Les Dudek
Encyclopedia
Les Dudek is an American
guitarist
.
, and was a World War II
veteran in the United States Navy
. His mother, Alma, born in Brooklyn
, was a former Radio City Music Hall
Rockette. Les has one older sister, Sandy, who was born in Brooklyn. The family is of Czech, German
, Italian, and Russian
extraction. The surname Dudek derives from the Slavic word, Duda which means street musician. Six years after Les was born, his father retired from the Navy and the family moved to Florida
where he grew up.
caught Les’ ear at an early age. In 1962, at the age of ten, Les asked his parents for a guitar for Christmas
. They bought him an acoustic guitar from Sears & Roebuck. His musical influences, along with The Beatles, were Cream
, Jimi Hendrix
, and The Ventures
. He had built quite a reputation around the Florida area as a proficient guitar
player, having started playing in local bands as a teenager. Those bands were "The United Sounds", "Blue Truth" and "Power". That reputation would place him in the studio with the Allman Brothers Band for the recording of the Brothers & Sisters
album. He played lead guitar on the well-known song "Ramblin' Man" and acoustic guitar on "Jessica".
His next stops were as a guitarist for Boz Scaggs
and The Steve Miller Band. Dudek was invited to play in a supergroup called Journey
but he had received an offer to record for Columbia Records
as a solo artist. He recorded four solo albums for Columbia Records, "Les Dudek" (Debut), "Say No More", "Ghost Town Parade" and "Gypsy Ride". 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, California
area, where he lived at the time, having moved to West Hollywood in the mid-1970s.
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) in 1978. A DFK album was released by Columbia Records a year later.
Between the years 1979 and 1982, Les and Cher had a personal as well as professional relationship. Dudek wrote and performed some of the music for the 1984 movie Mask
starring Cher
, Sam Elliott
, Eric Stoltz
, and Laura Dern
. He had a small part in the film as "Bone", a biker. He has worked for NBC
, ABC
, ESPN
, Fox Sports
, and E! Entertainment Television. He can be heard on many television series including Friends
.
In 1989, he did a brief stint with legendary Canadian rock group John Kay
& Steppenwolf
as their guitarist. But problems developed between Dudek and Kay which led to him leaving the band after only one month on tour.
1991 Les played guitar with Stevie Nicks
on her "Whole Lot Of Trouble" tour.
Two more solo Cds later, "Deeper Shades Of Blues" and "Freestyle", Dudek hit the road again with his own band, and has been performing songs from all his records, plus a few hits he's recorded with other artists.
The Dudek, Finnigan, Krueger Band
Steve Miller Band
Stevie Nicks
Cher
Dave Mason
Boz Scaggs
Maria Muldaur
Richard T. Bear
Mike Finnigan
The Allman Brothers Band
Bobby Whitlock
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
.
Early years
Les Dudek's father, Harold, was born in Campbell, NebraskaCampbell, Nebraska
Campbell is a village in Franklin County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 387 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Campbell is located at , between Upland and Bladen....
, and was a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
veteran in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. His mother, Alma, born in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, was a former Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
Rockette. Les has one older sister, Sandy, who was born in Brooklyn. The family is of Czech, German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
, Italian, and Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
extraction. The surname Dudek derives from the Slavic word, Duda which means street musician. Six years after Les was born, his father retired from the Navy and the family moved to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
where he grew up.
Musical career
The BeatlesThe Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
caught Les’ ear at an early age. In 1962, at the age of ten, Les asked his parents for a guitar for Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
. They bought him an acoustic guitar from Sears & Roebuck. His musical influences, along with The Beatles, were Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, and The Ventures
The Ventures
The Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling...
. He had built quite a reputation around the Florida area as a proficient guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
player, having started playing in local bands as a teenager. Those bands were "The United Sounds", "Blue Truth" and "Power". That reputation would place him in the studio with the Allman Brothers Band for the recording of the Brothers & Sisters
Brothers and Sisters (album)
Brothers and Sisters is the fifth album by The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1973.The group's first album recorded completely after the death of leader Duane Allman, and mostly after the death of bassist Berry Oakley, Brothers and Sisters saw the Allmans reach a commercial peak. The album...
album. He played lead guitar on the well-known song "Ramblin' Man" and acoustic guitar on "Jessica".
