Remembering Cliff Burton

It was on this day in 1986 that original Metallica bass player Cliff Burton died tragically in a bus accident in Sweden.  He would have been 49 years old.

Cliff Burton first hooked up with the guys from Metallica in 1982 when the band he was in at the time, Trauma, was doing a gig in Los Angeles.  James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich just happened to be in attendance that night and asked Cliff to leave Trauma and join Metallica.  It was probably the best move Cliff could ave made.

It wasn't long after that when Metallica began work on their debut album Kill em' All.  Cliff would be with Metallica on their first three records before meeting his tragic death in 1986 while on tour with the band.  The bus driver lost control and Metallica's tour bus flipped over on a snowy road in Sweden.  He was 26 years old.

Cliff goes down in rock history as one of the greatest bass players of all time.  Listening to his work, he is so much more than just a bass player.  The way he plays, it's more like he has turned the bass into a different kind of instrument.  The guys in Metallica worked with other bass players (Jason Newsted, Robert Trujillo) but they have never really been able to replace the unique sound that Cliff Burton brought to the group.