The King of Metal Bass

If Metallica was metal’s medicine, Cliff Burton was the syringe. He held the band together while propelling it forward, forging a tremendously influential style that blended the galloping foundation of his beloved Southern rock favorites with the piercing lead attack of metal’s great guitarists. By liberating metal bass from its time-keeping shackles, Burton established an indelible legacy of true musical innovation.

But just as Metallica was blazing its trail to superstardom, Cliff was killed in a tour bus crash in Sweden on September 26, 1986. For metal fans everywhere, time stopped. Out of respect to Cliff, the band stood fast and continued on with its mission of world domination, calling on the formidable bass services of Jason Newsted and, more recently, Robert Trujillo. Yet among fans, Cliff’s contributions have always been held in highest esteem. Rhino’s recent limited-edition vinyl re-release of his three albums with the band—which sold out recently—document his masterful style.

Three-and-a-half years prior to Cliff’s death, Metallica parted ways with its lead guitarist, Dave Mustaine, and two months later Dave and I formed Megadeth. Due to his departure from Metallica, there was an ongoing rivalry in the metal scene as both of our bands rose to the top. As the thrash/speed metal scene was thriving, Metallica’s impact was clearly leading the charge for all of us. The group’s success was growing exponentially, something we all benefited from. In fact, it could even be argued that they were the ones who broke down many barriers to make it possible for heavy metal to enter into the mainstream as we know it today. Despite Metallica’s rapid success, however, Cliff Burton remained humble and true to his roots.

“Cliff was an extraordinary player, and he had this huge grumble thing going on live. Plus, he was an incredible soloist—that was his forte. There were times when people thought I was trying to be him. It was hard not to be influenced by him, and certain songs had parts of his that just had to be there. Sometimes, I’d get some real animosity, but I pretty much knew what I had bargained for.”

Jason Newsted, former Metallica bassist

The Early Days

Born on February 10, 1962, Burton was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area by his supportive parents, Jan and Ray Burton. He showed promise at a young age and was a precocious student, scoring 11th-grade-level reading comprehension in the third grade. Despite a slightly eccentric reputation, he was a sociable and popular kid. He took up bass at age 13, inspired in part by the tragic death of his older brother. He quickly outgrew a series of local teachers until he hooked up with a local jazz bassist, who taught him to read music and study Bach, Beethoven, and Baroque music. But that didn’t last long, said Jan Burton in a Thrash Metal Magazine interview: “He was with [the teacher] for a long time. But he got so good that he didn’t need that anymore. He did sit down and play Bach, though. He loved Bach.” Burton’s interest wasn’t limited to the classics. He also liked Southern rockers the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd, virtuosos Stanley Clarke and Geddy Lee, and metal masters like Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmeister.

As a young musician, Cliff demonstrated single-minded dedication. He would practice four to six hours every day—a habit that continued until the end of his life. As a kid he would practice a lot with his friend Jim Martin, who went on to become Faith No More’s guitarist. At age 20, Burton found some success with the metal band Trauma. In ’82 the band traveled to Los Angeles to play the Whiskey a Go-Go. Metallica guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich were in the crowd that night, and they were so amazed by Cliff’s playing that they asked him if he would replace then-Metallica bassist Ron McGovney. Burton was feeling stifled in Trauma and was looking for a new gig, but the prospect of moving to L.A. didn’t jive with Burton’s laid-back Northern California demeanor. After a few weeks of deliberation, the band decided to buck the L.A.-

“Cliff played constantly, and he played guitar as well as bass. When we went on tour he’d bring along his guitar, and he’d plug it into a Scholz Rockman with two little speakers and play along with songs for hours. He was actually on his way to becoming a really good guitar player; in fact, I picked up a few things up from his hotel-room guitar playing that ended up on Master of Puppets. He was also heavily into classical music, and he’d incorporate classical harmonies and techniques into his playing all the time.”

Kirk Hammett, Metallica guitarist

centric metal trend and migrate to the San Francisco Bay Area to secure Burton’s involvement. By March 1983, Burton had played his first gig with the band. His definitive look, out-of-sync headbanging, and “lead bass” playing style may have been an offbeat fit for the cutting-edge thrash look and sound of Metallica, but it worked perfectly.

Metal Master

From the beginning, Burton forged an inimitable style, both musical and otherwise. If Metallica stood apart from the rest of the metal pack, Cliff was the one who stood apart even within the band. As most headbangers succumbed to the typical thrash-metal uniform of the day—black T-shirts, skintight pants, high-top tennis shoes, and leather bike jackets—Cliff stayed true to himself. He wore bell-bottom jeans and flannel shirts ten years before grunge deemed it cool. In San Francisco’s clubs Cliff thrashed mercilessly—and musically—on his red Rickenbacker 4001 as he proved he was setting his own trends, not following the others.

After Metallica made a name for itself with a widely distributed demo titled No Life ’Til Leather, Megaforce Records president John Zazula brought the band to his New Jersey office. Upon arriving to the East Coast, the band played several live shows in the New York area and quickly inked a deal with the label. With only a modest budget, the Kill ’Em All sessions were underway in May 1983.

