Archive for the ‘dokken’ Category
Billy White Concert Review, Austin TX 111011
Last night I was able to see a small and rare performance of Billy “Blanco” White. You may remember Billy from such bands as Watchtower, Don Dokken and the Billy White Trio. The guy is such a great guitar player. He’s been spending much of his time in Mexico in recent years and primarily does flamenco style music now, although he said last night he’s been doing some guest spots on other people’s albums recently.
I first saw Billy play in 1991 and you can read about that here.
Last night performance was pretty cool, albeit a tad uncomfortable. He played in a small room that was about 20’x40’. Everyone sat on the floor and we had to remove our shoes prior to entering the building. Even sitting on a pillow, my back and knees were killing me but it didn’t matter, I was sitting a few feet away from a great musician. Only about 40 people showed up and it was a great experience. His playing was awesome. A mix of flamenco with a tad of fusion thrown in. He had a violinist and a tabla player sit in for a few songs as well. It was all pretty cool.
Afterwards I got to speak to him for a few minutes. He graciously signed The Book and some CDs for me. It was a fun evening, very relaxing.
Billy White
Billy White Trio – sistershootingstar
This is one of Billy’s solo albums after the Watchtower/Dokken days. It’s long out of print so I thought I’d share it with you.
More bloggen on Dokken!
On my way back from Louisiana this past weekend I was flipping through my iPod to find some stuff to listen to. I had recently added a ton of 
albums to it and had gone though most of the new additions on my way there (7.5 hours). As I was scrolling through I saw the Dokken. Woot! Haven’t listened to them in a while.
I first spun Under Lock and Key then Back for the Attack.
If you’ve been paying attention, you know how much I love Tooth and Nail. The album is perfect in my eyes/ears. But I was truly blown away by these 2 albums. Even though the songs got a little more radio friendly, Lynch’s playing on them was over the top in the best of ways. George had a reputation in L.A. long before Dokken became a household name. In talking to people from that early 80s Hollywood scene, they’ve all said the same thing…George was better than everyone around there.
Listening to his solos on these 2 albums I really can hear it. It’s not too often that I get over excited about music these days, but hearing this stuff, remembering the hits (some of which we attempted to play in bands back then) and listening to the deeper cuts that I had long forgotten, I really felt that Dokken probably should have been a lot bigger, if anything based on George’s guitar work alone. He did get a lot of press in the metal and guitar mags back then and deservedly so.
It was too bad they broke up in 1988. I think they could have squeezed out one more decent album. By the time Dysfunctional came out in 1995, who cared? I certainly didn’t. What I remember hearing from it sounded very “90s”. Pass. 
I got to see George a few months ago in Austin with his solo band. Dude can still hang.
If you’ve ever liked Dokken and haven’t listened to them in a while, I highly recommend popping in these 2 albums again. You won’t be disappointed.
K-Tel Presents Masters of Metal
Yes, believe it or not, K-Tel did do more than just disco compilations. I still have my original vinyl copy of this. I used to have the tape as well. I remember riding around in my ’66 Nova with the “custom” cassette player and usually had this tape with me. everything on here is great except for the KISS, Rush and Van Halen. I always skipped those tracks. If I was in my bedroom spinning the vinyl, well, it was a little more difficult to skip them so I’d just suffer through it.
I’m putting YouTube links to each of these songs. Enjoy this trip through my memory lane. Watch out for the curbs and potholes.
Side One
Trashed – Black Sabbath: To this day this is one of my favorite Black Sabbath songs. Gillan did a great job on this album and it’s too bad he only lasted for one. This video version is the same as on the compilation, a slightly shortened version than on the actual album.
Mean Streak – Y&T: Y&T is a band that I liked the “hits” they made but never really got into their albums. Listen closely to this one. It sounds like he says “She’s got a meanstreech.” Great song.
Breakin’ The Chains – Dokken: Yea! Dokken is in my blog again already! This video is a comical, as most vids were at the time. Pilson had just joined the band like a day or so before the video shoot and didn’t know the song so he’s just playing nothing. In case you didn’t know, Juan Croucier from Ratt recorded the bass on this album. Love this song. I think Don Dokken was already in his 40s. That dude is old.
Who’s Behind the Door – Zebra: This is such a badass song. I first heard it on the radio in 83. Saw them in 87 at the Boathouse in Norfolk (RIP) with Rough Cutt and Alcatrazz (sans Yngwie/Vai) and they were awesome. No one was there. $5! I recommend this band to everyone. Sure, there’s some Zeppelinesque stuff to them but they are really great.
Rainbow in the Dark – Dio: I think the only description you can give to the DIO stuff from this era is AWESOME. Look out!
Screaming in the Night – Krokus: Sadly, I had the same hair as the singer in the 80s except mine was blonde. Tough times. Great song. If you’re ever to own any Krokus, get this album: Headhunter.
Lick It Up – Kiss: GAY. The only cool thing about this vid is that we kids finally got to see what KISS looked like without their makeup. I’d been a KISS fan since 1975 and back in those days the rock mags would show pics of KISS around town hiding their faces. oooooo…mysterious. RIP Eric Carr.
Side Two
Street of Dreams – Rainbow: From the bent Out of Shape album. I adore this song. I’m one of the few who preferred Joe Lynn Turner to Dio in Rainbow.
Run to the Hills – Iron Maiden: Classic Maiden. Perfection.
Tom Sawyer – Rush: Ugh. I’ve hated this song since it first came out.
A World of Fantasy – Triumph: Rik Emmett is a god. This song is badass.
You Can’t Stop Rock an Roll – Twister Sister: FUCK YES. My favorite songs by Twisted Sister. When I finally got to see them a few years ago in Richmond, I think I hurt a few people when this song came on. They were warned.
Dancing in the Street – Van Halen: GAY. Even more gay than the KISS song. At least VH didn’t actually do a video for this but I posted one to prove my point.
