“Warren DeMartini was playing guitar. Warren did a very short run with Dokken.”
— Don Dokken
Metal Sludge — It looks like there is more from the Don Dokken history books when it comes to Dokken‘s crazy past.
Don talks at length about the early days game of musical chairs between Dokken and Ratt.
In a recent and lengthy interview with the Chuck Shute Podcast the Dokken frontman founder broke it down for listeners.
As transcribed by Blabbermouth: “George left, and Mick [Brown, then-DOKKEN drummer] stayed with me. And Mick and I had an apartment. And he was staying in DOKKEN, and I just kept fighting and fighting and fighting to get a record deal. Our last showcase we did at the Whisky [A Go Go in West Hollywood, California], Warren DeMartini was playing guitar. Warren did a very short run [with DOKKEN]. We had five record companies [looking at us].”
He continued: “I remember standing at the Whisky on stage, looking at the audience, and I see George. What the hell is he doing here? I thought he was in Ozzy. ‘Cause everybody said he’s going to be in Ozzy. And they flew him to England. He was gonna be the guitar player. So we’re playing. I’m very happy. Warren was, like, 18 or 19. We got along great. And I’m seeing George in the audience, and I’m, like, ‘What the hell is he doing here?’ And he kind of pulled Warren aside, and he goes, ‘You don’t want to be in DOKKEN. Don‘s an asshole, man. Everybody knows it. You can’t trust Don. Don‘s a Nazi. He’s gonna control everything and take everything.’ And I’m, like, ‘Whatever.’ So Warren went to RATT. Because their EP — I can’t remember the name of it, ‘Out Of The Cellar’ or whatever it was called — took off. And then Juan Croucier [former DOKKEN and RATT bassist] said to me, and you can ask him if you ever interview him, ‘I can’t play with George. I just can’t. I can’t. He’s too quirky.’ So Juan left. Warren left. I had to find Jeff [Pilson] as a bass player, get a new guitar player. We had just landed the BLUE ÖYSTER CULT tour with Aldo Nova, us opening up for 30 minutes. And that’s when George came back in the band, because he had nowhere else to go. And that really is the history of DOKKEN.
“Looking back, I have nothing against George. We get along fine, but if I could have kept Warren in the band, we probably just would have went way up a lot faster,” said Dokken.
Dokken goes into detail how recording worked as well and basically says working with Lynch at times was a nightmare.
Dokken released their single for “Paris Is Burning” in 1981 and an accompanying video includes Dokken (vocals & guitars), Lynch (lead guitar), Mick Brown (drums) and Juan Croucier on bass. (watch the video below)
Read more from this interview at Blabbermouth.
Stay tuned to Metal Sludge for Breaking News, Updates and Features along with both new and classic interviews.
