GUITARIST GEORGE LYNCH ON A DOKKEN REUNION: “I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT HAPPEN…BUT, I’M NOT HOLDING MY BREATH”
Rock Revolt spoke with guitarist George Lynch about his current project KXM, with with dUg Pinnick (Kings X) and Ray Luzier (Korn) and his former band, Dokken. Excerpts from the interview appear below.
Rock Revolt: Is there any chance KXM, [Lynch’s project ], will be doing any touring to support the album?
George Lynch: Yeah. We are touring, I think it s going to be in July and August (part of those two months.) The idea behind what we want to do is sort of do like an unannounced tour of specific dates all around the world which we then film and record, and put those out at a later date for people who were not able to go see the band live, to experience the band live in that context, because we are limited in the amount of time we can tour, at least for now. I like the idea of the secret, magical mystery tour I heard about Paul McCartney doing in the Wings days, when he would just show up in a van, show up at a college or a school or something and say , “Hey! I m Paul McCartney we just want to set up and play!” I think that’s beautiful. It’s not the way we’ll do it exactly, but something kind of mysterious. We create this mystique around the band where you kind of have to search and reach out and discover things about us, without having us shoved down your throat.
Rock Revolt: Is there any likelihood that there would ever be a Dokken reunion?
George Lynch: Well, it’s always a possibility. What it really comes down to is Don being agreeable to doing equal splits financially. That’s been a stumbling block all along. Despite all the other obstacles that we have for a reunion happening, that is actually the 800-pound gorilla problem. He feels he’s entitled to special financial treatment if we do that, which is ludicrous and was never the way the band was built. The band was always built as a shared band, and I think that’s one of the reasons it survived as long as it did and why it worked. The only person who ended up not liking that arrangement was Don and it is really heavily why the band broke up. We were up for re-negotiating our contract with Elektra in the late 80′s, which is a wonderful position to be in (that’s when you get paid and you’d kind of be set for life). But we all worked many, many years to get to that point, and Don decided, ”Well, you know what? I gotta take a chance here, and I want it all.” He wanted us to be hired guns, and he would get the multi-million dollar re-negotiated deal. That’s what it was all about. And that’s still what it’s about. So, unless he can come around and say, “Hey guys! We’re all important. We all worked equally hard. There’s enough money to go around – don’t need to be greedy here, just split it up equal, put that aside, put it in the file cabinet. Let s go to work and make a good record.” I have aspirations, but I don’t have any sense that it’s really going to ever happen. I wouldn’t be opposed; I would like to see it happen. But honestly, just to have some nice closure, make a nice bookend to our career, and make the fans happy and make a little bit-a-dough, it would be nice to see it work in a healthy way after all we ve been through, but I’m not holding my breath.
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source: rockrevoltmagazine.com
 and Ray Luzier (Korn) and his former band, Dokken. Excerpts from the interview appear ... )
I am a long-time Dokken fan and would love to see nothing more than perhaps an album or two with the original line-up. Nothing against John Levin, he is actually a personal friend, but as much as he sounds like George, he is not George.
I agree that a reunion would be way more lucrative than the current line-up, especially if they wrote as a team…the last couple of Dokken albums were actually pretty decent, but they are missing that Lynch/Pilson spark…
Don, time to bridge the gap…
George is still at his peak as a player and Don should stop with the money grubbing. If they got back together now they’d still be on top of there game. Jeff is amazing singer and bass player and Mr Brown is also on top of his drumming.
I’m not sure how many people really care at this point. Don’s voice is shot. And, really, they were also a TERRIBLE live band. I saw them a few times in the 80s and they just had the worst stage presence I think I’ve ever seen. People decided to take a mass bathroom break during the Monsters of Rock festival I went to.
DC,
Yes, they were not good at Monsters of Rock, but that was one show. Did you ever see their DVD, One Live Night? If not, I highly encourage you to do so.
The original Dokken is, and was, an extremely talented band with some killer vocal harmonies and guitar solos.
Dana from EddieTrunk.com 🙂
Agreed
I seen them many times and Don had a good stage presence to me . He took control of the stage walked all over it making eye contact with fans close and far away ( or so it seemed) with confidence. Holding his mic and stand in the air . I thought he was good compared to alot of others
it was better then seeing someone stand in one spot or dance around twirling etc like a cheese ball.
Yeah. I can’t see Don making more now then a reunion. At least the first tour would pay better.
I saw Don about 6 years ago and he sounded bad . And no, it wasnt a off night. He sat and smoke and drank ( not water,etc) off to the side of the stage literally between most vocal parts( not between songs/ but between parts in the same song ! ) . I couldnt believe it ! I tought what happened to this guy. I also saw him open for Queensryche a few years back . Doing a acoustic w/ one other member ,He comes out with a pitcher of booze .
He’s come to my town a few times since but I don’t know if i’d see him again unless it was close, on a weekend, and iheard he’s better ??
I’d bet if George Lynch could go back in time they’d never have named the band “Dokken.” That’s the trouble when the band is named after a key member a la “Bon Jovi” or “Van Halen.” I think it’s too late now anyways. Not enough people would care. This summer will likely be disastrous for many bands. Like Eddie has said, the same bands are hitting the road, maybe in different combinations, but same stuff with the high ticket prices. Keep milking the dying horse…..
Shame about the reunion, Dokken, for me, is one of the very few bands of that era that had any substance.
BACK FOR THE ATTACK is a great album. The cover is cool as well.
Richman,
I couldn’t agree more. That was a very underrated, and overlooked, Dokken album. I love it.
Dana from EddieTrunk.com 🙂
Every song is a keeper. Talk to Eddie about a TMS top 5 songs off of BACK FOR THE ATTACK. 1.)BURNING LIKE A FLAME
2.)MR SCARY
3.) SLEEPLESS NIGHT
4.) KISS OF DEATH
5.) NIGHT BY NIGHT
Cry of the Gypsy , Stop Fighting Love and Heaven Sent are all good too.
D 🙂