Les Dudek (born August 2 1952, at Naval Air Station, Quonset Point, Rhode Island) is an American guitarist.

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Early years

Les Dudek's father, Harold, was born in Campbell, Nebraska, and was a World War II veteran in the United States Navy. His mother, Alma, born in Brooklyn, New York 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 Czech, German, Italian, and Russian extraction. In point of fact, the surname of 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.

Musical career

The Beatles 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 at Sears Roebuck. His musical influences, along with The Beatles were, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and 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. 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", co-authoring the latter with Dickey Betts.

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. 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. Between the years 1979 and 1982, Les and Cher had a personal as well as professional relationship. ^[2]

Dudek 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", a biker. He has also worked for NBC, ABC, ESPN, FOX Sports, and E Entertainment Television, and can be heard on many television series including the popular TV show 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.

In 2007, Dudek hit the road again with Bryan " Tennessee" Hawkins on drums, and Dan Walters on bass/vocals.

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)

Steve Miller Band

• Fly Like An Eagle (1976)
• Book of Dreams (1977)
• Living in the 20th Century (1987)
• Wide River (1993)

Stevie Nicks

• Rock A Little (1985)

Cher

• Black Rose (1980)

Dave Mason

• Old Crest On A New Wave (1980)

Boz Scaggs

• Silk Degrees (1976)

Maria Muldaur

• Southern Winds (1978)

Richard T. Bear

• Red, Hot, and Blue (1978)

Mike Finnigan

• Black & White (1978)

The Allman Brothers Band

• Brothers & Sisters (1973)

Bobby Whitlock

• Rock Your Socks Off (1976)

References

1. LesDudek.com
2. www.NNDB.com