My guilty pleasure reading in Santa Fe this past weekend was a recently released biography of Metallica bassist Cliff Burton. The book, written by Joel McIver, features a nice blend of recollections, research, and technical information about Burton's playing (!). Burton was an early hero of mine: his bass playing I think was rivaled only by Geddy Lee of Rush and Primus' Les Claypool.
One of the fascinating revelations of the book is just how seriously Burton (and his parents!) took music. He studied piano and, later, electric bass privately, and actually outgrew several teachers. He learned to play in a variety of different styles: his last teacher actually had him playing Bach transcriptions. He listened to a wide variety of music as well, including the Misfits, R.E.M., Black Sabbath, Rush, and Return to Forever (a fusion group featuring super-bassist Stanley Clarke). His eclectic tastes rubbed off on his fellow band members, who also learned to listen to and appreciate a variety of music.
Burton was quite well read, had good grades, and studied music in college. His parents were very supportive, offering to support him while he was in school. They made a deal with him: we'll support you through school, but if the music thing doesn't work out, then you're on your own.
Although most of Metallica's material was written by James Hetfield (the vocalist and rhythm guitarist) and Lars Ulrich (the drummer), Burton's musical knowledge was held in high esteem among the band members, and his suggestions were taken very seriously:
Once he joined Metallica, he apparently continued to practice (on his own) four to six hours a day. He inspired the other band members to keep learning on their instruments, too. Ulrich relates that he and the others would often take lessons when they had down time between tours and recording. Ulrich said something to the effect of "what's the point of doing something if you have no room to grow?"
Among the hallmarks of Burton's playing are his use of his fingers, not a pick (significant in light of the sheer speed of some of Metallica's songs); his use of distortion and effects; and his ear for melody. He wasn't exactly the lead voice or the frontman of the group (in the way that Les Claypool or Geddy Lee was), but he was often given ample opportunity to shine. In fact, on Metallica's first album, he was allowed a bass solo track:
Here are a few examples of his playing:
"For whom the bell tolls," live
Soloing with his first band, Trauma:
I feel compelled to dig out the electric bass and try to remember all the Metallica songs I learned in high school...
BTW, Half the reason this is all so interesting (to me, at least) is that Burton died tragically in a tour bus accident in 1986. He was 24 years old.
One of the fascinating revelations of the book is just how seriously Burton (and his parents!) took music. He studied piano and, later, electric bass privately, and actually outgrew several teachers. He learned to play in a variety of different styles: his last teacher actually had him playing Bach transcriptions. He listened to a wide variety of music as well, including the Misfits, R.E.M., Black Sabbath, Rush, and Return to Forever (a fusion group featuring super-bassist Stanley Clarke). His eclectic tastes rubbed off on his fellow band members, who also learned to listen to and appreciate a variety of music.
Burton was quite well read, had good grades, and studied music in college. His parents were very supportive, offering to support him while he was in school. They made a deal with him: we'll support you through school, but if the music thing doesn't work out, then you're on your own.
Although most of Metallica's material was written by James Hetfield (the vocalist and rhythm guitarist) and Lars Ulrich (the drummer), Burton's musical knowledge was held in high esteem among the band members, and his suggestions were taken very seriously:
Cliff also knew more about time signatures than the others, but to this day the Metallica canon is largely bereft of unusual times. As Kirk shrugged: "The only person who was able to figure out a time and write it on a piece of paper was Cliff. He had an immense knowledge of timing, musical harmonies, and music theory in general." Perhaps Cliff's knowledge of time signatures failed to rub off, but the other members of the band certainly learned a lot about other aspects of theory as the months passed. Some of this came from Cliff's teaching, and some of it was simply because he played different kinds of music (82)
Once he joined Metallica, he apparently continued to practice (on his own) four to six hours a day. He inspired the other band members to keep learning on their instruments, too. Ulrich relates that he and the others would often take lessons when they had down time between tours and recording. Ulrich said something to the effect of "what's the point of doing something if you have no room to grow?"
Among the hallmarks of Burton's playing are his use of his fingers, not a pick (significant in light of the sheer speed of some of Metallica's songs); his use of distortion and effects; and his ear for melody. He wasn't exactly the lead voice or the frontman of the group (in the way that Les Claypool or Geddy Lee was), but he was often given ample opportunity to shine. In fact, on Metallica's first album, he was allowed a bass solo track:
Here are a few examples of his playing:
"For whom the bell tolls," live
Soloing with his first band, Trauma:
I feel compelled to dig out the electric bass and try to remember all the Metallica songs I learned in high school...
BTW, Half the reason this is all so interesting (to me, at least) is that Burton died tragically in a tour bus accident in 1986. He was 24 years old.