One Track Mind: Les Dudek "Old Judge Jones"

Les Dudek is one of those guitarists you may have never heard of but you've certainly heard him. He was the harmony guitar part on The Allman Brothers' first major hit "Ramblin' Man." He added slide and dobro to Steve Miller's dual classics Fly Like An Eagle and Book Of Dreams. And more recently, you know that screaming guitar riff you hear on the Fox Sports theme song? Yup, Les Dudek.

Dudek's burgeoning list of connections (which he also acquired from touring and recording with Boz Skaggs, Stevie Nicks, and Cher) landed him a solo contract with big, bad Columbia Records while still in his teens. Four records between 1976 and 1981 resulted from that association, but Dudek made much more money as a sideman to the stars. Thus, he has come forth with only two more solo albums since then.

The second of those Columbia releases, Say No More, came out in 1977 and while it didn't set the charts on fire, the freewheeling attitude of album rock stations of that time made it possible to get it airplay and that's where I first heard it. Say No More's music can best be described as a hybrid of Tom Johnston's Doobie Brothers and, naturally, The Allmans. A guy who fits in with so many different rock stars is going to be a lot more likely to copy from them at the expense of developing his own style and to be frank, you can make that accusation about this album.

Dudek drew from the A-List group of sidemen; guys like David Paich, Jeff Porcaro, Chuck Rainey, Tony Williams, David Sancious and so on. With so much talent assembled courtesy of Columbia's considerable stable of sessionists, engineers and producers, it wasn't going to to be a dud despite the lack of a signature sound. In fact, there are several bright spots on it. The brightest of these is "Old Judge Jones."

Article Author: Pico

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