Behind My Camel

"Behind My Camel"
Instrumental by The Police
from the album Zenyatta Mondatta
Released2 October 1980
GenrePost-punk, instrumental rock
Length2:54
LabelA&M
Composer(s)Andy Summers
Producer(s)The Police
Audio
"Behind My Camel" on YouTube

"Behind My Camel" is the eighth track from the 1980 album Zenyatta Mondatta by the English rock band the Police. The song was written by guitarist Andy Summers and was the first one to be composed solely by him during his career in The Police. It won the Grammy Award of 1982 (awarded in 1982, but for accomplishments in late 1980 or 1981) for the Best Rock Instrumental Performance.[1]

The song features a simple, yet eerie guitar melody, which is quasi-Arabic in style (hence the title), a repetitive bass riff played by Summers himself because of Sting opting out,[2] drums played by Stewart Copeland, and atmospheric keyboards rather deep in the mix.

Ultimate Classic Rock critic Mike Duquette called it "one of the more accomplished Police instrumentals, thanks to Summers’ Eastern-influenced guitar work."[3]

  1. ^ "1981 Grammy Awards". Infoplease. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
  2. ^ Garbarini, Vic (Spring 2000). "I think if we came back..." Archived 30 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Revolver.
  3. ^ Duquette, Mike (6 May 2022). "All 70 Police Songs Ranked Worst to Best". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 5 June 2022.