Whether you realize it or not, Les Dudek
is probably one of your favorite guitar players... The famous dual
guitars you hear on Ramblin' Man? Dickey Betts and Les Dudek... The cool
rolling guitar on Lido Shuffle? Les Dudek... Guitar on Fly Like an
Eagle? Les Dudek... The catchy guitar riffs you hear on ESPN and Fox
Sports Net? Well, you get the idea. Les recently paid a visit to XMFan
for an interesting 45 minute interview. It provided a candid look into
the soul of an artist who loves life and continues to breathe rock and
roll over thirty years after he filled the shoes of the legendary Duane
Allman.
XMFan: Legend has it you taught
yourself how to play guitar. Is that true?
Les: Pretty much. I'm going to
give some credit to a friend of mine, Mitchell Smith, who played in a
lot of the local bands where I grew up. Other than that, I think I took
one guitar lesson. The guy tried to teach me how to play "Mary Had A
Little Lamb", and that was the end of it for me. I thought, "No, that's
just not going to do it for me."
XMFan: Other than the Beatles,
were there any other bands that helped shape your musical style in the
early years? Les: Oh, absolutely. The Beatles
- at that time - you would've had to been brain dead to have not been a
part of that. As far as other groups go, I had a lot of favorites. I
really loved The Ventures, all that beach guitar they did with the
Moserites. Come to find out, they were really Stratocasters! For a
while, I actually played a Moserite because I thought it was the
coolest, and then to burst my bubble I found out they were using Strats
in the studio. (Laughs) Some
local guys got me into the blues and that's when I started digging all
the Kings - Freddie, B.B., Albert. Then you had the tail end of the
British Invasion, acts that were influenced by the blues like The Stones
and Yardbirds.
XMFan: At what age did you know
you would make a living as a musician? Les: You know, it's one of those
things where I never really aspired to do this as a living. I really had
no idea. It was kind of strange, the only things that seemed to interest
me were playing guitar, riding motorcycles, and hunting down skirts. I
guess when you're young that's kinda what you do. There was also a war
going on, so nothing was set in stone. You didn't know if you were going
to be here tomorrow.
XMFan: How did your parents feel
about your pursuing a career in music? Les: When I did my thing with The
Allman Brothers, I think that was when they figured out, "Hey, this is
for him!" (Laughs)
XMFan: So your work with The
Allman Brothers on the Brothers and
Sisters album was your first commercial album contribution? Les: Yeah. I'd already played in
a lot of local bands here in Florida, the last one being Power, and we
did some recordings up in Richmond, Virginia, to try and get some deals
going. I was in another band, Blue Truth, and we went to Nashville and
did some recordings there but not much came of it. After I went to jam
with Dickey (Betts), I mean literally just a few months after Duane
Allman passed away, that was how I got involved with the Allman
Brothers. Later in life here, when I think back on it, I didn't realize
how short a period of time it was after Duane died. So there I was,
standing where he would have been, recording what would really be their
first big hit tune.
XMFan: So on Ramblin' Man, just
to clarify, you were one of the main guitars throughout the song? Les: When the song begins, Dickey
is the first guitar to play a riff then I'm the second. The interaction
continues throughout the song, so basically I play half the lead guitar.
XMFan: Popular music evolved
dramatically in the 1970's, and you were right in the middle of these
changes. Could you give us a rundown of some of your projects during
this time? Les: Well, I turned down a lot of
projects! On the Brothers and Sisters album I played on Jessica. I
actually co-wrote the song. Dickey will tell me when no one's around how
bad he feels that I didn't get any credit for it. I'd tell him, "Hey,
just write me a check and I'll feel a lot better!" (Laughs)
But right around that time was when Marshall Tucker first came to town,
and I remember jamming with those guys one night in Macon. Toy Caldwell
asked if I wanted to be in their band - this was right before they
recorded their first album - but I was just about to go on the road with
Bobby Womack. Right as I was about to leave (with Womack), I got a call
from my manager Phil Walden. Phil told me that there was this guy who
wanted me to go on the road, who Phil thought would be a better guy for
me. (Laughs) That turned out to
be Boz Scaggs. Boz actually came into town looking for me, because he
had heard about me and was looking for a guitar player.
