Andy Summers is a literate man. His memoir, One Train Later, released this month by St. Martin’s Press, is filled with anecdotes on discovering everything from Japanese Koan poems to the existential works of Kierkegaard. The 64-year-old's understanding of these moral and philosophical concepts acted as a through line for much of his life, and played heavily upon his learning guitar, attempting to merge the fluidity of language into the extraordinary riffs and solos Summers played as an itinerant artist for sixties groups Eric Burdon and the Animals, the avant-guard Soft Machine, and eventually as the lead guitarist of eighties icons The Police.
One Train Later is a brutally honest, self-effacing journey into the belly of the beast of music celebrity, and a lyrical portrait of a man caught between the worlds of a grounded family life and the insanity of living up to the rock and roll image. We spoke yesterday by phone.
“You must strike a balance between who you are and the image you’re projecting in order to survive,” said Summers. “I was fortunate, because the success of the Police occurred when I was older, had already experienced a lot, so I tended not to take all the crap that comes with it so seriously. I mostly paid close attention to my relationship with the guitar and the music. That’s what kept me moving through, constantly practicing and improving.”
Summers also credits his bandmates Stewart Copeland and Sting for keeping the group dynamic positive and forward-looking.
“Look, we had artistic differences and yes, there was some tension between us, especially at the end. But that’s natural - it's a marriage, and what also comes with that marriage is tremendous support. I can’t tell you how many times each of us were close to hanging it up, wanting to just stop the bullshit and move on with our lives. Whenever I was in that frame of mind, both Stewart and Sting were there - no ego, no bloated sense of themselves. We were mates first, and that’s what really propelled the success of the band. We all understood each other’s fragility and were sensitive to each other's needs.”
Summers was surprised to learn that a recent critique of One Train Later in Kirkus Reviews has him referring to Sting as “self-involved and high-handed” and Copeland as “motor-mouthed and overbearing.”
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For those interested in further reading on Andy Summers, an extensive article can be found here.