Old friends and bandmates of Cliff Burton have looked back at the late Metallica bassist’s prodigious talent in conversation with Metal Hammer.
Talking exclusively in our latest issue, Mike Overton – the guitarist in Burton’s first professional band, Trauma – remembers the Castro Valley, California native as his “stage buddy”. However, he reveals that Burton’s chops caused some friction between them in the early days, given the bassist had studied classical music and music theory at Chabot College.
“We actually battled a little bit in the beginning because he was playing way too much stuff, and I was just confused,” he laughs. “Cliff was all over the place, but it fit. I really had to learn a little bit in those few months we were playing and practising.”
He also looks back on the time Trauma, who featured future Faith No More member Jim Martin, entered a local battle of the bands and baffled the judges.
“The looks on the judges’ faces when they came out playing were just, like, shock and awe,” Overton explains with a laugh. “Most of us were going, ‘Man, that stuff sounds great. It’s so progressive and out of the box.’ But the judges were looking for the next Journey.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Brian Slagel – the founder of Metal Blade Records, who released Metallica’s first song Hit The Lights in 1982 – recalls watching Burton play with Trauma at a Los Angeles concert.
“Within 30 seconds I realised that the band was OK but this bass player they had was just incredible,” he says. “You know, he was Cliff Burton. He was in the denim with the big, wavy hair and the bass and going crazy onstage. I spent the whole show staring at him pretty much.”
Burton’s virtuoso style and stage presence led to Metallica poaching him from Trauma barely a year after he joined the fledgling band. Despite losing such a gifted player, Overton says he wasn’t upset over Burton jumping ship.
“The other guys in Trauma were getting more into the lighter stuff, so I wasn’t upset,” he says. “In fact, the first show Metallica did with Cliff, he put me on the guest list, and I’m sitting there going, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I was blown away with the raw power. I missed my stage buddy but I think it’s clear he made the right decision.”
After joining Metallica and getting the rising thrashers to relocate from L.A. to San Francisco for a more fertile alternative music scene, Burton played on three of their albums: Kill ’Em All (1983), Ride The Lightning (1984) and Master Of Puppets (1986). His classically trained talents came across through the bass solos on such tracks as Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth) and For Whom The Bell Tolls, as well as the neoclassical songwriting on Puppets’ title track.
Burton died on September 27, 1986, after Metallica’s tour bus crashed and flipped onto its side on tour in Sweden. He was 24. A memorial still exists near the crash site outside the town of Ljungby and is regularly visited by fans. The band paid tribute on 1988 album …And Justice For All, including a line on the song To Live Is To Die which Burton had adapted from a Paul Gerhardt poem.
Metallica hired Jason Newsted in November 1986 and continued to tour and record, affirming themselves as the biggest band in heavy metal with 1991’s Diamond-selling Metallica. Newsted departed in 2001 and was replaced by current bassist Robert Trujillo. The band are currently hosting a residency at Las Vegas’ multimedia venue The Sphere and will take the stage again tonight (October 22).
Raed Hammer’s full celebration of Burton’s life and legacy in the new issue. As well as his early years, we explore his time in Metallica and the impact he made on future generations of musicians. Order your copy now and get it delivered directly to your door.