His next stops were as a guitarist for Boz Scaggs
Boz Scaggs
William Royce "Boz" Scaggs is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He gained fame in the 1970s with several Top 20 hit singles in the United States, along with the #2 album, Silk Degrees. Scaggs continues to write, record music and tour.-Early life and career:Scaggs was born in Canton,...
and The Steve Miller Band. Dudek was invited to play in a supergroup called Journey
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
but he had received an offer to record for Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
as a solo artist. He recorded four solo albums for Columbia Records, "Les Dudek" (Debut), "Say No More", "Ghost Town Parade" and "Gypsy Ride". 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, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
area, where he lived at the time, having moved to West Hollywood in the mid-1970s.
He later collaborated with Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
, Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks
Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...
, and with two other Columbia Artists, Mike Finnegan and Jim Krueger, with whom he formed DFK (Dudek, Finnegan, and Krueger) in 1978. A DFK album was released by Columbia Records a year later.
Between the years 1979 and 1982, Les and Cher had a personal as well as professional relationship. Dudek wrote and performed some of the music for the 1984 movie Mask
Mask (film)
Mask is a 1985 American biographical drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Cher, Sam Elliott, and Eric Stoltz. Dennis Burkley and Laura Dern are featured in supporting roles. Cher received the 1985 Cannes Film Festival award for Best Actress....
starring Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
, Sam Elliott
Sam Elliott
Samuel Pack "Sam" Elliott is an American actor. His rangy physique, thick horseshoe moustache, and deep, resonant voice match the iconic image of a cowboy or rancher, and he has often been cast in such roles.-Early life:Sam Elliott was born in Sacramento, California, to a physical training...
, Eric Stoltz
Eric Stoltz
Eric Hamilton Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely known for playing the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...
, and Laura Dern
Laura Dern
Laura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress, film director and producer. Dern has acted in such films as Smooth Talk , Blue Velvet , Fat Man and Little Boy , Wild at Heart , Jurassic Park and October Sky...
. He had a small part in the film as "Bone", a biker. He has worked for NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
, Fox Sports
Fox Sports (USA)
Fox Sports is a division of the Fox Broadcasting Company . It was formed in 1994 with Fox's acquisition of broadcast rights to National Football League games...
, and E! Entertainment Television. He can be heard on many television series including Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
.
In 1989, he did a brief stint with legendary Canadian rock group John Kay
John Kay (musician)
John Kay is a German-Canadian singer, songwriter and guitarist known as the frontman of Steppenwolf...
& Steppenwolf
Steppenwolf (band)
Steppenwolf are a Canadian-American rock group that was prominent in the late 1960s. The group was formed in 1967 in Los Angeles by vocalist John Kay, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Rushton Moreve, keyboardist Goldy McJohn and drummer Jerry Edmonton after the dissolution of Toronto group The...
as their guitarist. But problems developed between Dudek and Kay which led to him leaving the band after only one month on tour.
1991 Les played guitar with Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks
Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...
on her "Whole Lot Of Trouble" tour.
Two more solo Cds later, "Deeper Shades Of Blues" and "Freestyle", Dudek hit the road again with his own band, and has been performing songs from all his records, plus a few hits he's recorded with other artists.
Discography
Les Dudek- Les DudekLes Dudek (album)Les Dudek is American guitarist Les Dudek's 1976 self-titled solo debut album.-Track listing:All songs by Les Dudek unless noted otherwise.# "City Magic" – 5:34# "Sad Clown" – 5:29# "Don't Stop Now" – 3:54# "Each Morning" – 7:22...
(1976) - Say No More (1977)
- Ghost Town ParadeGhost Town ParadeGhost Town Parade is the third album by Les Dudek and was released on the Columbia Records label in 1978.- Track listing :Side 1# "Central Park"-01# "Bound to Be a Change"-02# "Gonna Move"-04# "Friend of Mine"-05Side 2# "Does Anybody Care"-06...
