Cliff Burton

Cliff Burton
Cliff Burton, bassist of Metallica: February 10 1962 9:38pm- September 27, 1986
Background information
Birth name	Clifford Lee Burton
Born	February 10, 1962(1962-02-10) Castro Valley, California, U.S.
Died	September 27, 1986 (aged 24) Ljungby Municipality, Sweden
Genres	Thrash metal, speed metal, heavy metal
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter
Instruments	Bass, Piano
Years active	1979–1986
Labels	Megaforce, Elektra
Associated acts	Metallica, Agents of Misfortune, EZ-Street, Trauma
Website	Official Metallica website
Notable instruments
Rickenbacker 4001 Aria Pro II SB-1000

Clifford Lee Burton (February 10, 1962 – September 27, 1986) was an American bassist best known as the bass player of American heavy metal band Metallica. As a bassist he made heavy use of distortion and effects (several of which are usually associated with non-bass guitars), best exemplified on his signature piece, "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth".

Burton's early influence was essential in creating the unique musical style for which Metallica became famous. Burton joined the band in 1982 and performed on their debut album, Kill 'Em All. Burton performed on two more Metallica albums, Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets, both of which met with major commercial and critical success.

On September 27, 1986, Burton was killed when the band's tour bus skidded and crashed.

Burton was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Metallica on April 4, 2009. His father, Ray Burton, gave a speech on his son's behalf.

Biography

Early years

Burton was born on February 10, 1962, in Alameda County, California ^[1], to Jan and Ray Burton. He had two elder siblings, Scott and Connie. He was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Burton's interest in music began when his father introduced him to classical music and he began taking piano lessons.

In his teenage years, Burton had an interest in rock, classical and eventually heavy metal. He began playing the bass at age 13, after the death of his brother,. His parents quoted him as saying, "I'm going to be the best bassist for my brother."^[2] He practiced up to six hours per day.^[3] Along with classical and jazz, Burton's other early influences varied from southern rock, country and blues.^[3]

While still a student at Castro Valley High School, Burton formed his first band. Called "EZ-Street", the band took its name from a Bay Area topless bar. Other members of EZ Street included future Faith No More guitarist "Big" Jim Martin and future Faith No More and Ozzy Osbourne drummer Mike Bordin. Burton and Martin continued their musical collaboration after becoming students at Chabot College in Hayward, California. Their second band, "Agents of Misfortune", entered the Hayward Area Recreation Department's "Battle of the Bands" contest in 1981. Their audition was recorded on video and features some of the earliest footage of Burton's trademark playing style. The video also shows Burton playing some parts of what would soon be two Metallica songs: his signature bass solo, "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth," and the chromatic intro to "For Whom the Bell Tolls".^[3] Burton joined his first major band, Trauma, in 1982.

Metallica

In 1982, Trauma traveled to Los Angeles to perform at the Whisky a Go Go.^[3] Among those in attendance were James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, both members of Metallica, which had formed the previous year. Upon hearing, as Hetfield described it, "this amazing shredding" (which later became "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth"), the two went in search of what they thought was an amazing guitar player. When they learned that what they had heard was, in fact a bass solo by Burton they decided to recruit him for their own band. They asked him to replace departed bassist Ron McGovney, and since Burton thought that Trauma was "starting to get a little commercial,"^[4] he agreed. The idea of having to move to Los Angeles did not sit well with him, and said he would join only if the band would relocate from Los Angeles to his native San Francisco Bay Area.^[3] Metallica, eager to have Cliff in the band left their origin of Los Angeles to make a home in El Cerrito^[5], a town located across the bay from San Francisco.

Burton's first recording with Metallica was the Megaforce Demo. A demo tape the band had made prior to Burton's joining, No Life 'Til Leather, managed to come into the hands of John Zazula, owner of Megaforce Records.^[6] The band relocated to Old Bridge, New Jersey - and quickly secured a record deal with Zazula's label.^[6] Their first album, Kill 'Em All, features Burton's famous solo piece, "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth," which showcased his use of effects, such as a wah pedal (until then the wah pedal had been the near-exclusive domain of six-string guitarists^[3], with the exception of Geezer Butler on Black Sabbath's first album, and occasionally ultra-progressive bassists such as Chris Squire).

The band's second album, Ride the Lightning, showcased the band's increasing musical growth.^[7] Burton's songwriting abilities were growing, and he received credit on six of the album's eight songs.^[7] Burton's playing style and use of effects is showcased on two tracks: the chromatic intro to "For Whom the Bell Tolls," and the "lead bass" on "The Call of Ktulu."

The increase of musicianship on Ride the Lightning caught the attention of major record labels.^[6] Metallica was signed to Elektra, and began working on their third album, Master of Puppets, which is considered by most critics to be a landmark album in both thrash and the whole of metal.^[8] Burton is featured heavily on several tracks, most notably the instrumental "Orion," which again featured Burton's lead bass playing style. The album also contained Burton's favorite Metallica song, "Master of Puppets."^[4] Master of Puppets was the band's commercial breakthrough,^[9] but it would be Burton's final album with Metallica.

