"Behind My Camel" is the eighth track from the 1980 album ''

Zenyatta Mondatta ''Zenyatta Mondatta'' (stylised as ''Zenyattà Mondatta'' on the album cover artwork) is the third studio album by British rock band the Police, released on 3 October 1980 by A&M Records. It was co-produced by the band and Nigel Gray. ''Zeny ...

'' by the English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

the Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

. The song was written by guitarist

Andy Summers Andrew James Summers (born 31 December 1942) is an English guitarist best known as a member of the rock band the Police. Prior to joining the Police, Summers had been a member of several bands during the 1960s, including Zoot Money's Big Roll ...

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 The Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance was an honor presented to recording artists for quality instrumental rock performances at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958, and ended after the 2011 award, and orig ...

. The song features a simple, yet eerie guitar

melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

, which is quasi-Arabic in style (hence the title), a repetitive bass riff played by Summers himself because of

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

opting out,Garbarini, Vic (Spring 2000)
"I think if we came back..."
, ''Revolver''. drums played by

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is an American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the British rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with the Polic ...

, and atmospheric keyboards. ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Mike Duquette called it "one of the more accomplished Police instrumentals, thanks to Summers’ Eastern-influenced guitar work."

Response of other band members

"Behind My Camel" was not very popular with the two other band members, especially Sting. Stewart Copeland was not in favour of the song either: In Chris Campion's Police biography ''Walking on the Moon'', Police producer Nigel Gray believes that the title was an in-joke by Andy Summers:

Primus version

"Behind My Camel" was covered by the

funk metal Funk metal (also known as thrash-funk or punk-funk) is a subgenre of funk rock and alternative metal that infuses heavy metal music (often thrash metal) with elements of funk and punk rock. Funk metal was part of the alternative metal movement, ...

band Primus, for their 1998 EP of

cover songs In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song released ...

, ''

Rhinoplasty Rhinoplasty (, nose + , to shape), commonly called nose job, medically called nasal reconstruction, is a plastic surgery procedure for altering and reconstructing the human nose, nose. There are two types of plastic surgery used – plastic sur ...

''. In an interview, Primus bassist and vocalist

Les Claypool Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American rock music, rock musician. He is the founder, lead singer, bassist, and primary songwriter of the band Primus (band), Primus. Listed as one of the greatest bassists of all time by ...

commented on covering the song:

References

{{authority control Songs about mammals The Police songs 1980 songs Primus (band) songs Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance Song recordings produced by Nigel Gray Rock instrumentals Songs written by Andy Summers 1980s instrumentals