Andy Summers

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Andy Summers (2006)

Andy Summers (* 31 December 1942 in Blackpool , Lancashire , England as Andrew James Somers ) is an English pop and rock - guitarist .

Andy Summers became known in the late 1970s and 1980s as the guitarist for The Police . Later he was a guest musician and contemporary instrumental musician .

In 2011, the Rolling Stone listed Summers as 85th of the 100 best guitarists of all time .

biography

Andy Summers moved to Bournemouth as a child , where he took piano lessons at the age of six. At the age of eleven, Andy began playing a guitar that an uncle gave him as a present.

Andy Summers married Robin Lane in 1968, and they divorced in 1970.

In 1973 he married the American psychologist Kate Lunken, and in 1978 a daughter was born. They divorced in 1981, but remarried in 1985. In 1987 they became parents of twins. Summers also has a son from another relationship before he married Kate for the second time.

Musical career

Already with 16 Andy was part of the jazz - scene of Bournemouth and played in local clubs and coffee houses.

There he was noticed by the musician Zoot Money , who invited Andy to play in his “ Zoot Money's Big Roll Band ” and the subsequent “Dantalian's Chariot”, both popular acts in London clubs in the late 1960s.

In 1968 Andy Summers played for a few months with the legendary jazz fusion band " Soft Machine " from the Canterbury scene before he got back together with Zoot Money on Eric Burdon's " The Animals ".

When this engagement ended in 1969, he studied classical guitar and composition for four years at "California State University" ( UCLA ), from which he graduated with a bachelor's degree in music and studied guitar lessons and gigs with an LA Latin rock band and financed in various theater groups. In 1973 Summers returned to England.

In the course of the 1970s, Andy made a name for himself as a guest and studio musician and had numerous engagements with Neil Sedaka , Joan Armatrading , Kevin Ayers , Kevin Coyne and Tim Rose, among others .

In 1975 he played on Jon Lords “ Sarabande ”, in which Eberhard Schoener was also involved.

In 1977 Andy played as a guest musician on Eberhard Schoener's LP Trance Formation . From 1977 to 1979 Sting and Stewart Copeland also joined. They all played together on Eberhard Schoener's two LPs Flashback & Video Magic as guest musicians and also went on tour with him.

"The Police"

Main article: The Police

In May 1977 Mike Howlett , formerly bassist with Gong , invited Andy Summers and Sting to perform together as Strontium 90 . Stewart Copeland also joined after Chris Cutler was prevented from drumming. This short-lived band formation recorded some demo tracks , followed by an appearance at Gong's comeback concert on May 28, 1977 in Paris and a concert as "The Elevators" in a London club.

Andy Summers (front) at a concert with The Police in Annapolis (2007)

Andy Summers joined The Police in June 1977 - they briefly toured as a quartet in July 1977 - and from August Summers replaced Henry Padovani as guitarist.

This is where Summers developed his style. In contrast to many guitarists in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Andy Summers emphasized rhythm guitar over solo guitar in “The Police” and only used cautiously exaggerated effects . The special attraction of his playing style lay in the rhythm changes between rock and reggae , which shaped pieces like “So Lonely” and “Don't Stand So Close to Me”.

Summers 'compositions - "Omegaman", "Mother" and "Be My Girl - Sally" (one of the few songs with Summers' voice ... as narrator) - were overshadowed by Sting's compositional talent, as were those of Stewart Copeland. On the instrumental song "Behind My Camel" composed by Andy Summers, he played the bass passages instead of Sting - for which he received the Grammy for "Best Rock Instrumental Performance".

In 1984 the trio separated for the time being in order to pursue their own projects. In 1986 "The Police" played at three concerts on the " Amnesty International - A Conspiracy of Hope Tour " and then recorded their last studio work for 21 years, the best-of album " Every Breath You Take: The Singles ". After that the musicians fully concentrated on their successful solo careers.

At the 2007 Grammy Awards on February 11, 2007 in Los Angeles, "The Police" were reunited on stage. Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers opened the evening with a revised version of their world hit "Roxanne". In May 2007 "The Police" started their world tour.

Solo artist, studio musician, composer and photographer

Andy Summers (2015)

In the last phase of the collaboration of "The Police" Summers already started a few solo projects. In order to position himself musically outside of pop rock music, he worked on some film scores . In the first late night show of actor / comedian Dennis Miller, he worked as a band leader and composer, had a few minor roles on television and other films, such as B. in episode 33 of the TV series "The Hitchhiker" and together with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor in the comedy "Another You".

In 1987 he joined Animal Logic (or “Rush Hour”) for a few months with Stewart Copeland . He left the band at the end of 1987, after a short tour in Brazil, in order to release his first solo album "XYZ" - named after the first names of his three children - which received only muted reviews .

The album was preceded by Andy Summers and Robert Fripps "I Advance Masked" (1982) and "Bewitched" (1984), which were followed by other collaborations: "Invisible Threads" (1993) with John Etheridge and with Victor Biglione "Strings of Desire" (1998) and “Splendid Brazil” (2005).