We did a long tour with The Steve Miller Band after
The Joker came out in '74. I was
playing with Boz, and the James Cotton Band would open. At the end of
Miller's set, he would bring Boz, myself, and James Cotton out and we'd
finish the show. After the tour Miller invited me up to Seattle and we
cut a bunch of tracks that ended up on at least four of his albums.
Fly Like an Eagle and
Book of Dreams were a couple.
Around
this same time I was contacted by Herbie Herbert, who was telling me he
wanted to get the two "guitar banditos of the Bay Area" together to form
this new band, to do the dual guitar slam thing. Basically he wanted me
and Neal Schon to be in this band he was going to call Journey. He
already had the name and everything. The one thing he didn't have was
Perry. Steve Perry wasn't in there yet, so it literally went down like
this: I was invited to go down to Columbia Records, which was right
across the street from where Herbie wanted me to come for the first
Journey rehearsal. So I went to the rehearsal and Greg Rolie was there,
Ross Valory, Neal Schon, Aynsley Dunbar. They were really into this
heavy jazz-fusion kind of stuff. After playing a couple of tunes I told
them I had to go across the street for a minute, and I walked into
Columbia records. As it turned out, the President and Vice-President of
Columbia records offered me a solo record deal right there on the spot.
So now I had to decide what to do... Go with Journey? Do this solo
record? In one week's time, I went from doing absolutely nothing to
having to decide whether to go with Columbia Records and have Boz Scaggs
produce me, or I could go with Capitol Records and have Steve Miller
produce me, or I could join up with this new band called Journey. I
guess because of my affiliation wit Boz, I had been playing with him the
longest, I decided to go ahead and start doing my own records. Had Perry
been hanging out that day, I probably would have done the Journey thing.
I thought that Perry brought that whole unit together with that voice,
man. Rolie was a good singer, but let's face it, not like Perry. Perry
was just a great vocalist.
I was offered the Chicago gig when Terry Kath died (in 1978). Bob Dylan
offered me a job. I did end up doing the thing with Stevie Nicks, and
Cher. I hung out with Cher probably a little longer than I should have!
(Laughs) She kind of sidetracked
me a little from my thing, you know? (Laughs
again)
XMFan: Speaking of Cher, you
acted in the movie MASK with her
back in 1984, playing the part of a biker named "Bone." Did you enjoy
the change of pace away from the music scene? Les: It was really interesting.
I'd never aspired to be an actor, but Cher and I had been hanging out -
she'd been riding on the back of my motorcycle for seven or eight months
- and we'd just been kinda tooling around. She was building what I call
"The Egyptian Mausoleum" in Venice Canyon, so we were staying out in
Venice Beach where she had a really nice condo. Kind of a neat thing to
bop up and down the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) on a Harley together,
you know?
So we had been doing some method acting, and they needed a guy that had
long hair, played guitar, and rode a motorcycle. As it turned out, Sam
Elliott and I were the only two guys in the whole movie who could
actually ride a motorcycle! (Laughs)
I thought it was kind of hysterical. Also, it was kind of like being in
Kindergarten between takes. What do you do? Uh, well let's tell some
jokes to kill some time.
I'll never forget one morning. Sam Elliott got an early call, and I got
a call later in the day, and when I got to the set everyone was really
gloomy. They told me, "Hey, watch out. Sam's really pissed off because
he got an early call and hasn't done anything yet." There was another
scene that wound up getting cut out of the movie, where we were all
standing next to each other and lowering a motorcycle into a grave.
Harry Carey Jr. was originally supposed to die in the movie, but they
cut it out because they didn't want too much death. The kid was already
going to die at the end of the movie, so I guess they thought, "Let's
just save it for the kid." But I was standing by Elliott and we're
lowering this motorcycle, and no one's saying a word. No one would talk
to Sam because he's pissed. Finally I just looked up at him and said,
"Hey Sam, who gets to do what we're doing and make the kind of money
we're making? Are we having fun yet?" He looked at me with one of those
Sam Elliott shit-eating grins and said, "You know, you're right Les!"