“Cliff didn’t answer to anybody. His clothes and his playing were just an extension of his personality. He was also set in his ways; he wasn’t influenced by what was going on around him, and he never tried to fit in with people. He was true to himself, and he was always the one to point out when we were falling into heavy-metal clichés.”

Lars Ulrich, Metallica drumme

Kill ’Em All set the world on its ear and changed the course of heavy metal forever. The album’s producer, Paul Curcio, remembers Cliff fondly. “He was the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet. Plus there was a brotherhood there and the band knew they were onto something special. We started doing some rough recordings, and the energy level was just incredible.” Paul also recalls helping the band repair its badly worn equipment just prior to the recordings. “They were poor and we had a terrible RF interference problem with Cliff’s Rickenbacker. A friend of mine from a local repair shop really liked the band and fixed all its equipment for free. In fact, Cliff presented me with a bag of the original parts that came out of his instrument, and to this day I still have the pickups from that bass!”

Despite the tight recording budget and eight-week timeframe, Cliff and the band were very particular about the recording process. Remembers Curcio, “Cliff amazed us with his playing, and was very into the studio process, even though he didn’t have much experience at the time. In the studio it was like watching him onstage—he’d throw his whole body into it. The group recorded all the basic tracks live, with minimal overdubs.” Curcio opted for a straightforward recording method, recalling that “the main bass sound on the album is a DI mixed in with a live cabinet in the room.” Sonically, Cliff’s fingerstyle approach, and midrange-rich Rickenbacker tone, gave him a much needed bass presence in an otherwise drum-and-rhythm-guitar-heavy mix.

One track on Kill ’Em All, “(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth”, was Cliff’s defining moment. This track, culled from ideas developed in his five-minute solo spot at each Metallica show, showcased his ability to weave classically influenced arpeggios into a slamming carpet of metal mayhem. The cut also incorporated Cliff’s Morley Fuzz/Wah pedal, an effect that would become an integral part of his tone.

“We all had 4-track machines, and Cliff would come in with this thick, gigantic music with ten-part harmonies and all sorts of orchestration. He always wanted to play more than he should have, and he wasn’t the smoothest player; he’d go up high on the neck a lot and the bottom would drop out, and certain notes always stood out more than others. But we didn’t try to control him—we couldn’t. We wanted him to figure out his place himself.”

James Hetfield, Metallica guitarist/vocalist

The group’s second album, Ride the Lightning, was recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark. The location abroad, coupled with endless worldwide touring, gave this sophomore album an even more energetic sound than the debut. Burton began to emerge as a songwriter, as many of the tracks give him co-composition credit. Again, Burton’s signature Morley-morphed attack is prevalent, especially on the bombastic intro to “For Whom the Bell Tolls.”

The record brought Metallica a great deal of success, and the band began to tour incessantly. Andy Battye, who worked for Metallica on the Ride the Lightning tour, recalls Cliff’s free-flowing vibe onstage. “I remember my first time seeing Cliff with Metallica. I spent the first three songs in total astonishment watching Cliff’s onstage antics. After the show he told me everything sounded fine, but that I really needed to keep those drinks coming!”

It was about this time that Cliff began using a Mesa 400+ head coupled with Mesa 4x12 and custom-built 1x15 cabs. He opted for an Alembic Spoiler bass for a short period, but after it was stolen he switched to an Aria Pro II bass. Cliff’s bass tech, Eddie Kercher, recalls, “We were on the Ozzy Osbourne Ultimate Sin Tour and Cliff had just gotten an endorsement from Aria Guitars, so they sent us three basses. After a few shows, Cliff took off the bass and started smashing it against the side-fill monitor, which made a dent at the top of the neck. He told me I’d better start ordering more basses, because he liked whacking them around every night! Even after destroying a few side fills, putting holes in the stage, and throwing the bass out into the crowd, he was still using that instrument through the very last show he played in Stockholm. That thing never went out of tune. That was Cliff Burton!”

Swan Song

To some fans, Metallica’s third album, Master of Puppets, is the group’s masterpiece. It was also Cliff’s last recording. Metallica had signed with Elektra Records, and success afforded the band a slick production and the time to craft a definitively heavy studio sound. Master of Puppets found the band growing in depth as songwriters, and it marked the debut of Burton’s second bass opus, “Orion.” The track highlighted Cliff’s gift in arranging multilayered bass instrumentation, and it also demonstrated his influence on the band’s melodic sensibilities, even in the midst of its ear-splitting mayhem. The album closes up another layered bass orchestration on the intro to “Damage Inc.,” which continues to be a live-show staple to this day.

It was during the European tour for Master of Puppets that Cliff unexpectedly bid farewell to the world. Even though Metallica has reached stratospheric heights as a supergroup, its longtime fans will always remember the early brotherhood they shared with Cliff Burton. So, in his honor, break out that turntable and relive some true metal history. As Metallica so brashly coined it in the working title for Kill ’Em All, “This is metal up your ass!”