A Phil Brodie Band Tribute Page

GEORGE LYNCH
[born September 28th 1954 ]

In the 70's he had become a product of Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck and was already beginning to reach for the outer limits of his guitar playing. Though guitar gunslingers was led by Edward Van Halen and Randy Rhoads, George was never in their shadow, as the years would prove. One of the most popular guitarists to emerge from '80s-era heavy metal with an arsenal of snazzy-looking guitars and speedy solos, George helped propel Dokken toward the top of the charts for a spell and later, launched a solo career.

Roots and Influences: Randy Rhoads, Eddie Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix
Formal Connections: Lynch Mob, Dokken
Performed Songs By: Herman Rarebell, Neal Smith, Michael Bruce, Alice Cooper
Worked With: Mick Brown, Anthony Esposito, Neil Kernon, Wyn Davis, Juan Croucier, Tony MacAlpine, Angelo Arcuri, Glenn Hughes, Rob Mason, Michael Frowein, Mark Matson, Kelly Gray, Oni Logan, Mike Wagner, Shay Baby, Tom Werman, Mike Varney, Steve Fontano,
Member Of: Dokken, Lynch Mob, Lynch/Pilson

Part of interview with Dave Roberts,
Guitar Resource Magazine 1999

DR: Besides guitar and amp, what is the one piece of your rig that you can't live without?
GL: Delay.
DR: How about your guitars, any Favorites?
GL: My new ESP silver sparkle Eclipse with F-holes. It looks cool, sounds and plays amazing
DR: Let's focus on a little George Lynch History now; who are 5 guitarists that influenced you the most?
GL: Allan Holdsworth, Jeff Beck, Jan Ackerman, Eddie Van Halen, and Jimi Hendrix
DR:What was the most embarrasing thing that ever happened to you onstage?
GL: The crotch ripping out of my pants while wearing no underwear in front of 18,000 people and my tech trying to fix it with a piece of duct tape while I was still playing.
DR: What was your first concert?
GL: Battle of the Bands at South Gate Park Rec Hall, South Gate California, sometime around 1970 or 71.
DR: What is the best guitar advice ever given to you?
GL: Play less, say more. Express your emotions. Music is a language of the heart, soul and mind, that is in many ways purer, and more direct than the written or spoken word.
DR: Great advice. How about the worst guitar advice ever given to you?
GL: Shred, dude.
DR: (laugh) What do you think was the greatest invention for guitars?
GL: Strings.
DR: What CD do you have in your stereo right now?
GL: Die Krupps and the new Limp Bizkit.
DR: If you weren't doing this interview, what would you be doing right now?
GL: Fixing my drip system, recording on my computer studio, or making babies with my beautiful, exotic 26 year old wife.

The Original real "Mr Scary"
This is George Lynch's Kramer Baretta, this is before he hacked the body up.
"I had this guitar for 4 years, The body looked like it had been through 3 wars"
George used this guitar along with the Original J Frog Skull N Bones
for almost all the Original Dokken Tunes.

The Original Bones Guitar

Johnny "J. Frog" Garcia is the very talented artist, designer who conceived and created the original George Lynch Skull N' Bones Guitars. Everyone knows about the Japanese copies of the original guitars that rode to fame on the coat tails of the J. Frog designed guitar. The guitar was a product of endless hours of drawing and discussion, mind numbing tedious attention to detail and design and 100's of lines of cocaine. The body was sculpted out of a Warmouth alder wood strat body, routed for one humbucker in the bridge position and a standard strat tremolo. The top portion of the skull, and the finger bones are cherry wood additions, jigged onto the existing strat shape. The bone shapes are the actual original surfaces of the wood with the outlining areas carved out. Frog painted the guitar using an antiqued white color to make the bone shapes appear to be in an early state of decay. John really puts himself into his work, literally. John pulled one of his own teeth and fitted it into the mouth of the guitar, then cut off a lock of his own hair and glued it to the skull.

Time Line Early 80's
Dokken was back in L.A. from a successful World Tour and they were preparing to do the video which would eventually make the J. Frog 3D Skull n' Bones Guitars World Famous. Present at the Video Shoot were the members of the band, J.Frog, The Director, Camera and Lighting crews. Just before the shoot a representative from the japanese ESP guitar company showed up and affixed an ESP sticker to the headstock. The neck was the early Kramer Focus 1000 (the Japanese production version of the US made Kramer Baretta; also of note...those were produced by ESP in the mid-1980s).Johnny wasn't very pleased but the ESP representative insisted that George advertise for them or they would not allow the guitar to be used in the video. Since that time many other companies have used ideas and concepts from the creative mind of J. Frog.

