12 by Les Fradkin

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Guest musicians on "12" include:

Warren Odze-Drums (Judy Collins)

Paul Harris- Keyboards (Manassas, Souther Hillman Furay, John Sebastian,

Al Kooper, Roger McGuinn)

Buddy Cage- Pedal Steel Guitar (New Riders, Great Speckled Bird, Bob Dylan)

Dave Santos- Bass (Crosby Stills & Nash, Billy Joel)

John Ford- Bass, Vocals (Strawbs, Hudson & Ford)

Greg Witchel-Harmonica (One Too Many)

These great musicians appear on "I Know You Rider", "The Ballad Of Belle Starr", "Down On My Luck" , "A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall" and "Lay Down Your Arms." John Ford & Buddy Cage appear on "Lay Down Your Arms."

Track by Track Summary:

1. "I Know You Rider" (Trad. Arr. by Les Fradkin & Greg Witchel): Monstrous Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead stylings meets The Byrds with a Jangle Pop approach. Les & Greg's arrangement of this old blues chestnut also features some wicked LF lead guitar and bass playing. Greg sez- "The devil's music has a busy bottom." Guest Musicians are Warren Odze on Drums, Greg Witchel on Harmonica and Paul Harris on Electric Organ.

2. "The Ballad Of Belle Starr" (Les Fradkin, E.Rose) Another Summer of Love treatment on this Dylanesque style tale of the old West. Backwards Beatles guitars meets Jefferson Airplane at Pooh Corners. Guest Musicians are Warren Odze on Drums, Dave Santos on bass and Paul Harris on Electric Piano.

3. "Eight Miles High" (G. Clark, R. McGuinn, D.Crosby)- As featured on the Timeless Flyte compilation Byrds tribute- "The Byrds Dylan Connection", and available here for CD purchase, Les rocks out in large Psych folk-rock fashion. Blistering impossibly fast Rickenbacker 12 sdtring solos.

4. "Alone Again Or" (B. Maclean)- This classic from Love's "Forever Changes" gets dusted off for a modern Jangleholic 12 string treatment.Les also checks in with some flashy guitar synthesizer brass and string lines.

5. "Down On My Luck" (Les Fradkin)- Les' extended version original with richly evocative lyrics. Tells the story of every guy who spilled milk in a relationship and tried to put it back in the bottle. Guest Musicians are Warren Odze on Drums, Dave Santos on bass and Paul Harris on Electric Piano.

6. "Four Strong Winds" (Ian Tyson)- The classic Ian & Sylvia tune done as a Jangle Pop commercial arrangement. A bit like The Byrds during their Turn!Turn!Turn! period. Georgous jangly Rickenbacker 12 string riffs supported by a light string orchestra and a pulsing folk rock band backing.

7. "Mr. Tambourine Man" (Bob Dylan) As featured in the Timeless Flyte Byrds Dylan Connection Collection. Eric Sorensen coments: "Les Fradkin. RRO Entertainment label guru and Boomer Musician Extraordinaire Les Fradkin nails this version of the song that launched the Byrds’ into rock stardom. His version is so dead-on that it’s almost as if Les snuck into the Columbia studios in 1965 and he listened while the original Byrds toiled through the numerous studio takes of this song. Les’ version sets a very high standard for whoever records this song next! After hearing this song, pop/rock fans should stop referring to Les as the guy who played George Harrison in “Beatlemania!” Les has developed his own “signature” Rickenbacker 12-string sound, and he has few peers when it comes to recording Boomer music."

8. "A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall" (Bob Dylan) Les takes a "Jangleholic" meets Tom Petty approach to this old Dylan chestnut. Guest Musicians are Warren Odze on Drums, Dave Santos on Bass, Greg Witchel on Harmonica and Paul Harris on Electric Organ.

9. "Lay Down Your Arms" (Les Fradkin, E.Rose) Destined to become an anti-war classic. Huge jangle and chiming 12-string guitars. Features Les on Harmonica as well. Guest Musicians are Warren Odze on Drums , John Ford on Bass and Background Harmonies and Buddy Cage on Pedal Steel Guitar.

A bit of BIO:

Les Fradkin is one of the pop legends of the 1970's. Master of the 12-String Guitar and a veteran member of The Original Cast of Beatlemania, he has found success as a recording artist, composer and producer with MGM Sunflower, ESP-Disk', Bell, Arista, RCA, and Laurie Records. Les has written the well known French hit "La Chansons Des Souvenirs" ("Song Of A Thousand Voices") for the famous Mireille Mathieu. He has played 12 and 6-string Guitar, Bass, Mellotron, and Piano on dozens of Top 40 hit records throughout the early 1970's , scoring many US and UK chart placings throughout his career.

He has played and sung as a multi-instrumentalist on many Top 40 hit records throughout the early 1970's.

His 12-string guitar, Bass, vocals and production with legendary underground psychedelic folk- rock group,The Godz, resulted in several albums for ESP Disk among which "Pass On This Side" (featuring Les' song "God Bless California"), continues to influence and mentor generations of new musicians to this day.

Also, in the early 70's, he produced an album by The Left Banke and recorded and performed with them as a 12-string guitarist frequently during 1972 and 1973 and recorded with them for their reunion album in 1978. His song "I Could Make It Last Forever" is in current release and features the entire Left Banke on the recording.

In the early 80's, he played bass in a short lived group which also featured Mick Ronson on lead guitar and Hilly Michaels on drums.

In 1983, Les took up the Guitar Synthesizer and has been a prime exponent of it ever since. Using various Roland Guitar Synthesizers over the years and the Roland VG-8 Guitar System since 1997, Les' musical forays using this advanced guitar technology has graced dozens of commercials, soap opera and movie soundtracks and all of his solo CD's.

Influenced by such icons as The Byrds, Bob Dylan, The Left Banke, Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys, Phil Spector, Joe Meek and of course, The Beatles, Les' CD's have racked up over 280,000 downloads on the internet since 1999! Les has been acknowledged as a guitar virtuoso for over 30 years and he has been featured in issues of 20th Century Guitar Magazine, Pipeline and New Gandy Dancer Magazines.

His "Jangleholic", "Goin' Back", "While My Guitar Only Plays", "Something for George" and "Perfect World" CD's have proven best seller download items at Apple iTunes throughout 2005 and 2006.

Les now lives in Colorado where he produces records in his own custom built recording studio as a recording artist, composer and producer with his indie label-RRO Entertainment.

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