“I Was in Journey for About Two Hours”: A Guitarist’s Glorious Story of Their Short-Lived Tenure With the Rock Legends

Since forming in the Bay Area in 1973, Journey has had a revolving door of members. Some departures have been amicable; others less so. As with most rock bands from that era, Journey has a long and strange history. And even the most diehard fans may not remember this particular guitarist.

Les Dudek’s Glorious Two-Hour Tenure in Journey

Les Dudek spent most of the ’70s right on the cusp of fame. He toured with the likes of Boz Scaggs and Steve Miller, and performed in the rock/new wave band Black Rose with then-girlfriend Cher. He backed Stevie Nicks on tour and played co-lead guitar on the Allman Brothers’ seminal hit “Ramblin’ Man.”

But perhaps Dudek’s biggest claim to fame? “I was in Journey for about two hours,” the guitarist, now 72, recently told Guitar World.

The singer-songwriter had just relocated to the West Coast when he got a call from Herbie Hebert. The legendary manager was putting together a “super band” and wanted Dudek on guitar.

Cher and Les Dudek, 1980 pic.twitter.com/QOd5d3y0Bq

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The next day, Dudek joined Neal Schon, bassist Ross Valory, keyboardist Gregg Rolie, and drummer Aynsley Dunbar for rehearsal. “We jammed for a couple of hours doing some cool fusion s—,” Dudek said. “It was great stuff.”

However, the rehearsal wasn’t the only thing on Dudek’s agenda that day. He also had a meeting “across the street” with the president and vice-president of Columbia Records—who offered him a solo d

“It’s like the best Cinderella story ever told in the music business. I went from not knowing how I was going to pay my rent to having to decide: Do I go with Journey or a solo deal with Columbia? I chose Columbia.”

[RELATED: Ex-Journey Singer Steve Perry Releasing Expanded Version of Holiday Album, ‘The Season’; Check Out Lead Single]

Les Dudek’s Other Brush With Rock History

Dudek opted to go solo instead of joining Journey. He released seven albums, none of which charted. And Journey wasn’t his only near-miss with rock-n’-roll fame. The guitarist also opened up about the time he almost partnered with the Allman Brothers’ Dickey Betts after the untimely death of Duane Allman in 1971.

“He was going to call it Great Southern,” Dudek said. “It sounded good, and that went on for a while. But then they decided to do another Allman Brothers Band album.”

Featured image by Larry Marano/Shutterstock