Les Dudek : Gypsy Ride
(Columbia - 1981)
Category : overlooked

Les Dudek : Ghost Town Parade
(Columbia - 1978)
Category : overlooked

The Dudek Finnigan Krueger Band : DFK
(CBS - 1979)
Category : overlooked

Les Dudek. You might not have heard of the man, but you've certainly heard of the artists he's worked with, at least if you're over 25 or simply interested in music history. Stevie Nicks, Steve Miller, The Allman Brothers Band,... and that's to name but a few.

I haven't heard his other three 70's solo albums (yet), but I've heard these two, and both of them more or less blew me away. If you're into classic Funk Rock with strong vocal melodies, you won't find much better than this. I'm not going to go over each song here as 'Gypsy Ride' sports no less than six smooth rocking to hard rocking Funk tracks that earned a 5 star rating in my book. Dudek's sound and playing style shows some similarity to Frank Marino's (read a Frank Marino review here). He plays his guitar with the same apparent ease and never overdoes it. It's clearly all about the songs, not the guitar player and this shows just what a smart artist he is.

'Ghost Town Parade' is a very similar sounding album. 'Central Park' especially is an energizing piece of Funk and an absolute pearl. If that one doesn't hook you, no Dudek track ever will. Another highlight is 'Don't trust that Woman', with its slow Blues rhythm and the smooth jazz choir that'll have you humming along in no time.

Another release that I'd very quickly would like to bring to your attention is 'DFK', a one off cooperation with keyboardist Mike Finnigan and guitarist Jim Krueger. One listen to the two best tracks on the album ('I know you're in there' and 'You cut so Deep') reveals that it's the same kind of radiofriendly stuff that puts emphasis on well thought over vocal melodies.

Website: http://www.lesdudek.com