George Lynch (guitarist)

George Lynch live at The Roxy , Los Angeles, October 11, 2009

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Only to Rise ( Sweet & Lynch)   CH 65 02/01/2015 (1 week)   US 120 02/14/2015 (1 week)

George Lynch (* 28. September 1954 in Spokane , Washington ) is an American rock - and heavy metal - guitarist . He became world famous as the musician of the melodic glam metal band Dokken in the 1980s and now performs with his bands Lynch Mob and Souls of We .

Career

Lynch grew up in the small town of Auburn, California. Mark Kendall, guitarist for the American rock band Great White , states that Lynch used two-handed finger tapping on the guitar earlier than Eddie van Halen . Both guitarists, however, discovered this playing technique with Harvey Mandel when they saw him play at the Starwood Club in the 1970s.

Lynch played in two bands, namely "The Boyz" and "Xciter", the latter being locally successful. He applied twice as guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne , but was left behind on the first try in 1979 against Randy Rhoads . In 1982 he tried to get the guitar job as a replacement for Brad Gillis , but Osbourne chose Jake E. Lee .

Dokken

In 1980, Lynch became guitarist for the band around figurehead and rock singer Don Dokken, with whom he traveled to Germany. Don Dokken supported the Scorpions in 1981 with the demo recordings for their album Blackout , as their singer Klaus Meine had to undergo a vocal cord operation. In return, Dokken was given the opportunity to record free demos in the studio of Scorpions producer Dieter Dierks . They managed to get a record deal with Carrere Records, and Dokken's debut album Breakin 'the Chains was made under the direction of Michael Wagener . Shortly after the recordings, Lynch and drummer Mick Brown were hired to support Udo Lindenberg with the recordings for his album Keule .

The band later had great success with their platinum albums Under Lock and Key and Back for the Attack . Lynch shone here with his playing technique, especially because of his solo finger skills. His instrumental piece Mr. Scary became a trademark and later the model name for Lynch's own guitar series as an endorsee of the Japanese guitar manufacturer ESP. The band was awarded a Grammy in 1989 in the category "Best Rock Instrumental". Despite continuing popularity, Dokken split in 1989 due to internal tensions between singer Don Dokken and the rest of the group. Don Dokken recorded the album Up From the Ashes , but was not allowed to release it under the name "Dokken" and had no commercial success with the album.

In 1994 there was a reunion . Dokken, Mick Brown and Jeff Pilson reunited and recorded new material, but the record company insisted on George Lynch returning. This returned to Dokken, and together the musicians recorded the album Dysfunctional , which was released in 1995 by Columbia Records. Later, in 1997, the album Shadowlife was released , with which Dokken wanted to adapt to the musical zeitgeist (grunge), which failed due to a lack of acceptance by the fans.

The contractual relationship with Dokken ended after another tour in 1998; Lynch ended the collaboration and implemented his musical ideas again with Lynch Mob.

In November 2009, Lynch Mob toured as a support act for Dokken on their tour. On November 29, 2009 at the concert in Anaheim , California, there was a complete Dokken reunion when Jeff Pilson and George Lynch came on stage at the encores for Don Dokken and Mick Brown and played two songs from their shared times with them. Following this event, fan circles speculated about an imminent reform of the group to its original line-up, fueled in May 2010 on the Dokken website by the question of whether there would be “a great announcement coming soon”. On December 8, 2010, however, Lynch stated on his website that this reunion would not take place, although he and Jeff Pilson had really tried to make it happen. The failure to come about was solely Don Dokken's decision. Literally Lynch wrote:

"We feel it's important to let folks know there will be no Dokken reunion in the foreseeable future, if ever. This is Don's decision, despite Jeff's and my best intentions and efforts over the past few years to make this happen in good faith. My apologies to VH1, Eddie Trunk, Steve Strange and all the fans who were pulling for this to happen. "

Lynch mob

After the first split of Dokken with Mick Brown, Lynch founded his own band called Lynch Mob and changed its musical direction: The lyrics dealt with different topics than with Dokken, the music was more sophisticated and the guitars more ostensible. The band, consisting of Lynch, Oni Logan (vocals and harmonica), Anthony Esposito (bass) and Mick Brown (drums), released their debut album, Wicked Sensation, on Elektra Records in 1990 and was produced by Max Norman and Lynch Mob .

The second album, simply titled Lynch Mob , came out after a vocalist change in 1992. The vocals were taken on by Robert Mason, and the album produced by Keith Olsen included a cover version of the Queen song, Tie Your Mother Down . In 1993 Lynch released his first solo album titled Sacred Groove .

