Andy Summers, the innovative guitarist behind many of The Police’s most iconic riffs, recently shared a revealing story about one song that nearly never made it onto a record—and the dramatic fallout it sparked with Sting.
Known for his spacious and distinctive guitar work, Summers contributed immensely to the band’s success. Songs like “Message in a Bottle” and “Every Breath You Take” highlight his exceptional technique, with riffs that have stood the test of time. “Message in a Bottle,” with its famously difficult arpeggios, has even tripped up virtuosos like John Mayer. “It’s a famous riff, and I have to admit, it’s hard to play,” Summers told Guitar Player in 2019. “You have to be a real guitarist to do it well.”
Another classic example is “Every Breath You Take,” where Summers instantly crafted the haunting riff after hearing Sting’s chord progression. That simple yet unforgettable guitar line now boasts over 2.6 billion Spotify streams, making it possibly the most listened-to riff in rock history.
Despite Summers’ success with shaping Sting’s songs, his solo effort “Behind My Camel”—the only track he contributed to the band’s 1980 album Zenyatta Mondatta—was flatly rejected by the band’s frontman. Sting disliked it so much, he refused to play on it.
Clocking in at just under three minutes, “Behind My Camel” features a dark, looping eight-bar riff layered over synthesizer strings. Sting, not only uninterested in contributing but actively hostile, left Summers to record the bassline himself.
“I liked it,” Summers reflects. “I was always more interested in weirder stuff, and the commercial hit songs always seemed to come out of Sting anyway.”
Summers had composed the piece months before the band began recording the album, using an organ and experimenting with rhythms from a drum machine that mixed bossa nova, rock, and tango beats. As recording wrapped up in August 1980, they found themselves one song short—and Summers offered up “Behind My Camel.”
“Sting said, ‘I’m not playing on that!’” Summers recalls. Fortunately, drummer Stewart Copeland was game. Summers picked up Sting’s bass, ran it through the bassist’s rig, and laid down the part himself, using either his modded 1963 Fender Telecaster Custom or one of his vintage Stratocasters.
“It all happened so fast in the studio,” Summers says. “I probably just got the bass in there with the kick drum.”
Though never confirmed by Summers, Zenyatta Mondatta producer Nigel Gray believed the track was a joke, pointing to its cryptic title: “What would you find behind a camel? A monumental pile of shit.”
Sting, for his part, took the rejection a step further. “I hated that song so much that… I actually buried the tape in the garden,” he claimed in a 2000 interview with Revolver.
Summers believes him. “I actually believe he did bury the tape in the garden,” he says, laughing.
Despite the internal drama, “Behind My Camel” made the final cut—and defied expectations by winning the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1982. It was the band’s second win in that category.
“Well, obviously, I loved the irony,” Summers recalls. “I’m sure there was some smug self-satisfaction: ‘See? I fucking told you!’”
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