His subsequent 15 albums in total , which emphasized the ' jazzy ' style and zeitgeist influenced by the New Age , were much more successful, however, and so Andy Summers remained true to his preferred contemporary instrumental music.

At the same time, Andy Summers is still in great demand as a guest musician, and so he has had numerous other appearances, including John Etheridge, Vinnie Colaiuta , Herbie Hancock , Brian Auger , Eliane Elias , Tony Levin , Ginger Baker , Deborah Harry , Q-Tip and his former band -Colleague Sting are among the better known.

Andy Summers was also quite successful as a photographer and published books: as early as 1983 “THROB”, in which he published his black and white photos of the tours with The Police. Together with Ralph Gibson (photos) currently “Light Strings: Impressions of the Guitar”, his autobiography “One Train Later: A Memoir” with a foreword by U2 guitarist The Edge (October 2006) and Andy's photographic diary - hand-signed and at 1500 Limited copies - “I'll be watching you. Inside the Police 1980–1983 ”(including DVD) with“ The Police ”was released in September 2007.

In 2013 Andy Summers founded the band and the project CIRCA ZERO with Rob Giles (The Rescues) and in 2014 released the album "Circus Hero".

His preferred guitars are the Fender Telecaster for rock music and Gibson Electric Guitars when he plays jazz fusion and jazz.

Discography

Albums with "The Police"

Studio albums

  • 1978 - Outlandos d'Amour (November 1978)
  • 1979 - Reggatta De Blanc (October 1979)
  • 1980 - Zenyatta Mondatta (October 1980)
  • 1981 Ghost in the Machine (October 1981)
  • 1983 - Synchronicity (June 1983)

Compilations

  • 1986 - Every Breath You Take - The Singles (October 1986 and reissued fall 1990)
  • 1990 - Their Greatest Hits (October 1990)
  • 1992 - Greatest Hits (October 1992)
  • 1993 - Message in a Box - The Complete Recordings (September 28, 1993)
  • 1995 - The Police Live! (June 13, 1995)
  • 1995 - Every Breath You Take - The Classics (September 12, 1995)
  • 1997 - Strontium 90: Police Academy (July 29, 1997)
  • 1997 - The Very Best of Sting & The Police (November 1997 and reprinted February 21, 2001)
  • 2007 - The Police - Certifiable (Live Concert)

Albums as a solo artist

Studio albums

  • 1976 - Sarabande (by Jon Lord )
  • 1977 - The Book (by Eberhard Schoener )
  • 1977 - Trance formation (by Eberhard Schoener )
  • 1978 - Flashback (by Eberhard Schoener , feat .: Sting & Stewart Copeland , recording 10 / 77-2 / 78)
  • 1978 - Video-Magic (by Eberhard Schoener , feat .: Sting , recording 8 / 78-11 / 78)
  • 1982 - I Advance Masked (with Robert Fripp )
  • 1984 - Bewitched (with Robert Fripp )
  • 1987 - XYZ
  • 1988 - Mysterious Barricades
  • 1989 - The Golden Wire
  • 1990 - Charming Snakes (recording: 2/1990, release: 1991, label: Private Music)
  • 1991 - World Gone Strange
  • 1993 - Invisible Threads (with John Etheridge )
  • 1995 - Synaesthesia (recording: 2–3 / 1995, release: 1995, label: CMP )
  • 1997 - The Last Dance of Mr. X
  • 1998 - Strings of Desire (with Victor Biglione )
  • 1999 - Green Chimneys: Music of Thelonious Monk
  • 2000 - Peggy's Blue Skylight
  • 2004 - Earth + Sky
  • 2005 - Splendid Brazil (with Victor Biglione )
  • 2007 - First You Build a Cloud (with Ben Verdery )
  • 2012 - Fundamental (with Fernanda Takai )
  • 2014 - Circus Hero (Project Circa Zero )
  • 2015 - Metal Dog
  • 2017 - Triboluminescence

Compilations

  • 1998 - A Windham Hill Retrospective
  • 2004 - The X Tracks

Film music

  • 1984 - Paper Dolls (Carousel of Dolls) - TV series, composer
  • 1986 - Down and out in Beverly Hills ( Zoff in Beverly Hills ) - composer
  • 1987 - Full steam ahead to Chicago ( End of the Line ) - composer
  • 1988 - Out of Time (Pyramid of Death) - TV, composer
  • 1989 - Weekend at Bernie's ( Always Trouble with Bernie ) - composer of "Hot and Cold"
  • 1991 - Another You - composer / performer of "Charming Snakes"
  • 1991 - Deceived - composer / performer of "World Gone Strange"
  • 1991 - Mississippi Masala - Musician: Electric guitar
  • 1991 - Motorama - composer
  • 1992 - The Dennis Miller Show - TV, Musical Director
  • 1995 - Copycat ( Copykill ) - "The Police" song "Murder by Numbers"
  • 2003 - The Medallion ( The Medallion - Heavenly Justice) - Performer of "Twist and Shout"

