Andy Summers - ...and on guitar (1983)

Andrew James Somers was born on 31 December 1942, and is best known for his work with The Police under the name of Andy Summers. During his childhood he took piano lessons, but later took up the guitar, and inspired by seeing concerts by Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillepsie he started to play jazz guitar. By sixteen he was playing in local clubs and by nineteen he'd moved to London with his friend Zoot Money to form Zoot Money's Big Roll Band. This group eventually came under the influence of the psychedelic scene and evolved into the acid rock group Dantalion's Chariot, who released the classic psyche single 'The Madman Running Through The Fields' in 1967. After the demise of Dantalion's Chariot, Summers joined Soft Machine for three months and toured the United States, and 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 the album 'Love Is', featuring a recording of Traffic's 'Coloured Rain' which includes a 4 minute and 15 second guitar solo by Summers. After five years in Los Angeles, mostly spent studying classical guitar and composition in the music programme at California State University, he returned to London, where he 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 seminal 'Tubular Bells', and in 1977, he was invited by ex-Gong bassist Mike Howlett to join his band Strontium 90, but was soon coaxed away by future Police bandmates Sting and Stewart Copeland. His session work wound down while he concentrated on helping to promote The Police to the stadium-filling band that they became in their heyday, and although he had a sideline in the early 80's with his recordings with Robert Fripp, there was only one guest appearance while a member of The Police, when he appeared on Carly Simon's 'Hello Big Man' album in 1983. Still, there's enough great material from before The Police to make a really interesting album of his guest appearances.

Track listing

01 Coloured Rain (from 'Love Is' by Eric Burdon and the Animals 1968)
02 Sunday Morning Sunrise (from 'Matching Head And Feet' by Kevin Coyne 1975)
03 Steppin' Out (from 'Back To The Night' by Joan Armatrading 1975)
04 Sarabande (from 'Sarabande' by Jon Lord 1976)
05 Room Service (from 'Sailing Down The Years' by Kevin Lamb 1978)
07 You Know What To Do (from 'Hello Big Man' by Carly Simon 1983)
06 Octogon (from 'Video-Magic' by Eberhard Schoener 1978)