Les Dudek (born August 2, 1952, at

Naval Air Station A Naval Air Station (NAS) is a military air base, and consists of a permanent land-based operations locations for the military aviation division of the relevant branch of a navy (Naval aviation). These bases are typically populated by squadron ...

, Quonset Point, Rhode Island, United States) is an American

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

, 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 music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1966. The band is led by Steve Miller (musician), Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles ...

, The Dudek-Finnigan-Krueger Band,

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasing the album ...

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

Boz Scaggs William Royce "Boz" Scaggs (born June 8, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was a bandmate of Steve Miller (musician), Steve Miller in the Ardells in the early 1960s and a member of the Steve Miller Band from 1967 to 196 ...

The Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969. Its founding members were brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar, lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards), as well as Dickey Betts ( ...

Maria Muldaur Maria Muldaur (born Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato; September 12, 1942) is an American folk and blues singer who was part of the American folk music revival in the early 1960s. She recorded the 1973 hit song " Midnight at the Oasis" and h ...

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 Memph ...

, Mike Finnigan, Jim Krueger and

Dave Mason David Thomas Mason (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who came to prominence in 1967 as a founding member of the rock band Traffic. While with Traffic, he wrote and sang lead vocals on two of the b ...

Early years

Dudek's father Harold came from Campbell, Nebraska, and was a World War II veteran in the United States Navy. His mother Alma, of Brooklyn, was a former

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...

Rockette. Les has one older sister, Sandy. The family is of Czech, German, Italian, and Russian descent. Six years after Les was born, his father retired from the Navy and the family moved to Auburndale, Florida, where he grew up.

Musical career

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

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 Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

. They bought him an acoustic guitar from Sears & Roebuck. 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 proces ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

, and

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

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

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

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 guitar harmonies with

Dickey Betts Forrest Richard Betts (December 12, 1943 – April 18, 2024) was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was best known as a longtime member of the Allman Brothers Band. A co-founder of the band when it formed in 1969, he was central ...

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

and The Steve Miller Band. Dudek was invited to play with Journey, however, he had received an offer to record for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

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, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

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. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...

in the mid-1970s. He later collaborated with

, and with two other Columbia artists, Mike Finnigan 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, Dudek 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 employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...

'' starring

, Sam Elliott, Eric Stoltz, and Laura Dern. 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 commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, ABC,

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

, and

E! Entertainment Television E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable television network. It is owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The channel focuses primarily on pop culture, celebrity based reality shows and movie ...

. He can be heard on many television series including ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

''. In 1985, Dudek played guitar with

on her album '' Rock a Little'', 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) ;

* '' Rock a Little '' (1985) ;

* '' Black Rose'' (1980) ;

* ''

Silk Degrees ''Silk Degrees'' is the seventh studio album by American musician Boz Scaggs, released on February 18, 1976, by Columbia Records. The album peaked at No. 2 and spent 115 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200. It has been certified five times platinum ...

'' (1976) ;

* ''Southern Winds'' (1978) ;Richard T. Bear * ''Red Hot & Blue '' (1978) ; Mike Finnigan * ''Black & White'' (1978) ;

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

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

References

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 American lead guitarists American slide guitarists American male singers American session musicians 20th-century American guitarists Singer-songwriters from Florida