PROFILE / BIOGRAPHY

Although born in Spokane, WA, on September 28, 1954, George Lynch was raised in Sacramento, CA, where he took up the guitar as a teenager. Influenced by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Leslie West, Jeff Beck, and Allan Holdsworth, he played the L.A. club circuit throughout the '70s, including gigs with such forgotten acts as Sergeant Rocks, Xciter, and the Boyz. It was as a member of the latter band that George met drummer Mick Brown and singer Don Dokken, which led to the formation of Dokken by the early '80s. With a sound akin to a more melodic Van Halen (and their lyrics ofttimes dealing with the subject of heartbreak), Dokken issued their debut recording, Breaking the Chains, in 1982, first through the European label Carerre before Elektra signed the group and reissued the album in the U.S. Although Ratt bassist Juan Croucier played on the album, newcomer Jeff Pilson became a permanent member soon after. Two back-to-back gold certified albums followed, 1984's Tooth and Nail and 1985's Under Lock and Key, as Dokken became one of hard rock's most promising young bands. It was also during this time that George began receiving recognition for his six-string skills. With Randy Rhoads deceased and Eddie Van Halen focusing more on songwriting than shredding, guitar slingers were looking for a new hero by the mid-'80s, and George fit the bill — as he received countless accolades and appearances at the top of polls in guitar magazines. He also became known for his interesting-looking instruments, especially one carved into the shape of a mangled skeleton (a long and fruitful relationship with the ESP guitar company also began around this time). Much of Dokken's success is credited to George Lynch's guitarmanship and songwriting. He recorded five highly successful albums from 1983 to 1988 which helped to propel him as one of the most influential guitarists in modern music. Another distinction that separates him from others of this genre is that his guitar playing earned Dokken a Grammy nomination in 1989 for Best Rock Instrumental. Even Van Halen had yet to receive any nomination at this time. But with major breakthrough success beckoning, Dokken seemed to come apart at the seams. It was no secret that Lynch and Dokken never saw eye to eye, and their shaky relationship only worsened during the tour in support of 1987's platinum hit, Back for the Attack (an album which included the Lynch guitar showcase "Mr. Scary"). Even a slot on 1988's much-hyped Monsters of Rock U.S. tour (which also included Van Halen, the Scorpions, Metallica, etc.) couldn't save the sinking Dokken ship, as the group announced their split shortly after the tour's completion. After an obligatory live album, Beast From the East, was issued, George opted to form a new outfit, the Lynch Mob, instead of what many fans hoped for — a guitar-shredding solo album. Joining Lynch in the new outfit was singer Oni Logan, bassist Anthony Esposito, and former Dokken drummer Jones, they released their debut album, Wicked Sensation, in 1990. While the album performed respectfully on the charts, the group's sound was almost a carbon copy of Dokken's and failed to break the group commercially. Throughout the early '90s, George issued another release under the Lynch Mob name (1992's self-titled sophomore effort) and as a solo artist (1993's Sacred Groove), the latter of which Lynch originally planned on inviting such singers as Phil Anselmo and Chris Cornell to guest on, but wound up settling on Matthew and Gunnar Nelson(!), among others. With both Lynch and Dokken's separate careers not what they once were, the singer and the guitarist settled their differences at the behest of their record company, as the Lynch-Dokken-Brown-Pilson lineup of Dokken reunited in 1994. An "unplugged" album/home video followed a year later, One Live Night, but old habits were hard to break, as Dokken and Lynch butted heads once again trying to settle on a musical direction on such subsequent lackluster studio albums as 1995's Dysfunctional and 1997's Shadowlife. Both albums failed to return Dokken back to the top of the charts, as George left the group once more shortly thereafter. Veteran guitarist Reb Beach (formerly in Winger and Alice Cooper) stepped into Mr. Scary's shoes for the album "Erase The Slate". The late '90s/early 21st century saw him alternate between issuing albums with the Lynch Mob (with varying members) and as a solo artist — resulting in such further titles as 1999's Smoke This, 2001's Will Play for Food, 2002's holiday recording The Lynch That Stole Riffness, and 2003's Wicked Underground, the latter of which saw Lynch reunite with ex-Dokken bassist Pilson. In addition to releasing albums and touring, George has been known to perform at guitar clinics and instrument expos (especially NAMM), he has developed his own signature guitar series with ESP, and, as evidenced on an episode of VH1's Where Are They Now? program, has become an avid body builder.

THE MISSING DOKKEN DEMO

Back In The Streets (EP) 1979
Band Members (as listed in the album):
Don Dokken--Lead vocals/guitar
George Lynch--Lead guitar
Juan Croucier--Bass/vocals
Mick Brown--Drums

German import, includes:
Back in the Streets
Felony
Day After Day
We're Going Wrong
Liar (live)
Prisoner (live)

"Back in the Streets" originally was a demo tape that was stolen from Don Dokken. It is an illegal bootleg, which the band sees no money from. Since it is an illegal bootleg to begin with, Don says it's OK to make as many copies as fans want to. I guess the reasoning is, why allow a record company who released it illegally make money, when fans can copy it from each other for free!
CLICK FOR DOWNLOADS

Repertoire Records , 1979

Discography:

George Lynch - Furious George 2004
Lynch / Pilson - Wicked Underground 2003
Lynch Mob - REvolution 2003
Lynch Mob - Evil Live 2003
Dokken - Japan Live '95 2003
George Lynch - Lynch That Stole Riffness 2002
Dokken - Then And Now 2002
Dokken - Alone Again And Other Hits 2002
Dokken - Yesterday & Today 2001
George Lynch - Stonehouse 2001
George Lynch - Will Play For Food 2001
Lynch Mob - Syzygy 2001
Dokken - Yesterday & Today 2001
Dokken - Live From The Sun 2000
Dokken - The Very Best Of Dokken 1999
Lynch Mob - Smoke This 1999
Dokken - Shadow Life 1997
Dokken - One Live Night 1995
Dokken - Dysfunctional 1995
George Lynch - Sacred Groove 1993
Lynch Mob - Lynch Mob 1992
Lynch Mob - Wicken Sensation 1990
Dokken - Beast from the East 1988
Dokken - Back for the Attack 1987
Dokken - Under Lock and Key 1985
Dokken - Tooth and Nail 1984
Dokken - Dokken 1983
Dokken - Breaking the Chains 1982
Dokken - Back In The Streets (EP-the stolen demo) 1979
2 very early singles
Dokken - Hard Rock Woman (single)1978
Dokken - Paris is Burning (single) 1978

Click to visit George Lynch

[A PHIL BRODIE BAND TRIBUTE PAGE - 2004]