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- Les Dudek
- Deeper Shades Of Blues
- GeoSynchronous Records
The summer of '73. I remember it as if it were yesterday.
Soakin' up the sun at the beach, listening to WRKO on the radio
and then it happened. "Here's a new song from The Allman
Brothers!" With that the first notes of "Ramblin' Man"
filled the air and my teenage life was never the same again.
I didn't know it then, but there was a second lead guitarist
dueling with Dickey Betts. Even after I got the album Brothers
And Sisters, the name Les Dudek meant nothing to me. Fast
forward to the summer of '76 and FM radio. (Those were the days...)
I began to hear a song with a stinging guitar hook that immediately
caught my ear. Come to find out, after several days of listening,
it was Les Dudek making all that wonderful noise.
Needless to say, I was at the record store that afternoon
buying his self-titled debut album. ( It's the one with the parrot
sitting on the neck of his Les Paul.) I played that album so
much that I had to get another copy. I kept track of (and bought)
his other albums over the next few years, and was thrilled to
find him playing on two Steve Miller albums and a Boz Scaggs
album from the latter part of the '70s. He has also been a session
musician on countless albums since the then. After '78 he seemed
to disappear off the planet, or so I thought. While reading a
music mag this summer, I saw an ad for a new Les Dudek album.
I couldn't believe my eyes. Steve Bussey from GeoSynchronous
Records was nice enough to send me a copy to review a few weeks
ago and I've been playing it constantly. (Face it, if this were
on vinyl, I would've worn it out already.) Here's the album in
a nutshell: (1.) Ten tracks/47:29 total time. (2.) He's cut his
hair. (3.) Play it until you burn out the laser in your CD machine.
Now for the details...
Deeper Shades Of Blues opens with, "Leavin' My Blues
Behind," an all out blues-rocker with his penetrating guitar
up front and in your ears. "Light the candle say your prayers/Words
don't mean nothin' unless you care/I've got to live one day at
a time/Well you've got your troubles baby/Lord knows I've got
mine/But sure as the sun rises I'm leavin' my blues behind."
The second track, "Love With You," could easily be
a '90s version of the Willie Dixon blues classic, "I Just
Want To Make Love To You." With a chorus of "I just
want to make love with you/ you, you, you, you baby/I just want
to make love with you." As on the rest of the album, Les
handles all the lead/harmony vocals and burns up the fretboard
to boot. Next is the title cut, "Deeper Shades Of Blues,"
if this tune gets any airplay, it could do for him what "Still
Got The Blues" did for Gary Moore a few years ago. (Make
him a household name and sell tons of his Cd's. Call your radio
station and ask them to play it.) "Strange Love" follows
with Dudek's searing slide guitar throughout. (I've always said
he's a dead ringer for the late Duane Allman and this cut is
an excellent example of his amazing slide guitar talents.) "Your
Love" follows and heat doesn't let up one bit. His vocal
style is unique to say to least. He often sings harmonies that
are strikingly unusual. Coupled with his excellent fret-work
it's one of the ten stand-out cuts on the album. "Maybe
Forever" could easily find its way onto AOR radio. (If it
did he'd blow the doors off what's normally considered AOR.)
"Better hold on to me tonight/Whatever will be we'll all
right/Maybe forever through the lonely nights." Things quiet
down a bit with "Come Back To Me." This one's an acoustic
blues number featuring Les on acoustic guitar/dobro and Michael
Galloway on harmonica. Another rocker, "Moulin Rouge,"
is up next. "She put her party face on/she's got sex in
her eyes /She'll keep ya up till dawn/she'll make a dumb man
wise, hey!" I'd sure like to meet her in a dark alley. The
last cut, "You Make Me Ill," opens with Les dancing
all over the fretboard and clocking in at 7:01, it's the longest
song on the album. He starts out slow, sings a couple verses
and then all hell breaks loose. I've always respected his talents
as guitarist and with this fine album, he's gotten better with
age. (If that's at all possible.)
Well, it's time to start the album all over again, but, before
I go, I just want to say, if you don't know who he is, you are
missing out on a guitarist the likes have not been heard since
the late Duane Allman and/or (the living) Carlos Santana. I suggest
you start with this album, decide you love it, then check out
his solo works from the '70s. For more information or to order
"Deeper Shades Of Blues" call or write: Steve Bussey
@ GeoSynchronous Records at (407) 452-2910) or P.O. Box 540962
Merritt Island, Florida 32954-0962 or E-Mail: geosync@pan.com.
Trust me... You won't be disappointed. After you've heard this
one, bug your local music store and have them order his other
'70s solo albums. (SC)
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