Biography
for
Cliff Burton
10 February 1962,
Castro Valley, California,
USA
27 September 1986, Dörarp, Kronobergs län,
Sweden (tour bus accident)
Clifford Lee Burton
6' 2" (1.88 m)
Clifford Lee Burton was born on February 10th, 1962 in Castro
Valley, California, USA. As a youngster he always liked music,
listening to genres such as blues, classical, country, and jazz,
and he even liked the works of Mozart. He loved all kinds of music,
and when he attended college, became educated in music theory. At
the age of six, he learned to play his first instrument, the piano.
When he became a teenager he learned to play the bass guitar and
took lessons from September 1978 to January 1980. He had played in
several bands before he joined a band that would later go on to
become one of the most popular and successful bands of all-time. In
1982, he played at the Whiskey A-Go-Go in Los Angeles and he was
spotted by James
Hetfield & Lars
Ulrich, who were forming a heavy metal band and
were searching for a new bassist with creativity. The two had gone
to the Whiskey A-Go-Go under the recommendation of Brian
Slagel of Metal Blade Records. Hetfield &
Ulrich were greatly impressed with Burton's bass playing and asked
him to join their band, Metallica. At first, Burton
didn't want to join Metallica, but agreed to join if the band was
willing to re-locate to San Francisco, which they did. Burton went
on to perform on the band's first three albums (Kill 'Em All, Ride
The Lightning, and Master Of Puppets), which all became hits and
with these three albums, he instantly became a favorite musician
amongst many music fans, with his impressive bass-playing, powerful
stage presence, and very opinionated and honest personality. Things
were looking bright for Burton, but sadly, his life was cut
tragically short in 1986. After Metallica had finished touring with
Ozzy
Osbourne in 1985 they began touring in 1986. On
the morning of September 27th, 1986, the bus the band was touring
in was driving from Stockholm, Sweden to Copenhagen, Denmark to
perform some more gigs, and it had started sliding on some icy
roads, and as the bus was sliding, Burton was thrown out of a bus
window and the bus fell on it's side and crushed him. His Metallica
band-mates were devastated over Burton's death, as were the band's
fans. Burton was a powerful force in Metallica and his loss is seen
by many as one of the most tragic losses in the history of music,
which it is, because Burton was extremely talented and helped to
contribute to some of Metallica's most successful songs. Not only
that, but his live performances were also very powerful and he was
very friendly and down-to-Earth, very honest and opinionated and
always willing to express his thoughts and feelings. Metallica paid
tribute to Burton by releasing the home video Cliff 'Em All in 1987
and by using several unused riffs and a poem of his on their song
To Live Is To Die, which appeared on their acclaimed 1988 album,
...And Justice For All. Burton may be gone, but he'll never be
forgotten, and he will always be remembered by both Metallica and
their fans, as well as music fans in general, and his contributions
to the music industry are some of the finest that were made.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
Ripped Jeans and T-Shirt
Unique bass style with heavy use of effects and distortion
Rickenbacker bass guitar
Former bassist for the heavy metal band Metallica. He worked on their
first three albums (Kill 'Em All, Ride The Lightning, and Master of
Puppets).
Was killed in a tour bus accident on the morning of September
27th, 1986, when Metallica was touring Europe
after they completed a Spring/Summer tour with Ozzy
Osbourne in 1985. Jason
Newsted replaced Burton as Metallica's new bassist in
1986.
In 1987, Metallica released a home video
called Cliff 'Em All, in honor of Burton.
A poem of his, as well as a few unused riffs, appeared on the
song To Live Is To Die on Metallica's 1988 album, ...And Justice
For All.
Metallica's first album, Kill
'Em All, was originally titled Metal Up Your Ass, but the music
censors didn't like the title and forced the band to change it.
After the band learned of the change, Cliff said "Just kill 'em
all, man," and the band members got an idea for the new title, and
Metallica's debut album was
titled Kill 'Em All, and was released in 1983.
Was a big fan of the band The Misfits. Metallica even covered two
Misfits songs (Die, Die My Darling & Last Caress/Green Hell) on
their 1998 double cover album, Garage Inc.
Played bass only with his fingers, never used a pick
Metallica's instrumental song
Orion (found on their 1986 album, Master Of Puppets) was played at
Burton's funeral.
The first instrument he learned to play was the piano.
"Why should we change on stage? We're not trying to be something
big and fancy, it's just us, doing what we do, we'd like to keep it
that way."
Cliff, James, Lars, Kirk
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