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Les Dudek


Les Dudek - Say No More - 1977 - Columbia

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#595 in the Series) is Les Dudek, Say No More. Are you a guitar fan? Do you like great blues guitar? Do you like funky jazz guitar? I’m hoping you know who Les Dudek is. If not, you need to know about him, and quickly. Born in Rhode Island, and raised in Florida, Les made the rounds before ending up in California. Before he launched his solo career, he spent time playing with the likes of Boz Scaggs and Steve Miller. I recently learned an interesting story about the start of his solo career. In the early 70s he was living in the San Francisco area, well-known manager/producer “Herbie” Herbert was putting a band together and quickly thought of Les. The plan being that “Herbie” wanted to pair the two hot, young San Francisco Bay area guitarists together. He offered him the position of co-lead guitarist in a new band he was putting together with Prairie Prince on drums, Ross Valory on bass Neal Schon on guitar and Gregg Rolie on keyboards and lead vocals. This of course was the beginnings of Journey. Unfortunately, Les ended up passing. They would eventually make their debut in 1975 with a few slight changes, Aynsley Dunbar would be on drums instead of Prince and George Tickner would be the second guitarist. When I listen to this Les Dudek album I can just hear how well he would’ve fit in with that early space rock Journey sound. It would’ve been spectacular. But oh well. Instead, Les decided to pursue a solo career as his first record deal literally was hitting the same day that he was beginning his work with Journey. In fact, it was during the band’s very first rehearsal session at Studio Instrument Rentals on Folsom Street in San Francisco when Les made his move. He shared the story with me. “I literally took a brake from the rehearsal to attend a meeting across the street at Columbia Studios when the president and vice president of Columbia Records offered me a solo deal, the rest is history.” Les also spent a period doing some projects with Dickey Betts and The Allman Brothers, in fact Betts and Dudek co-wrote the classic Allman Brothers tune “Jessica.” I wasn’t really aware of the degree of his and The Allman Brothers relationship, again Les completes the picture. He recently shared the details in an email. “In addition to co-writing ”Jessica” with Dickey Betts, I also played the acoustic guitar on that song, and I played half of all the lead guitar parts on “Ramblin’ Man,” both originally from the “Brothers & Sisters” Allman Brothers Band LP.” Say No More was released in 1977 and featured a ton of the great Los Angeles studio musicians of the time among them, Jeff Porcaro on drums, Chuck Rainey on bass, David Paich on piano and the late David Sancious on organ. If you like bands like Little Feat, Boz Scaggs, the Allman Brothers, or Robert Palmer then you really need to check this one out. Some of it even has that “Sneaking Sally Through The Alley” feel. This album received decent airplay and the one song you should know is “Old Judge Jones.” It spent a long period of heavy play on FM rock radio. I’ve included it below make sure you give it a listen. Another highlight that you need to year which is also included below is the instrumental “One To Bean Up.” This is a funky little number that I know you love. I was only able to find about half the album to place on the video playlist below but make sure you check it out, Les Dudek is one of the greats. I’ve also included a bonus video of the song called “City Magic.” This song is not from this album but it’s one you may know. I can’t tell you enough how good this guy is. I encourage you to check out not only this album but all of Les’ work. Les Dudek is still out there today playing so check his schedule and kitchen where you can I’m sure you’ll be impressed. © Larry Carta © 2013 DILAPIDATED. DESIGNED AND CODED BY GHOSTPOOL. http://coolalbumreview.com/?p=17050

Les Dudek has played with some of rock’s biggest names including Steve Miller, Dave Mason, the Allman Brothers Band, and Boz Scaggs who he played with for five years appearing on Boz’s “Silk Degrees” album. Les also played on Steve Miller’s “Fly Like an Eagle” album. He also released four albums between 1976 and 1981, as well as launching the DFK Band which included keyboardist Mike Finnigan and guitarist Jim Krueger. In 1979, the DFK Band released one self-titled release. “Say No More” is a great forgotten album by a very underrated guitarist and songwriter. Theres soul, rock, R&B, and even jazz elements throughout. Comparisons could be made to Lowell George, Steve Miller, Ry Cooder and occasionaly, Steely Dan. Listen to Les’ “Deeper Shade of Blues” album. There’s still good music out there floating on a sea of musical mediocrity [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 96.7 Mb]

TRACKS

A1 Jailabamboozle 4:52
A2 Lady You're Nasty 5:33
A3 One To Beam Up 3:25
A4 Avatar 7:00

B1 Old Judge Jones 4:39
B2 Baby Sweet Baby 2:10
B3 What It's Gonna Be 5:07
B4 Zorro Rides Again 5:47
B5 I Remember 3:05

All songs composed by Les Dudek except "One To Beam Up" by Les Dudek & Alan Feingold

MUSICIANS

Guitar, Vocals – Les Dudek
Bass – Chuck Rainey, Gerald Johnson, Robert Popwell
Keyboards – David Sancious, Alan Feingold, David Paich, Ted Straton, Joachim Jymm Young
Drums – Jeff Porcaro, Tony Williams
Percussion – Kevin Calhoun, Pat Murphy, Reymondo
Backing Vocals – Clydie King, Rebecca Louis, Sherlie Matthews

Get a detailed breakdown of credits @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Say_No_More_(Les_Dudek_album) or on Les’website @ http://www.lesdudek.com/disco/snm.htm

BIO (WIKI)

Les Dudek (born August 2, 1952, at Naval Air Station, Quonset Point, Rhode Island) is an American guitarist. 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, 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. 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 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 guitar harmonies with Dickey Betts 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 Canadian rock group John Kay & Steppenwolf as their guitarist. But problems developed between Dudek and Kay which led to him leave the band after a month of touring. 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.

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