“Nothing happened in Metallica unless Cliff Burton nodded ‘yes’”: Producer recalls how metal’s biggest band “leaned on” their beloved late bassist

Metallica’s former producer has looked back on how the heavy metal stars “leaned on” their late bassist Cliff Burton and his musical expertise.

Talking to Metal Hammer, Flemming Rasmussen – whom the band worked with on 1984’s Ride The Lightning, 1986’s Master Of Puppets and 1988’s …And Justice For All – says that even though founders James Hetfield (vocals/guitars) and Lars Ulrich (drums) are seen as the leaders of the four-piece, that wasn’t necessarily true when Burton was around.

“The thing about Lars and James being the leaders of the band didn’t emerge until later,” says Rasmussen. “At that point it was a four-piece unit. Lars and James were the ones out there promoting the band, but Cliff was the oldest, and the one with a musical education, so they leaned on him to get shit done.”

He adds that Burton “was important to the structure of the band. He took part in all of the decisive processes. Nothing really happened in Metallica unless Cliff nodded ‘yes’.”

Even though Metallica went on to become the biggest band in metal, with their 1991 self-titled album (AKA the Black Album) topping charts all over the world and ultimately selling more than 30 million units globally, the producer remembers the members living extremely frugally while making Ride… and Master….

“They’d been staying with friends when we did Ride The Lightning, and I’d seen how they lived and ate, and it was shit,” he says. “I called their management and said, ‘If we’re going to work as hard, they need proper meals. Why don’t you send me a chunk of money and I’ll have my wife cook dinner for these guys.’ And they said, ‘Yeah, sure.’”

He continues: “So every day started with them showing up at six in the evening at my house and we’d have dinner. The first day my wife made meatballs with remoulade sauce, which was the perfect Danish thing. Their favourite was rice porridge, which is something Danes say that the elves eat. They loved that.”

Burton joined Metallica in 1982, replacing his brief predecessor Ron McGovney. He became a key songwriter in the band, with co-writing credits on some of their most popular songs including Master Of Puppets, Creeping Death, Fade To Black and Damage, Inc.. His bass playing also became a defining characteristic of their early sound, as prominently heard on For Whom The Bell Tolls, Orion and his solo Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth) on 1983 debut Kill ’Em All.

The bassist died in September 1986, six months after Master… came out, when Metallica’s tour bus tipped onto its side while driving on a road in Sweden. He was 24 years old. The band continued, replacing him with Jason Newsted in November, and paid tribute to him on the Justice… song To Live Is To Die, which contained a spoken-word poem he wrote.

Metallica, rounded out by long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and now with Robert Trujillo on bass, released their latest album 72 Seasons in 2023 and will return to the road for a run of European shows from May to July. Several stops will see the band employ their ‘No Repeat Weekends’ format, where they play two separate shows at the same venue on two different days, with no overlap between the setlists. See details and get tickets via their website.

Read the full interview with Rasmussen in the upcoming issue of Metal Hammer, which comes out next Thursday, April 2. Order our current issue, featuring Lamb Of God frontman Randy Blythe on the cover, and get it delivered directly to your door now.