Cliff Burton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Cliff Burton | |
|---|---|
 Cliff Burton, bassist of Metallica:
February 10 1962 - September 27 1986 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Clifford Lee Burton |
| Born | February 10, 1962 Castro Valley, California, U.S. |
| Died | September 27, 1986 (aged 24) Ljungby Municipality, Sweden |
| Genre(s) | Thrash metal, speed metal, heavy metal |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Bass, Guitar, Piano |
| Years active | 1979–1986 |
| Label(s) | Megaforce, Elektra |
| Associated acts | Agents of Misfortune, EZ-Street, Metallica, Trauma |
| Website | Official Metallica website |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| 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, which was composed of songs that had been written prior to his arrival. Burton also performed on two more Metallica albums, Ride the Lightning as well as Master of Puppets, which was a major critical and commercial success.
On September 27, 1986, during the European leg of Metallica's Damage, Inc. tour, the driver fell asleep at the wheel and lost control outside of Dorap, Sweden, and Burton was thrown from his bunk, out of one of the windows, then pinned under the bus when it flipped, killing him.
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.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early years
Burton was born on February 10, 1962, in Alameda, 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's interest in music switched from classical to jazz and eventually heavy metal. He began playing the bass at age 13, after the drowning death of his brother. He was taught by Steve Doherty. 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] His early influences varied from classical music to southern rock to country, blues and jazz.[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.
[edit] 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 happened to be "(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 San Francisco, California.[3]
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.[5] The band relocated to Old Bridge, New Jersey - and quickly secured a record deal with Zazula's label.[5] 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.[6] Burton's songwriting abilities were growing, and he received credit on six of the album's eight songs.[6] 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.[5] 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.[7] 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,[8] but it would be Burton's final album with Metallica.
Burton's final performance was in Stockholm, Sweden on September 26, 1986.[9] One of Burton's final performances with the band is available for free to download from Metallica's website.[10]
[edit] Influence
Burton cited bass players like Geezer Butler, John Paul Jones, John Entwistle, Phil Lynott, John Deacon, Geddy Lee, Lemmy, and Stanley Clarke as influences.[4] He has also cited guitar players such as Ritchie Blackmore, Ulrich Roth, Jimi Hendrix, Randy Rhoads, and Tony Iommi as influences.[4] Surprisingly to many fans, Burton did not cite Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris as an influence, which is strange since the band has often cited Iron Maiden as a major influence on a bulk of their work.[4]
James Hetfield has admitted that Burton's influence was highly responsible for much of Metallica's early music and image. A classically trained pianist, Burton used his large knowledge of theory to add to the band's sound, both through his bass work and teaching Hetfield and Hammett how to theorize and harmonize.[11] Hetfield said that: "without Cliff, we wouldn't be where we are today."[11]
Burton's interest in the works of horror writer H. P. Lovecraft resulted in two Metallica songs, "The Call of Ktulu" and "The Thing That Should Not Be." The band has also noted that their love of The Misfits, Samhain, and all things involving Glenn Danzig came directly from Burton. This influence has persisted ever since, and when Metallica toured the USA in the summer of 1994, Danzig was one of the opening bands.[12] On a few occasions, he came out on stage with Metallica, providing vocals when they performed Misfits' songs.[13]
[edit] Tributes
After Burton's death, Metallica released the tribute documentary Cliff 'em All, a video retrospective of Burton's time in the band. It is a collection of live performance footage shot by fans, some professional filming and TV shots that were never used, and some personal photos. Metallica's first album of original material after Burton's death, …And Justice for All, contained Burton's last writing credit, the mostly instrumental track "To Live Is to Die". Metallica sometimes plays the middle part of "To Live Is To Die" at a slower tempo as a tribute for Cliff Burton.[14] Burton wrote the single stanza of lyrics for the song, which Hetfield ended up reciting:
- "When a man lies, he murders some part of the world
- These are the pale deaths which men miscall their lives
- All this I cannot bear to witness any longer
- Cannot The Kingdom of Salvation take me home?"
"Cannot The Kingdom of Salvation take me home" is written on Cliff Burton's memorial stone.
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.[15] 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.[15]
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.
In February 2009 author Joel McIver announced that his biography To Live Is To Die: The Life And Death Of Metallica's Cliff Burton would be published worldwide by Jawbone Press in June. Burton's former Metallica bandmate Kirk Hammett provided the foreword.
[edit] 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)
[edit] Equipment
 |
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2008) |
[edit] 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.
[edit] Amps
- Mesa Boogie 4"x12" cabinets.
- Mesa Boogie Custom-built 1"x15" cabinets.
- Mesa Boogie D-180 head x 2
- Sunn Coliseum Lead amp with 2x15 cabinet in the early years.
[edit] Effects
- Chrome Tel-Ray Morley Power Wah Boost
- Electro-Harmonix Big Muff.
- Ibanez Tubescreamer-808
- Boss CS-2 Compressor
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/calbirths?c=search&first=Clifford&last=Burton&spelling=Exact&4_year=&4_month=0&4_day=0&5=&7=&SubmitSearch.x=81&SubmitSearch.y=23&SubmitSearch=Submit
- ^ O., Harald. "Interview link". Allmetallica.com. http://www.allmetallica.com/info/interviews/cliffparents.php. Retrieved on 2007-12-09.
- ^ a b c d e f g Ellefson, David (February, 2005). "The King of Metal Bass". Bass Player Magazine. http://www.bassplayer.com/story.asp?sectioncode=21&storycode=84. Retrieved on 04-26 2007.
- ^ a b c d e "Cliff Burton R.I.P. Interview". Metallicaworld.com. http://www.metallicaworld.co.uk/Interviews/1986_cliff.htm. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
- ^ a b c "Metallica History Part 1". Metallica. http://www.metallica.com/Band/history.asp?part=1. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
- ^ a b "Ride the Lightning". Allmusic. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:2hdsa93gb23h. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
- ^ 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, p.548.
- ^ Metallica > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums. Retrieved 2007-26-04
- ^ metal-george's Cliff Burton Page. Retrieved 2007-26-04
- ^ LiveMetallica.com > Vault. Retrieved 2007-31-08
- ^ a b "James Hetfield Talks On Cliff Burton's Influence". http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/interviews/metallica_james_hetfield_talks_on_cliff_burtons_influence.html. Retrieved on 12-09 2007.
- ^ "Danzig Tour Dates". http://www.misfitscentral.com/danzig/tourdates.php. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ "All Metallica - Info - Side Projects - The Band". http://www.allmetallica.com/info/sideprojects/band.php. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
- ^ "allmusic: To Live Is to Die". Allmusic. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:gxfyxxtdldje. Retrieved on 2007-12-09.
- ^ a b Directed by William Harper, Paulina Williams. (2001). Behind the Music: Megadeth. [Television production]. VH1.
[edit] 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
| Preceded by Ron McGovney |
Metallica Bassist 1982-1986 |
Succeeded by Jason Newsted |
