and touring with The Police and still uses it currently. In addition to his modified 1961 Telecaster, Andy also plays occasionally a Fiesta Red 1961 Fender Stratocaster as a backup guitar (used extensively on the Synchronicity album of 1983). He played many Gibson guitars during this time: a 1958 ES-335, two ES-175s, and others. For the Synchronicity album, Summers obtained a Gibson Chet Atkins Electric Classical. He played this guitar on the "Miss Gradenko" track, and it appears in the video for "Wrapped Around Your Finger". Summers used a number of Hamer guitars: a Hamer Standard in the video for "Can't Stand Losing You", a Hamer Sunburst in some Zenyattà Mondatta tracks, and several custom Hamer guitars on many other songs.

Summers played through a variety of effects pedals including several Echoplex units the band obtained around the time of Outlandos D'Amour. He played through the same effects both in the studio and on stage, allowing him to duplicate his tone for a particular song anywhere. Summers used Marshall half-stacks for amplification.[2]

1985 – 1996

When The Police disbanded and Summers' solo career got underway, he began to experiment with different combinations of guitars and effects (including two Roland guitar synthesizers, a Strat-style GR-505 and a GR-707). While he still used many of his older guitars, especially the Telecaster, he made extensive use of Steve Klein Custom Guitars. As the 1990s progressed, he began using a Gibson ES-335 since he was dissatisfied with how the Klein sounded live for long periods of playing. The ES-335 was also more suited for jazz, a genre Summers pursued at the time. Summers also used several acoustic guitars while recording Invisible Threads, such as a Gibson B-25, a Martin D-28, and a custom acoustic made by British luthier Andrew Manson.[3]

1997 – present

Summers continues to make heavy use of the ES-335 which is especially suited to jazz music. He has also used archtop guitars by noted luthier Robert Benedetto. For the 2007-2008 Police reunion tour, Summers is using a Fender Custom Shop Tribute replica of his battered 1963 Custom Telecaster and other older guitars that he used on Police albums (including the 1961 Fiesta Red Stratocaster). Summers strongly prefers analog effects pedals in both studio and live settings and continues to use widely ranging effects setups.[4]

Personal

Summers married his first wife Robin Lane (later of Robin Lane & the Chartbusters) in 1968. The couple divorced in 1970. In 1973, he married Kate, a psychology graduate, and they had a daughter, Layla Zoe Summers (born in 1978). Kate and Summers divorced in 1981 but remarried in 1985. During the period estranged from Kate, Summers fathered a son, Andrew, with another woman by the name of Susan Greening. Andrew was later legally adopted by Martin Turner of Wishbone Ash yet goes by the surname of his mother (i.e. Greening). Andrew [the son] is involved in Britain's Drum and Base genre. In 1987, twin sons Maurice X and Anton Y Summers, were born. The kids were given a letter (i.e., X, Y) for a middle name in conjunction with his first solo album, XYZ.

Discography

Studio

References

  1. ^ Stevenson, Jane (2007-07-21), The Photographic Memory of Andy Summers, Sun Media Corporation {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Equipment Tour and Photos, 1977 – 1984, retrieved 2007-07-24
  3. ^ Equipment Tour and Photos, 1985 – 1996, retrieved 2007-07-24
  4. ^ Equipment Tour and Photos, 1997 – present, retrieved 2007-07-25

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