Les Dudek (born August 2, 1952, at Naval Air Station, Quonset Point, Rhode Island, United States) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. In addition to his solo material, Dudek has played guitar with

Steve Miller Band The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1966 in San Francisco, California. The band is led by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles that are staples of classic rock, as ...

, The Dudek-Finnigan-Krueger Band, Stevie Nicks, Cher, Boz Scaggs,

The Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guita ...

, as well as Maria Muldaur,

Bobby Whitlock Robert Stanley Whitlock (born March 18, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as a member of the blues-rock band Derek and the Dominos, with Eric Clapton, in 1970–71. Whitlock's musical career began with Memp ...

Mike Finnigan Michael Kelly Finnigan (April 26, 1945 – August 11, 2021) was an American keyboard player and vocalist, his speciality being the B3 Hammond organ. Working primarily as a freelance studio musician and touring player, he played with a wide va ...

, Jim Krueger and

Dave Mason David Thomas Mason (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic. Over the course of his career, Mason has played and recorded with many notable pop and rock mu ...

Early years

Dudek's father, Harold, was born in

Campbell, Nebraska Campbell is a village in Franklin County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 347 at the 2010 census. History Campbell was platted in 1886 on behalf of the railroad. Campbell was the name of one of the founders. Geography Campbell is lo ...

, and was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

veteran in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. His mother, Alma, born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, was a former Radio City Music Hall Rockette. Les has one older sister, Sandy, who was born in Brooklyn. The family is of

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

descent. Six years after Les was born, his father retired from the Navy and the family moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

where he grew up.

Musical career

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

caught Dudek's ear at an early age. In 1962, at the age of ten, Les asked his parents for a guitar for

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

. They bought him an acoustic guitar from

Sears & Roebuck Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began as ...

. His musical influences, along with The Beatles, were

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

, Jimi Hendrix, and

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...

. He had built quite a reputation around the Florida area as a proficient

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

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 Allman may refer to: Music *The Allman Brothers Band, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame southern rock band, formed by Duane and Gregg Allman *The Allman Joys, an early band formed by Duane and Gregg Allman *The Gregg Allman Band People *Allman (surnam ...

for the recording of the '' Brothers & Sisters'' album. He played guitar harmonies with

Dickey Betts Forrest Richard Betts (born December 12, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. Early in his career, he collaborated with Duane Allman, introducing melodic tw ...

on the well-known song " Ramblin' Man" and acoustic guitar on " Jessica". In

Alan Paul Alan Paul Wichinsky (born November 23, 1949, Newark, New Jersey) is a Grammy Award-winning singer and composer, best known as one of the founding members of the current incarnation of the vocal group The Manhattan Transfer. Education Raised in ...

's book, ''One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band'', Dudek claimed to have written the part in "Jessica" from when it modulated into G then eventually back to A. His next stops were as a guitarist for Boz Scaggs and

The Steve Miller Band The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1966 in San Francisco, California. The band is led by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles that are staples of classic rock, as ...

. Dudek was invited to play with

Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...

, however, he had received an offer to record for Columbia Records as a solo artist and took that path instead. He recorded four solo albums for Columbia Records, '' Les Dudek'', ''Say No More'', '' Ghost Town Parade'' and ''Gypsy Ride''. 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 ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

area, where he lived at the time, having moved to

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most prominent gay villages ...

in the mid-1970s. He later collaborated with Cher, Stevie Nicks, and with two other Columbia artists,

and Jim Krueger, with whom he formed The Dudek Finnigan Krueger Band in 1978. A DFKB 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 A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and pra ...

'' starring Cher,

Sam Elliott Samuel Pack Elliott (born August 9, 1944) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Board of Review Award, and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Aw ...

, Eric Stoltz, and

Laura Dern Laura Elizabeth Dern (born February 10, 1967) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards. Born to actor Bruce Dern and a ...

. He had a small part in the film as "Bone", a biker. Dudek also appeared in the TV movie, ''Streets of Justice'' (1985). He has worked for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, ABC,

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...

, and

E! Entertainment Television E! (an initialism for Entertainment Television) is an American basic cable channel which primarily focuses on pop culture, celebrity focused reality shows, and movies, owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of NBCUnivers ...

. He can be heard on many television series including '' Friends''. In 1985, Dudek played guitar with Stevie Nicks on her album ''

Rock a Little ''Rock a Little'' is the third solo studio album by the American singer and songwriter Stevie Nicks. Released in late 1985 while Fleetwood Mac were still on a lengthy hiatus following their album ''Mirage'' (1982), ''Rock a Little'' hit the top ...

'', and undertook her subsequent tour. In 1989, he did a brief stint with Canadian rock group John Kay & Steppenwolf as their guitarist. But problems developed between Dudek and Kay which led to him leaving the band after a month of touring. Two more solo albums later, ''Deeper Shades Of Blues'' (1994) 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 has recorded with other artists. In 2013, he released another solo album, ''Delta Breeze''.

Discography

;Les Dudek * '' Les Dudek'' (1976) * ''Say No More'' (1977) * '' Ghost Town Parade'' (1978) * ''Gypsy Ride'' (1981) * ''Deeper Shades of Blues'' (1994) * ''Freestyle!'' (2003) * ''Delta Breeze'' (2013) ;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'' (1986) * '' Wide River'' (1993) ; Stevie Nicks * ''

'' (1985) ; Cher * '' Black Rose'' (1980) ; Boz Scaggs * ''

Silk Degrees ''Silk Degrees'' is the seventh solo album by Boz Scaggs, released on Columbia Records in February 1976. The album peaked at No. 2 and spent 115 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200. It has been certified five times platinum by the RIAA and remains Sca ...

'' (1976) ; Maria Muldaur * ''Southern Winds'' (1978) ;Richard T. Bear * ''Red Hot & Blue '' (1978) ;

* ''Black & White'' (1978) ;

* '' Brothers & Sisters'' (1973) ;

* ''Rock Your Sox Off'' (1976)

References

https://www.mercurynews.com/2009/08/20/a-real-guitar-hero/

External links

Les Dudek website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudek, Les 1952 births American rock guitarists American male guitarists American people of Czech descent American people of German descent American people of Italian descent American people of Russian descent Living people Guitarists from Florida Steppenwolf (band) members American rock singers Songwriters from Rhode Island Lead guitarists Slide guitarists American male singers American session musicians 20th-century American guitarists Singer-songwriters from Florida