Filmography

  • 1980 - Punk and Its Aftershocks - British Rock
  • 1981 - BBC documentary about the recordings of "Ghost in the Machine"
  • 1981 - Urgh! A music war
  • 1982 - Police: Around the World
  • 1983 - Cheggers Plays Pop (TV series, episode # 6.7)
  • 1984 - The Police: Synchronicity Concert
  • 1987 - The Hitchhiker - Deadly Nightmares (TV series "The Hitchhiker", episode "The Legendary Billy B") .... Hodie
  • 1987 - The Police: Every Breath You Take - The Videos
  • 1991 - Another You .... band leader
  • 1997 - Damian Cromwell's Postcards from America (TV series) .... Ian
  • 2004 - SingStar Party (video game)
  • 2006 - Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out
  • 2012 - Can't Stand Losing You: Surviving The Police

Grammy Awards

  • 1982 - 'Best Rock Instrumental Performance' for "Behind My Camel" (Andy Summers)

See also

literature

  • Andy Summers: THROB , Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1983, ISBN 0-283-99021-X
  • Andy Summers (text) and Ralph Gibson (photos): Light Strings: Impressions of the Guitar , Chronicle, San Francisco, 2004, ISBN 0-8118-4324-6
  • Andy Summers: One Train Later: a memoir , Thomas Dunne Books, New York, 2006, ISBN 0-312-35914-4
  • Andy Summers: I'll be watching you. Inside the Police 1980–1983 (incl. DVD), Taschen Verlag, London, 2007 (April 2007), ISBN 3-8228-2764-9
  • Didi Zill: The Police - Photos from 1979 to 1981 , Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89602-492-2 .
  • Sting: Broken Music. The autobiography. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 978-3-596-16249-9 .
  • Henry Padovani: Secret Police Man , Paris, Editions Flammarion, 2006, ISBN 2-08-068943-6

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Rolling Stone , December 18, 2015, accessed August 8, 2017 .
  2. ↑ 1985 remarried
  3. ↑ On July 29, 1997, the label Pangea Recordings (Sting is the co-owner) released a CD entitled Strontium 90: Police Academy . It contains the first live recordings of The Police with the cast Sting / Copeland / Summers (and Mike Howlett). Gong's concert took place in a big top in. This CD also contains the "original version" of "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", recorded in February 1977: It is the first studio recording by the line-up of Sting / Copeland / Summers.
  4. ↑ Andy Summers on the production of “ Ghost in the Machine ”: “ I have to say I was getting disappointed with the musical direction around the time of 'Ghost in the Machine'. With the horns and synth coming in, the fantastic raw trio feel-all the really creative and dynamic stuff-was being lost. We were ending up backing a singer doing his pop songs . " Source: English-language Wikipedia.
  5. ↑ "The Police To Reunite On GRAMMYs" ( Memento from May 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (English). Official press release dated January 30, 2007 on The Grammy Awards website.
  6. ↑ "The insider: The Police on tour photographed by guitarist Andy Summers" on the Taschen-Verlag website ( Memento from May 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
  7. ↑ http://www.circazero.com/about/
  8. ↑ Review by I Advance Masked on " All Music Guide (AMG)"
  9. ↑ Review by Bewitched on "AMG" (English)
  10. ↑ Review of Mysterious Barricades on "AMG" (English)
  11. ↑ Review of The Golden Wire on "AMG" (English)
  12. ↑ Review of Charming Snakes on "AMG" (English)
  13. ↑ Review of Synaesthesia on "AMG" (English)
  14. ↑ Review of The Last Dance of Mr. X on "AMG" (English)
  15. ↑ Review of Strings of Desire on "AMG" (English)
  16. ↑ Review of Green Chimneys: Music Of Thelonious Monk on "AMG" (English)
  17. ↑ Review of Peggy's Blue Skylight on "AMG" (English)
  18. ↑ Review by Earth + Sky on "AMG" (English)
  19. ↑ Review of The X tracks on "AMG" (English)
  20. ^ Andy Summers - The X-Tracks. Retrieved March 11, 2020 .
  21. ↑ "Inside views of a legend: Steward Copeland's documentary about 'The Police'" , online on 3sat . Interview by Ralf Rättig (Kulturzeit) with Stewart Copeland on October 25, 2006.
  22. ↑ Stewart Copeland's music documentary "Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out" on "laut.de"
  23. ^ "One Train Later" on Andy Summers website ( Memento from January 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive ): " In this intimate, revealing work, Andy Summers writes fluidly about his first guitar, his experiences with earlier bands, his relationships and encounters with Eric Clapton , Jimi Hendrix , John Belushi , and 'The Police', and more. »
personal data
SURNAME Summers, Andy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Somers, Andrew James (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English pop and rock guitarist
DATE OF BIRTH December 31, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Blackpool , Lancashire , England