After his renewed engagement with Dokken, which began in 1994, he restarted Lynch Mob in 1998, this time with the album Smoke This , which was recorded with a completely different line-up and recorded elements from hip-hop, industrial and other sounds. Disappointed with the failure of this experiment Lynch took another project addressed: Together with Jeff Pilson, who now played bass in Dio, and drummer Michael Frowein they took as "LP" (Lynch / Pilson) album Wicked Underground on which 2003 appeared. In the same year, Lynch again gathered Anthony Esposito, Robert Mason and Michael Frowein to record the album REvolution as the Lynch Mob . It contained re-recorded pieces by Dokken and Lynch Mob, which now appeared in a more contemporary sound.

In 2009 another Lynch Mob album called Smoke & Mirrors was released , which was recorded by Lynch, Oni Logan, bassist Marco Mendoza and drummer Tommy Aldridge.

Souls of We

In 2008 Lynch recorded the album Let the Truth Be Known with singer London LeGrand, bassist Johnny Chow and drummer Yael under the name "Souls of We" , on which Jeff Pilson also played bass on numerous pieces.

T&N

In the course of 2011, George Lynch worked with his former Dokken colleagues Pilson and Brown and with drummer Brian Tichy on new songs for his band Lynch Mob , whose singer Oni Logan did not think that this new material would fit the band would. Lynch, Pilson and Brown then re-recorded numerous Dokken songs they had written with the participation of various guest singers such as Sebastian Bach , Doug Pinnick ( King's X ), Tim "Ripper" Owens and Geoff Tate ( Queensrÿche ). They also recorded other newly written pieces in the line-up of Lynch, Pilson and Tichy, with Pilson taking over the vocals.

A release of the resulting material was originally planned for March 2011 under the name "Tooth and Nail", but was postponed until October 2012. In the meantime, the band changed their name for legal reasons, because the music label Tooth & Nail Records the trademark rights owns the name "Tooth and Nail". Since then the group has been called " T&N ." The album, released in October 2012, was called Slave to the Empire .

KXM

He founded the supergroup KXM with Doug Pinnick and Ray Luzier , whose debut was released in 2014. The band's second album has been announced for spring 2017.

Discography

Dokken

• Breaking the Chains (1983)
• Tooth and Nail (1984)
• Under Lock and Key (1985)
• Back for the Attack (1987)
• Beast from the East (1988)
• The Best of Dokken (1994) - Japanese publication
• One Live Night (1995) - Japanese release, released worldwide months later.
• Dysfunctional (1995)
• Shadowlife (1997)
• The Definitive Rock Collection (2006)
• From Conception: Live 1981 (2007)

Lynch mob

• Wicked Sensation (1990)
• Lynch Mob (1992)
• Syzygy (1998)
• Smoke This (1999)
• Evil: Live (2003)
• REvolution (2003)
• REvolution LIVE! (2005)
• Smoke and Mirrors (2009)
• Sound Mountain Sessions (2012)
• Rebel (2015)

solo

• Sacred Groove (1993)
• Live In Florida (1999) [1]
• Will Play for Food (2000)
• Stone House (2001)
• The Lynch That Stole Riffness! (2002)
• Furious George (2004)
• The Lost Anthology (2005)
• Scorpion Tales (2007)
• Guitar Slinger (2007)
• Orchestral Mayhem (2010)
• Kill All Control (2011)

Lynch / Pilson

• Wicked Underground (2003)

Tony MacAlpine

• Maximum Security (1987)

Xciter

• Xciter (2006)

Lana Lane

• Gemini (2006)

Souls of We

• Let the Truth Be Known (2008)

George Lynch & The Stahlwersfonie Orchestra

• Christmas / Sarajevo (2009)

T&N

• Slave to the Empire (2012)

Hear 'n Aid

• Stars (1986)

KXM

• KXM (2014)
• Scatterbrain (2017)
• Circle Of Dolls (2019)

Sweet & Lynch

• Only to Rise (2015)

Influences

Lynch has named Jimi Hendrix , Jeff Beck and Michael Schenker , Eddie Van Halen and Yngwie Malmsteen as part of his musical influences.

swell

1. ↑ Charts CH Charts US
2. ↑ MelodicRock.com Interviews: Great White's Mark Kendall
3. ^ Metal Den George Lynch Interview
4. ↑ Alexander Kolbe: Group dynamics. In: Rocks - the magazine for Classic Rock, issue 01/2012, pp. 54–61.
5. ^ George addresses the Dokken reunion, on the record . George Lynch. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
6. ↑ georgelynch.com, December 10, 2010
7. ↑ George Lynch interview on YouTube, accessed January 28, 2012
8. ↑ "Tooth and Nail: First Official Photo Released" ( Memento of the original from January 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Blabbermouth.net, accessed January 28, 2012  

Web links

• George Lynch website
• George Lynch at Allmusic (English)