(1978) - Gypsy Ride (1981)
- Deeper Shades of Blues (2001)
- Freestyle! (2003)
The Dudek, Finnigan, Krueger Band
- The Dudek, Finnigan, Krueger Band (1980)
Steve Miller Band
Steve Miller Band
The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1967 in San Francisco, California. The band is managed by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals, and is known for a string of mid-1970s hit singles that are staples of the classic rock radio format.-History:In 1965, Steve Miller and...
- Fly Like An EagleFly Like an Eagle- Track listing :Side one# "Space Intro" – 1:15# "Fly Like an Eagle" – 4:42# "Wild Mountain Honey" – 4:51# "Serenade" – 3:13...
(1976) - Book of DreamsBook of DreamsBook of Dreams is the tenth studio album by American rock band The Steve Miller Band. The album was released in 1977 on the Capitol label in North America and on the Mercury label in Europe...
(1977) - Living in the 20th CenturyLiving in the 20th CenturyLiving in the 20th Century is the fourteenth album by American rock band The Steve Miller Band, released in 1986. It includes the hit "I Want to Make the World Turn Around", which spent six consecutive weeks at the top of the Album Rock Tracks chart in the U.S...
(1987) - Wide RiverWide RiverWide River is the fifteenth album by American rock band The Steve Miller Band, released in 1993. The title track was their last Hot 100 hit. It would be Steve Miller Band's last studio album until Bingo! seventeen years later .-Track listing:...
(1993)
Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks
Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...
- Rock A LittleRock a LittleRock a Little is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter and Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks.Released in late 1985 while Fleetwood Mac were still on a lengthy hiatus following their album Mirage in 1982, Rock a Little hit the top 20 in its second week and ultimately peaked at #12...
(1985)
Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
- Black RoseBlack Rose (Cher album)Black Rose is the seventeenth studio album by American singer-actress Cher and the debut album by her band, Black Rose. The album was released on August 21, 1980 by Casablanca Records...
(1980)
Dave Mason
Dave Mason
David Thomas "Dave" Mason is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic...
- Old crest on a new waveOld Crest on a New WaveOld Crest on a New Wave is the ninth studio album by the English musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist Dave Mason. The album includes a duet with Michael Jackson, "Save Me", which peaked at #71 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #70 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.-Track listing:...
(1980)
Boz Scaggs
Boz Scaggs
William Royce "Boz" Scaggs is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He gained fame in the 1970s with several Top 20 hit singles in the United States, along with the #2 album, Silk Degrees. Scaggs continues to write, record music and tour.-Early life and career:Scaggs was born in Canton,...
- Silk DegreesSilk DegreesSilk Degrees is the seventh album by Boz Scaggs, released on the Columbia Records label in 1976. The album reached #2 on the U.S. pop albums chart.-Reception:The album marked Scaggs' commercial zenith, mainly spearheaded by the R&B/Soul hit "Lowdown"...
(1976)
Maria Muldaur
Maria Muldaur
Maria Muldaur is a folk-blues singer who was part of the American folk music revival in the early 1960s...
- Southern Winds (1978)
Richard T. Bear
- Red, Hot, and Blue (1978)
Mike Finnigan
Mike Finnigan
Mike Finnigan is an American keyboard player and vocalist, his specialty being the Hammond Organ.-Career:Finnigan has toured and sessioned for the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Etta James, Sam Moore, Crosby Stills and Nash, Dave Mason, Buddy Guy, Manhattan Transfer, Taj Mahal, Michael...
- Black & White (1978)
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
- Brothers & SistersBrothers and Sisters (album)Brothers and Sisters is the fifth album by The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1973.The group's first album recorded completely after the death of leader Duane Allman, and mostly after the death of bassist Berry Oakley, Brothers and Sisters saw the Allmans reach a commercial peak. The album...
(1973)
Bobby Whitlock
Bobby Whitlock
Robert Stanley 'Bobby' Whitlock is a songwriter and performer, best known as a member of Derek and the Dominos.- Biography :...
- Rock Your Socks Off (1976)