It seems like every rock star from the sixties through the nineties has scrawled out an autobiography. These lurid accounts seem to endlessly explore the stereotypical amoral lifestyle one expects from devilish boys wielding four-string axes and sledgehammer drum sticks to mete out cruel and unusual rhythms.

Occasionally, an honest memoir from the rock and roll animals squeaks through and sets a course in uncharted waters; the landscape of the artist as a real man replete with gaping faults and tragic insecurities, putting the iconic star image in perspective. Bob Dylan’s amazing Chronicles is one such venture, and Andy Summers new book, One Train Later, is another.

For those too young to remember, Andy Summers was the lead guitarist for the seminal eighties British band The Police, who fused elements of punk, pop, reggae, and ska into an extraordinarily explosive sound, backing the introspective and philosophical lyrics written by superstar vocalist Sting. However, the Police are only a small part of Summers’ extremely detailed work.

One Train Later is really three memoirs in one. It’s a view of Summers and his constant development as a musician, his schizophrenic life as an itinerant guitarist cum musical sensation, and the struggles Summers encounters trying to live the fantasy-driven rock lifestyle while also trying to maintain mature relationships in his everyday life. It’s humorous, sad, and complex - a thorough examination of a conflicted man holding nothing back.

Summers opens with his childhood, a pleasant middle class existence in Bournemouth England, a port city on the English Channel. He learns elemental piano as a child, but a gift of an old guitar from a friendly uncle propels Summers towards a deep relationship with music, including the beginnings of American rock and soul and the intricacy of improvisational jazz.

Summers spends most of his free time learning finger patterns and accidentally discovering chords and notes making the new breed of rock musicians’ international heroes. He plays in various jazz orchestras in his teens and eventually hooks up with Zoot Money and the Big Roll Band, a blues outfit in the same mold as The Animals and Georgie Fame.

As sixties psychedelia hits London, the Big Roll transforms into Dantalian’s Chariot, and enjoys a brief career opening for Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd and the Soft Machine, among other luminaries of the period. Summers goes on to join the Soft Machine, and then the reformed Animals in the late sixties and tours the world with them.