Don Dokken had a recent conversation with “The Chuck Shute Podcast” where he discussed Dokken’s formation lineup, especially the year 1982 when guitarist George Lynch left the band in order to join Ozzy Osbourne’s band. About this, Don Dokken said the following:
“George left, and Mick (Brown) 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).
“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 a**hole, man.
”Everybody knows it. You can’t trust Don. Don’s a N*zi. He’s gonna control everything and take everything.’ And I’m, like, ‘Whatever.’ So Warren went to Ratt. Because their E, I can’t remember the name of it, ‘Out Of The Cellar’ or whatever it was called, took off. And then Juan Croucier 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.’
Don Dokken went on:
”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 Oyster 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.”