One other time, I heard this big SLAM!
It's was Sam's Winnebago door flying open, that had been caught by the
wind. I heard him yell, "Hey Dudek!" I looked at him and he said, "Come
here, I've got something to ask ya!" So I went over there and he said,
"Hey man, I didn't know you played on Ramblin' Man! Get your ass in my
Winnebago and have a real beer with me!" On the set, everything was
near-beer, and all the joints we were passing were Prince Albert - you
know, fake stuff. So he made it a point to invite me in so we could talk
about rock and roll for a while.
XMFan: Tell us a little about
your favorite guitars. Les: I used to like Gibson until
they wouldn't give me any. At one point I had acquired all the vintage
guitars I could ever imagine from them. I had a '56 Les Paul, a '58, a
'53. Had a '60 SG, and a '68 Les Paul that my mom and dad had given me.
All of those were stolen except for the one my mom and dad gave me. I
was really glad that one didn't go because they gave it to me when I was
about fifteen. It's kinda been with me through this whole thing; I used
it to play Ramblin' Man and most every other session I did. I put
together a couple of Strats years ago, and have been playing Strats more
than anything these days. I put one together in San Francisco back in
'74, I think it's got a '69 neck and '74 body, and had it hot-rodded by
John Carruthers out in L.A. I call her Margaret. Man, she's a
hell-bitch!
XMFan: Do you have any personal
favorite bands you follow these days? Les: Not really. The Chili
Peppers are cool, the Spin Doctors while they were happenin'. I don't
really like the way the music industry has become so one-sided, it's all
about selling a record and making a buck. It's not about developing or
maintaining any kind of art. It's just a racket, just a business now. I
love the Hunter Thompson quote, "The music business is a cruel and
shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run
free and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." (Laughs)
XMFan: Because you do so much
studio music for television, do you follow any TV shows? Les: Well, I used to watch Howard
Stern a lot, until they kicked him off! (Laughs)
XMFan: What are some TV projects
you have been involved with? Les: Well, that rockin' guitar
stuff you hear on ESPN and Fox Sports Net. On the E! channel, the music
for Wild On and Search Party for a while. I get some play on Friends and
other sitcoms, various TV and radio commercials. They call it library
music, which for me is a side project, because I can basically do them
in my sleep. They put you in the studio and just say, "Keep it drivin'
Les, keep it smoking."
XMFan: Tell us about upcoming
album plans. Les: Well, I have about
eighty-five percent of a new album written. The one that's out now,
called Freestyle, hasn't really
been released yet but is available on my website. Lots of companies have
been approaching me and wanting to release live radio simulcasts I've
done over the years, but I've been thinking that I have material in my
archives that I can finish and would sound nicer. I just found out a
couple of days ago there's a new label in L.A. that's interested in
putting it out in stores.
XMFan: I've heard you'll sign
items that people purchase from your website store. Les: At their request I will,
whatever items they buy through here. Go to
www.lesdudek.com
I'm also working on my dates page to try and keep things current. I'm
playing with Marshall Tucker next month at some big biker-bash thing,
then playing with Little Feat in Chattanooga, Tennessee in June. I'm
thinking they want to put this record out also in June.
XMFan: Do you have any comments
about the music industry and what you have learned over the years? Les: It's disappointing. That's
probably the best thing I can say about it. (Laughs)
It's enlightening to see guys like Clive Davis resurrect someone like
Carlos Santana and put him with Rob Thomas and some of these other young
artists. It was such a good match and sounded really good, but Carlos
was just doing the same thing he ever did! Carlos is just a great, great
player. Clive is also really into that boy-band kind of thing right now,
so I don't know. It's always been tough for artists, and the technology
today is making it even tougher. What can I say?
Les' solo material can be heard on Deep
Tracks, ESPN, Fox Sports, and E! Les' contributions to bands such as The
Allman Brothers, Boz Scaggs, and The Steve Miller Band can be heard on
XM Cafe, Deep Tracks, The '70s, and Top Tracks.
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