Les Dudek
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Les Dudek is an American guitarist.
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[edit] Early Years
Les Dudek was born August 2, 1951 at Naval Air Station, Quonset Point, Rhode Island. His father, Harold was in the US Navy and his mother Alma was a former Radio City Music Hall Rockette. Les has one older sister Sandy, who was born in Brooklyn,New York. The family is of German-Russian extraction. Two years after Les was born his father retired from the Navy and the family moved to Florida where he grew up.
[edit] Musical Career
The Beatles caught Les’ ear at an early age. In 1964, at the age of thirteen, Les asked his parents for a guitar for Christmas. They bought him an acoustic guitar at Sears Roebuck. His musical influences ,along with The Beatles were Cream, Jimi Hendrix, The Ventures.[1] He had built quite a reputation around the Florida area as a proficient guitar player, having started playing in local bands as a teenager. That reputation would place him in the studio with the Allman Brothers Band for the recording of the Brothers and Sisters album. He played on the well-known songs “Ramblin' Man” and “Jessica”. The latter song, he co-authored with Dickey Betts.
His next stops were as a guitarist for Boz Scaggs and The Steve Miller Band. Les was invited to play in a supergroup called Journey but Les had received an offer to record for Columbia Records as a solo artist. His work was praised by the critics but widespread fame and success eluded him. He had two minor hits with “City Magic” and “Old Judge Jones” which were played frequently on local radio stations in the Los Angeles area,where he lived at the time.
He later collaborated with Cher, Stevie Nicks, and with two other Columbia Artists; Mike Finnegan and Jim Krueger with whom he formed DFK (Dudek, Finnegan, and Krueger). Between the years 1980 and 1982 Les and Cher had a personal relationship as well as professional.[2]
Les wrote and performed some of the music for the 1984 movie “Mask” starring Cher, Sam Elliott, Eric Stoltz, and Laura Dern.He also had a small part in the film as "Bone", abiker. He has also done work for NBC, ABC, ESPN, FOX Sports, and E Entertainment Television. His work can be heard on many television series including the popular TV show Friends. In 1989 Les did a brief stint with legendary Canadian rock group John Kay & Steppenwolf as their guitarist. But problems developed between Les and John Kay which led to his being fired by Kay after only one month with the band.
In 2007 Les hit the road again with Bryan Hawkins on drums, Dan Walters on bass, and Mike Kindred on keyboards. Les currently resides in Florida.
[edit] Discography
Les Dudek
- Les Dudek (1976)
- Say No More (1977)
- Ghost Town Parade (1978)
- Gypsy Ride (1981)
- Deeper Shades of Blues (2001)
- Freestyle! (2003)
The Dudek, Finnigan, Krueger Band
- The Dudek, Finnigan, Krueger Band (1980)
- Fly Like An Eagle (1976)
- Book of Dreams (1977)
- Living In The 20th Century (1987)
- Wide River (1993)
- Rock A Little (1985)
- Black Rose (1980)
- Old Crest On A New Wave (1980)
- Silk Degrees (1976)
- Southern Winds (1978)
Richard T. Bear
- Red, Hot, and Blue (1978)
- Black & White (1978)
- Brothers & Sisters (1973)
- Rock Your Socks Off (1976)
[edit] External links
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