Andrew Latimer (born 17 May 1949) is an English musician and composer. He is a founding member of the
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
band
Camel
A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...
and the only member who has been with them since their formation in 1971. Although he is best known as a guitarist and singer, Latimer is also a flautist and keyboardist.
Career

Along with partner Susan Hoover, Latimer relocated to America where they established a music production company named Camel Productions to release Camel's new studio albums: ''
Dust and Dreams'' (1991), ''
Harbour of Tears'' (1996), ''
Rajaz'' (1999) and ''
A Nod and a Wink'' (2002) as well as a host of "Official Bootlegs" on CD. The band went on the road in 1992, 1997, 2000, 2001, and 2003. They released their first full concert DVD in 1997 titled Coming of Age which began a series of subsequent DVD releases. In mid-2006, Latimer and Hoover returned to the UK and established Camel Productions UK Ltd.
In May 2007, Hoover announced through the Camel Productions website
and newsletter that Latimer had suffered from a progressive blood disorder
polycythaemia vera since 1992, which had unexpectedly progressed to
myelofibrosis. In November 2007, he underwent a successful
bone marrow transplant and began a long road to full recovery.
In October 2013, Latimer took Camel back to centre stage. To celebrate the occasion, Camel played ''
The Snow Goose'' in its entirety for the first set and dedicated it to the co-founding band members Andy Ward, Peter Bardens (deceased) and Doug Ferguson. Additionally, Camel had re-recorded the album earlier in the year. The re-recording remains faithful to the original, but includes some minor rearrangements and some extended sections. A live DVD, titled In From The Cold, was recorded at the Barbican Centre London. ''
The Snow Goose'' tour had been a complete sellout and the band was asked to continue in early 2014. However, the second half of the tour featured Ton Scherpenzeel (Kayak) as keyboardist Guy Leblanc had become seriously ill, subsequently passing away on 27 April 2015.
Despite being troubled by arthritis in his hands and knees, Latimer took Camel back on the road in 2015. In 2016 they toured Japan with new keyboardist Pete Jones and in 2018 Camel toured extensively featuring their most popular recording ''
Moonmadness''. The 2018 tour culminated with the band's return to The Royal Albert Hall to a sellout crowd. The performance was video recorded for anticipated release on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Equipment
Latimer's preferred guitar is a
Gibson Les Paul, but he is also known for playing
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...
s and other guitars. From the 1990s onward, he also played a Burny Super Grade, a 1980s copy of the Gibson Les Paul Model. The amplifiers he uses include
Fender,
Vox and
Marshall.
Legacy
Progressive rock guitarists such as
Steve Rothery (
Marillion
Marillion are a British neo-prog band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the mo ...
),
Mikael Åkerfeldt (
Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. The band incorporates folk music, folk, blues, classical music, classical, and jazz elements into its usually lengthy compositions, as well as strong influences from deat ...
),
Bryan Josh (
Mostly Autumn) and
Bruce Soord (
The Pineapple Thief) cite Latimer as one of their primary influences. Musician and producer
Steven Wilson of
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree are an English rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. During an initial career spanning more than twenty years, they earned critical acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, developed a cult following, and became ...
is a known fan of Camel and has stated, "Andy Latimer means very much for me."
Latimer received a Lifetime Achievement award at the 2014
Progressive Music Awards.
WAKEMAN, URIAH HEEP, CAMEL AMONG PROG AWARDS VICTORS
udiscovermusic.com
Discography
Studio albums with Camel
* ''1973 Camel
A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...
''
* ''1974 Mirage''
* ''1975 The Snow Goose''
* ''1976 Moonmadness''
* ''1977 Rain Dances''
* ''1978 Breathless''
* ''1979 I Can See Your House from Here
''I Can See Your House from Here'' is the seventh studio album by English progressive rock band Camel (band), Camel. Released in 1979, a new line up was introduced with founding members Andrew Latimer (guitar) and Andy Ward (musician), Andy ...
''
* ''1981 Nude''
* ''1982 The Single Factor''
* ''1984 Stationary Traveller''
* ''1991 Dust and Dreams''
* ''1996 Harbour of Tears''
* ''1999 Rajaz''
* ''2002 A Nod and a Wink''
* ''2013 The Snow Goose'' (an extended re-recording of the 1975 album)
Collaborations with others
Phillip Goodhand-Tait – I Think I'll Write A Song - 1971 (Guitar)
Michael Chapman – Savage Amusement - 1976 (Guitar)
Francis Monkman – Dweller On The Threshold - 1981 (Lead Guitar)
Annabel Etkind – A New Romance - 1983 (Piano)
Annabel Etkind – Memory - 1983 (Electric Piano)
Colin Bass – An Outcast Of The Islands - 1998 (Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, E-Bow uitars
David Minasian – Random Acts of Beauty - 2010 (Guitar, Vocals on track 1)
Nathan Mahl – Justify - 2014 (Guitar olo Keyboards xtraon track 7)
Colin Bass – At Wild End - 2015 (Guitar, Organ, Keyboards)
Jan Schelhaas – Living On A Little Blue Dot - 2017 (Lead Guitar)
Tangent – Back To The Fender - 2018 ( Guitar on tracks: 10 to 13)
Dave Sinclair – Out Of Sinc - 2018 (Electric Guitar)
Kayak – Seventeen - 2018 ( Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar on tracks: 1-6)
Tangent – Shadows In The Snow - 2020 (Guitar on track 12)
Tiger Moth Tales – A Song Of Spring - 2022 (Electric Guitar on track 8)
Colin Bass - Daniel Biro – More - 2024 (Guitar, Flute)
References
External links
Andrew Latimer on MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latimer, Andrew
1949 births
Camel (band) members
Canterbury scene
English rock guitarists
English rock keyboardists
English male guitarists
English male songwriters
English lead guitarists
Living people
Musicians from Guildford
Progressive rock guitarists