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[ MetallicaHQ.com
] welcomes all the fans to one of the biggest Metallica sites on the net. Simply, We post daily all Metallica Live Gigs, Usually Pro Shot Footage, so sit back and enjoy. .: Cliff Burton :. BiographyEarly yearsBurton 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. MetallicaIn 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." Burton's backing vocals are heard in "Trapped Under Ice". 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] InfluenceBurton 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] TributesAfter 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:
"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. |
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