Les Fradkin
| Les Fradkin | |
|---|---|
| Origin | New York City, United States |
| Genres | Rock, progressive rock, neoclassical, surf rock, instrumental rock, symphonic rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Composer, Songwriter, Record Producer |
| Years active | 1969–current |
| Labels | MGM Records, Sunflower Records, Laurie Records, ESP-Disk, Arista Records & RRO Entertainment |
| Associated acts | Beatlemania (musical), Edison Lighthouse, The Left Banke, The Godz (NYC band), California |
| Website | http://www.lesfradkin.com |
| Notable instruments | |
| Starr Labs Ztar Z7s, Guitar Synthesizer, Rickenbacker 360/12 12 String Guitar, Fender Jaguar, Wilson Bros. The Ventures Model Guitar, Guitar, Epiphone G-1275, Epiphone Casino, Mellotron | |
Les Fradkin (born 1951) is an American MIDI guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is best known for being a member of the original cast of the hit Broadway show Beatlemania. In addition to playing MIDI guitar, he plays 12 string guitar, the Starr Labs Ztar, guitar synthesizer, SynthAxe, Hammond organ, Mellotron, piano, bass guitar and Moog synthesizer.
Fradkin was born in New York City and raised in Riverdale in the Bronx. He travelled extensively in Europe, the United Kingdom and the Caribbean as a youngster. He began his musical education at the age of 10 being taught the basics of classical piano from his mother, a former concert pianist. Inspired by seeing The Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and hearing "Walk Don't Run '64" by The Ventures on the radio at the age of 13, he began to teach himself guitar. Other music that inspired him ranged from the British Invasion sounds of the day to American rock acts such as The Byrds, The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan and Frank Zappa. But what most held his interest and fascination was the art of record production. He was particularly interested in how producers such as Les Paul, Joe Meek and Phil Spector got their sounds and, in 1966, began tape experiments with Sound on Sound with a Panasonic tape recorder he received as a birthday gift. By 1968, he could edit, splice and overdub complex recordings at home. By 1969, he had written a large portfolio of original pop and rock songs and was proficient on guitar, bass guitar, Hammond organ and piano. He turned professional that year and signed a staff songwriting contract with April-Blackwood Music, a division of CBS. This situation did not work out to either April's or Fradkin's satisfaction and April Music gave him his release in early 1970.
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