GEORGE LYNCH On Hanging Out W/EDDIE:We Stayed Up All Night Drinking & Playing Guitar!

[James in New York]

GEORGE LYNCH Recalls Hanging Out With EDDIE VAN HALEN:

'We Stayed Up All Night Drinking Beers And Smoking And Playing Guitar'

February 11, 2021

In a new interview with Metal Godz Radio, former DOKKEN guitarist George Lynch was asked if ever got a chance to bond and hang out with Eddie Van Halen at all.

"Absolutely. I mean, we kind of came up through the ranks together. We were both [in] SoCal bands and played the same bills and same clubs and hung out a little bit and have common connections and friends and different things and acquaintances.

But the time that we spent the most together was on the 'Monsters Of Rock' tour [in 1988, where DOKKEN and VAN HALEN shared the bill with SCORPIONS, METALLICA and KINGDOM COME].

Eddie and I would spend a lot of time in the hotel rooms just jamming and staying up all night drinking beers and smoking and playing guitar.

So that was a really cool hang."

Lynch previously talked about Eddie's influence in a 2009 interview with Guitar Player magazine. Asked if he was jealous of VAN HALEN's success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, George said:

"We were jealous and we were all trying to play catch up. We thought, 'Oh boy, we better get on board.

This guy's going to change the world.'

I remember my reaction when I first heard Eddie. I had been hearing about this guy with the weird European name.

He's got a torpedo onstage, the bass player wears clogs, they have bombs onstage, and the guy's unbelievable.

I saw him and it blew my mind. They were still doing covers at the time — RAINBOW, MONTROSE — and their original stuff was as good or better than their cover stuff, which was pretty exceptional.

After their show, I went back to our band room and played my guitar until the sun came up.

I thought, 'Man, how can I get that tone?'"

Asked if he tried to copy Eddie, George said: "What I really did was sort of bounce off his stuff rather than emulate it. I've done that with a lot of players. Instead of copying them, I react to them.

I'll think, 'Well, Di Meola does this thing. I can do some alternate picking, so I won't copy it but I'll embed that a little bit into my toolbox and do it my own way.'

I've tried to do that with any player who has influenced me: Clapton, Hendrix, Schenker, Eddie, Holdsworth.

I couldn't play any of their stuff note for note to save my life, but I can capture the gist of what they're doing by being exposed to it. I can get the essence."

[chain]

GEORGE LYNCH Recalls Hanging Out With EDDIE VAN HALEN:

'We Stayed Up All Night Drinking Beers And Smoking And Playing Guitar'

February 11, 2021

In a new interview with Metal Godz Radio, former DOKKEN guitarist George Lynch was asked if ever got a chance to bond and hang out with Eddie Van Halen at all.

"Absolutely. I mean, we kind of came up through the ranks together. We were both [in] SoCal bands and played the same bills and same clubs and hung out a little bit and have common connections and friends and different things and acquaintances.

But the time that we spent the most together was on the 'Monsters Of Rock' tour [in 1988, where DOKKEN and VAN HALEN shared the bill with SCORPIONS, METALLICA and KINGDOM COME].

Eddie and I would spend a lot of time in the hotel rooms just jamming and staying up all night drinking beers and smoking and playing guitar.

So that was a really cool hang."

Lynch previously talked about Eddie's influence in a 2009 interview with Guitar Player magazine. Asked if he was jealous of VAN HALEN's success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, George said:

"We were jealous and we were all trying to play catch up. We thought, 'Oh boy, we better get on board.

This guy's going to change the world.'

I remember my reaction when I first heard Eddie. I had been hearing about this guy with the weird European name.

He's got a torpedo onstage, the bass player wears clogs, they have bombs onstage, and the guy's unbelievable.

I saw him and it blew my mind. They were still doing covers at the time — RAINBOW, MONTROSE — and their original stuff was as good or better than their cover stuff, which was pretty exceptional.

After their show, I went back to our band room and played my guitar until the sun came up.

I thought, 'Man, how can I get that tone?'"

Asked if he tried to copy Eddie, George said: "What I really did was sort of bounce off his stuff rather than emulate it. I've done that with a lot of players. Instead of copying them, I react to them.

I'll think, 'Well, Di Meola does this thing. I can do some alternate picking, so I won't copy it but I'll embed that a little bit into my toolbox and do it my own way.'

I've tried to do that with any player who has influenced me: Clapton, Hendrix, Schenker, Eddie, Holdsworth.

I couldn't play any of their stuff note for note to save my life, but I can capture the gist of what they're doing by being exposed to it. I can get the essence."

Of all the hairbands of the 80’s, I’ve always felt Dokken was the most legit in terms of their musical chops. For two reasons, George Lynch and Jeff Pilson. I still recall seeing the Dokken video for “In My Dreams” for the first time and thinking this guy can rip....The song and guitar work is fucking great! And George has always seemed like a very nice down to earth guy who also happens to be a great musician....