George Lynch vs. Don Dokken: Round...uh, I lost count...

[lerxstcat]

Anyone hear Don's vocals on the re-recorded Dokken tracks a while ago? Nuff said. Even on George's worse days he sounds better than Don ever has.

And yet we would have never heard of George Lynch if not for Don Dokken, since Lynch could not get a record deal until he was "George Lynch, EX-Dokken". Dieter Dierks thought Don was good enough to replace Klaus Meine if his voice had not healed, and his backup vocals are on Blackout.

[SausageofPower]

And yet we would have never heard of George Lynch if not for Don Dokken, since Lynch could not get a record deal until he was "George Lynch, EX-Dokken". Dieter Dierks thought Don was good enough to replace Klaus Meine if his voice had not healed, and his backup vocals are on Blackout.

Yeah, but Don only got his own record deal using songs he stole from Xciter. So, it's a bit of give and take.

[Endrik]

And yet we would have never heard of George Lynch if not for Don Dokken, since Lynch could not get a record deal until he was "George Lynch, EX-Dokken".

How come? Many great bands of that era got signed by bigger labels in the mid 80's. Even Ratt which was very early and very influential hair band got a decent deal in '84.

[atomic charvel guy]

Ratt had uncle Miltie's nephew to help push them along, that couldn't of hurt one bit.

[Larz]

If bands like Trixter could get signed, I have to think George would have eventually found a way.

Didn't know that about Don and Scorpions although I worry he couldn't have pulled off something like Still Loving You live.

He could get up there, in the studio at least, but he always seemed to be on the edge of losing control of his voice IMO and thus didn't try the highest stuff live. A lot of the live stuff out there, Don seems very casual with his vocals (all over the place) and sounds much better when Jeff Pilson was doing the backup vocals along with him.

[atomic charvel guy]

Trixter. That was a fairly painful band wasn;t it? You know what, i;m done bagging on people for making music,
i have no ground to stand on for my own self anymore so i'm mr. nice guy now-lol
They did suck though

[lerxstcat]

How come? Many great bands of that era got signed by bigger labels in the mid 80's. Even Ratt which was very early and very influential hair band got a decent deal in '84.

To L.A. record execs George was just another EVH clone without the charisma that Eddie had. The fact is that he had been around the L.A. scene for many years already and wasn't getting any younger. Like it or not, youth and charisma are what record execs were looking for and George was passed up many times. Don didn't get signed in L.A. either but was lucky enough to meet Dieter Dierks, who liked him and invited him to come to Germany. Pretty obviously, George would not have joined Don's band if he thought he had a chance of getting signed otherwise. Those guys can be resentful, but Don got the record deal that none of them could get until after they had been in Dokken's band and had some hits. That's the historical record, not my opinion.

[atomic charvel guy]

didn't george lynch get the Ozzy gig for a couple of days? i thought i had read somewhere along long time ago,
and warren de martini had to go over to his house and teach him the Randy tunes.

[lerxstcat]

If bands like Trixter could get signed, I have to think George would have eventually found a way.

Didn't know that about Don and Scorpions although I worry he couldn't have pulled off something like Still Loving You live.

He could get up there, in the studio at least, but he always seemed to be on the edge of losing control of his voice IMO and thus didn't try the highest stuff live. A lot of the live stuff out there, Don seems very casual with his vocals (all over the place) and sounds much better when Jeff Pilson was doing the backup vocals along with him.

Bands like Trixter were at the tail end of the 80s when it was all about pretty boys and blandness. George would not have fit into anything like that. I mean he's a decent looking guy, but look how awkward they all looked when they tried to be glam. Lots of players in L.A. who are WAY better than George were slinging burgers or giving lessons out of music stores. Nothing against George, just that the best talent from across the worlds had come to L.A. in those days. If he had managed to get into a signed lband it would have been playing for another pretty boy singer who probably wouldn't have been much different from Don and who would have been running the show. He'd have been as miserable as he was working for Don.

The Scorpions thing was while they were working on Blackout. Still Loving You hadn't been written yet and I assume the songs would have been different if Klaus had not recovered. And Don as the hired gun, with Rudy telling him not to smoke or drink, might have taken care of his voice a lot better then he did as the head of a band of guys who were always doing cocaine and on the verge of mutiny. Well, George was, Jeff followed George, and Mick would follow anybody, basically. Don was drinking and the other three were living on cocaine. Truly a recipe for disaster.

When Don could hear them in the front of the bus trying to figure out how to get rid of him and keep the band name Dokken, is it any wonder he tried to figure out how to keep all the money? NOBODY was innocent in that whole clusterfuck. Even Jeff, nice guy but he stood behind Lynch and let him do the dirty work. Everybody felt justified for trying to screw the other guy and they all blew it by that instead of just realizing they had the momentum from Elm Street and Monsters of Rock behind them. Too bad, is all you can say at the end.

[Endrik]

To L.A. record execs George was just another EVH clone without the charisma that Eddie had.

That's been said about most 80's players.

That's the historical record, not my opinion.

Opinion that we would have never heard about of George Lynch if not for Don Dokken isn't historical record. Mid 80's was the time when record execs noticed that stereotypical 80's rock bands were profitable, they couldn't care less if someone was a VH clone or not as soon as the cash started coming in.

[lerxstcat]

That's been said about most 80's players.



Opinion that we would have never heard about of George Lynch if not for Don Dokken isn't historical record. Mid 80's was the time when record execs noticed that stereotypical 80's rock bands were profitable, they couldn't care less if someone was a VH clone or not as soon as the cash started coming in.

The FACT is that George could NOT get his band a major label deal. That is why he agreed to join Dokken after HE got a record deal. That's the historical fact and not an opinion. EVH clones were a dime a dozen in L.A. in the 80s, Endo, and that's a fact. Whatever you needed to snap up a deal in 80s L.A. George did NOT have it until AFTER he had been in Dokken. You bet your ass those are stone cold facts.

[TexasRocks]

I hung out with Jon Levin after Dokken's show in April this year, and he is a great guy. There were a bunch of pretty hot women around, but once I started talking about gear, and his Charvels, he focused entirely on our conversation. We talked guitars and gear for a good 20 minutes before he had to go in for the meet and greet. Don was not nearly as friendly or forthcoming as Jon.