Former Police guitarist Andy Summers says jamming with icon Jimi Hendrix in a Hollywood studio was a “great moment” in his career.
It happened when Summers was in psychedelic rock band Dantalian’s Chariot in the 60s. They shared the same manager and when he heard Hendrix would be at TTG Studios in LA, Summers went down to see him in action.
He tells Rolling Stone: “Jimi was leaning against the studio window with his hat with a feather on it, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, and his Strat at absolute roaring volume, just wailing. It was incredible. Surrealistic.
“Once he stopped playing we talked a little bit. He was very soft and shy. I walked out of the studio and Hendrix’s drummer Mitch Mitchell was there, and there was a right-handed guitar.
“Of course, he played the other way. So I pick up the guitar and I’m starting to jam with Mitchell. Jimi came out, picked up the bass and started playing along with us.
“I was like, ‘Fuck, it’s Jimi Hendrix playing bass with me.’”
He continues: “It was a great moment, and after we did about 10 minutes, he said, ‘Hey, man. Do you mind if I played the guitar for a little bit?’ It was a bit intimidating, because everybody in the world worshipped him. That was the last time I saw him.”
Summers narrates the film Can’t Stand Losing You: Surviving The Police – a movie which launched in 2012 but is now being shown in cinemas across the US for the first time.