Burton's final performance was in Stockholm, Sweden on September 26, 1986.^[10] One of Burton's final performances with the band is available for free to download from Metallica's website.^[11]

Death

Memorial stone near the crash site.

During the European leg of the Damage Inc. tour in support of Master of Puppets, the band complained that the sleeping cubicles on their tour bus were unsatisfactory and uncomfortable. To decide who was getting the pick of the bunks, Kirk Hammett and Cliff drew cards.^[12] On the evening of September 26, 1986, Cliff had won the game with an Ace of Spades. He was asleep when at several minutes before 7 am (on the 27th), according to the driver, the bus ran over a patch of black ice, skidded off of the road (the E4, 2 miles north of Ljungby)^[13], and flipped onto the grass in Ljungby Municipality, near Dörarp in rural southern Sweden.^[14] Burton was thrown through the window of the bus, which fell on top of him causing his death. ^[13][14] James Hetfield later stated that he first believed the bus flipped because the driver was drunk, claiming his breath smelled of alcohol after the accident. Hetfield also stated that he himself walked long distances down the road looking for black ice and found none. Local freelance photographer, Lennart Wennberg, who attended the crash scene the following morning, when later asked in an interview about the likelihood that black ice caused the accident, said it was 'out of the question', stating that the road was dry and the temperature around two degrees Celsius (37 degrees Fahrenheit). This was also confirmed by the police who found no ice on the road. Ljungby detective, Arne Pettersson was reported in a local newspaper to have said the pattern of the tracks at the accident site were exactly like ones seen when drivers fall asleep at the wheel. However the driver stated under oath that he had slept during the day and was fully rested; his testimony was confirmed by the driver of the second tour bus.^[13] The driver was determined not at fault for the accident and no charges were brought against him.^[15]

Burton was buried in San Francisco.^[12] At the ceremony, a recording of the song "To Live Is To Die" was played, and the lyrics "...cannot the Kingdom of Salvation take me home?" from the mostly instrumental "To Live Is To Die" are written on Cliff Burton's memorial stone.

A memorial for Burton in Ljungby, Sweden

The most well known non-Metallica tribute to Burton is the song "In My Darkest Hour" by contemporary thrash metal band Megadeth. According to Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine, after hearing of Burton's death, he sat down and wrote the music for the song in one sitting. The lyrics, however, are unrelated to Burton's death. The band's frontman Dave Mustaine was Metallica's lead guitarist in the early days and knew Burton very well, and they maintained good relations after Mustaine parted with the band in 1983, just before the release of "Kill Em All". Mustaine was quoted as saying the song was inspired by Burton's passing.^[16] He claimed that neither Hetfield nor Ulrich had informed him of Burton's death and he only found out when Metallica's manager called him.^[16]

On October 3, 2006 a memorial stone was unveiled in Sweden near the scene of the fatal crash.

Contemporary thrash metal band Anthrax dedicated their Among the Living album to him, as did Metal Church with The Dark.

On April 4, 2009, Cliff Burton was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, with the rest of Metallica. During the ceremony, the induction was accepted by Cliff's father, Ray Burton, who shared the stage with the band and mentioned that Cliff's mother was actually Metallica's biggest fan.R.I.P Cliff. WE love you.

A biography, To Live Is To Die: The Life And Death Of Metallica's Cliff Burton, written by Joel McIver, was published by Jawbone Press in June 2009. Metallica's lead guitarist Kirk Hammett provided the foreword.^[17]

Discography

• Kill 'Em All (July 25, 1983)
• Ride the Lightning (July 30, 1984)
• Master of Puppets (March 3, 1986)

Demos

• No Life 'Til Leather (July 10, 1982) (credited but does not play)
• Megaforce (January 10, 1983)
• Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1983)

Equipment

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Bass guitars

• Rickenbacker 4001 in Burgundy; later modified with Gibson Mudbucker and DiMarzio J-style pickups. Cliff also had a stratocaster pick-up installed under the Rickenbacker bridge in place of the foam mute.
• Aria Pro II SB-1000 and SB Black 'n Gold I.
• Alembic Spoiler. This was stolen, according to Burton in an interview.

Amps

• Mesa Boogie 4"x12" cabinets.
• Mesa Boogie Custom-built 1"x15" cabinets.

Ampeg SVT-1540HE Classis Series Enclosure

• Mesa Boogie D-180 head x 2
• Sunn Coliseum Lead amp with 2x15 cabinet in the early years.

Effects

• Chrome Tel-Ray Morley Power Wah Fuzz (also He used Chrome Tel-Ray Morley Power Wah Boost)
• Electro-Harmonix Big Muff.
• Ibanez Tubescreamer-808
• Boss CS-2 Compressor

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cliff Burton

• Metallica.com - The Official Metallica Website
• Cliff In Our Minds memorial website
• Arron's Tribute To Cliff Burton
• Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame: Metallica FuseTV
• Cliff Burton at Find a Grave