Cliff Burton was born on the 10 of Febuary, 1962, in San Fransisco. As a teenager he played in many local bands. Cliff liked Bach music and Lovercrafts books. On March the 5 1982, Cliff made his first preformence whith Metallica on the rockclub "The Stone" in San Fransisco. Back in late 1982, it was decided that bassist Ron McGoveny wasn't really pulling his weight in Metallica. One of Metallica's peer bands up north making the rounds about this time was Trauma. In addition to begin a favorite Bay-area club circuit draw, the band was gaining recognition through their one-song demo, featuring "Such a Shame" that eventually was transferred to vinyl on Metal Massacre II. More noteworthy, however, Trauma possessed whithin its ranks "The most headbanging bassist" Lars & James had ever seen - Cliff Burton. They initially spotted him during a live Trauma show at LA´s Troubador. Burton, who grew up whith Faith No More gutarist Jim Martin near San Francisco, was a cross between Clint Eastwood and E.F. Hutton: Didn't say much, but when he did, people listend. Especially Hetfield and Ulrich, who were puppies whit peach fuzz and acne when they relocated Metallica to the Bay arena in 1983 to be closer to Cliff. Cliff Burton had flavor: he wore bell-bottoms, read H.P. Lovecraft, studied piano, and even went to junior collage. He drove a 1972 VW stationwagon. He was the son of Jan and Ray Burton, two San Fransisco hippies and he still had those hippie ideals; he liked his beer, liked his pot or whatever, liked to chill out, and he was really laid-back, relaxed and happy. He lived whith his family in San Fransisco, and for three and a half years he worked hard to take Metallica to the top. After replacing Ron McGovney in late 1982, Cliff instantly made a name for himself whit his classic "wind-mill" style of thrashing on stage, whit his hair flying out in all directions, and whit his outdated, completely "unfashionable" image. Whith his hair hanging staight down from his head, he seemed eternally glad in a pair of bell-bottom jeans and a faded denim jacket. If it was cold, he wore a flannel shirt underneath. Offsatge, he was the ultimate laid-back Californian, a total oppisite from his wild, aggresive onstage attack. His sense of humor was great, as were his bass solos and everything about his stage presence. He was the most visual of all the band onstage, he would just go wild. The best example to how cool and unflappable Cliff was, happend in the summer of 1985 at their Castle Donnington Festivals appearance (August 17, 1985). Having ducked beneath a flying pear whicch ended up embedding itself in his bass bin, Burton coolly sauntered over to his stack, picked up the pear, took two bites out of it and hurled it back into the crowd. For a while there it really looked as if 1986 was gonna be Metallica's year. After all, their third LP, Master Of Puppets, had literally taken the music world by storm and, in doing so, had made the band virtual mega-stars in the eyes of the metal-doting public. Metallica had finally "made it" and it seemed that nothing could halt their inexorable rise to evean greater glory. Then, during the European leg of the group's phenomenally succesful Master Of Puppets world tour, something went wrong - castastrophically wrong. Fresh from their triumphant UK tour, Metallica had headed once more for Scandinavia where they'd played three shows at the Olympen in Lund (September 24, 1986), the Skedsmohallen (September 25, 1986) in Oslo and at the Solnahallen in Stckholm (September 26, 1986). The quick left by Cliff's death yawned across the pages of tributes run by music press the week after the tragedy. In Kerrang! for example, advertisements were taken by friends and fans alike; a bleak, black double-page spread ran messages from Zazulas ("The Ultimate Musican, The Ultimate Headbanger, The Ultimate Loss, A Friend Forever"), and Anthrax ("Bell-Bottoms Rule!! Laugh it up, We Miss You"), while Music For Nations also took out a page which simly read: "Cliff Burton 1962-1986". The pain ran deep. His family and friends remember him as a "world class local boy" whit a love for Johann Sebastian Bach, Mexican food and his hometown. His parents said he was "an appreciative and thoughthful son, a little boy came up to the door, early in the morning and wanted Cliff to sign his shirt. So Cliff staggerd to the door - and said "Sure, of course I'll sign it." "I once called him up and said 'How do you like being a rock star?', and he was furious. He asked me never to ask him that again", said his sister, Connie. At the conclusion of his memorial service (October 7, 1986), "Orion" from the band's Master Of Puppets album, was played. The elaborate instrumental made a fitting tribute for the young bassist, scince as James Hetfield recalled, Burton was Metallica's most educated musician and "Orion" was largely his composition. Cliff was also responsible for expanding the scope of Metallica's lyrical themes. Along whit Kirk, he admired the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Cliff Burton died young....much too young. There is nothing that we can do or say that will ever alter this totally wretched fact. Cliff represented the ultimate thrash bassist. "(Anesthesia)-Pulling Teeth" showpiece made it one of the highlights of the band's live set. More importantly, Cliff was one hell of a nice guy and much-loved figure in the Metallica camp. He always went out of his way to talk to the band's fans-no matter how tired he was. He was certainly the most unanimously appreciated by the band members as well as by the public. Although he is no longer whit us, his memory and his music will live forever. As a personal tribute, I will always listen to his music on this day and think about what happend and I just wonder: Why did it had to happend? Return to Cliff's section