In mid January 2009, it was revealed that the book "To Live Is To Die: The Life And Death Of Metallica's Cliff Burton" would be issued during June via Jawbone Press. On September 27th, 1986, Metallica bassist Cliff Burton sadly lost his life at the age of twenty-four due to a coach crash near Ljungby, Sweden. Chronicling the life and times of the man, "To Live Is To Die" was penned by British journalist Joel McIver. The tome's foreword was written by none other than Metallica's lead guitarist Kirk Hammett. Following Hammett's foreword, separate introductions are provided by an array of musicians who were influenced by Burton, such as Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth), Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse), Alex Skolnick (Testament), David Ellefson (F5 / ex-Megadeth) and a range of other musicians and writers.
For "
To Live Is To Die",
McIver spoke to many interviewees, many of which spoke publicly for the first time. These include
Burton's bass teacher
Steve Doherty, reporter and photographer
Brian Lew,
Bay Area metal fan
Harald Oimoen (the subject of "The Ballad of Harald O" by Spastik Children, in which Burton played),
Spastik Children's frontman
Fred Cotton,
Exodus founder
Gary Holt,
Metal Blade Records founder
Brian Slagel, photographer
Ross Halfin,
Burton's first guitar technician
Chuck Martin,
Metallica's inaugural fanclub manager
KJ Doughton, "
Ride The Lightning" (1984) and "
Master Of Puppets" (1986) producer
Flemming Rasmussen, interviewer
Jörgen Holmstedt (the last person to interview Burton), roadie and former
Metal Church guitarist
John Marshall (who was also a part of the bus crash which claimed Burton's life),
Lennart Wennberg (photographer at the scene of the crash), and
Corinne Lynne,
Burton's girlfriend for the last year of his life.
During April 2004, Omnibus Press issued McIver's "Justice For All: The Truth About Metallica", which has since been translated into several languages. In October 2009, that book will be republished in its third edition. To discuss "To Live Is To Die" as well as the musical prowess of Cliff Burton, McIver was interviewed via email.
UG: In writing 'To Live Is To Die: The Life And Death Of Metallica's Cliff Burton', what were your motives? In writing the book, what did you wish to achieve?
Joel McIver: I'd wondered for years why no-one had written a book about Cliff, and when I came up with the idea of doing a book about him in 2006 or thereabouts, I asked myself what it would need to achieve. First, it would need to be a celebration of his immense playing and songwriting talents. Then it would need to reveal him as he truly was, not as some posthumously sanctified icon. It would also have to provide value for the reader over and above the information which is available elsewhere (not that there's much). Finally, it would have to try and match up to Cliff's own high standards and meet the expectations of those he left behind. No pressure then…
"I'd wondered for years why no-one had written a book about Cliff."
Jawbone are awesome, but it's not so much that they were the best publisher for the Cliff book – they were the only ones interested in doing it! I approached several larger publishers with the idea, and was told "No, he's just a bass player" and other reasons not to publish. It's their loss – in less than eight weeks on sale, the book has come close to selling out its print run in the US and UK, a pretty stunning achievement. Jawbone are reprinting now to supply the demand, and at this rate the Cliff book is likely to be a bestseller in several territories. Not bad for "just a bass player".
Kirk Hammett wrote a foreword for the book. How did that come to fruition?
Metallica's photographer Ross Halfin asked Kirk if he'd do it. I owe Ross a lot of beer.
Previous to this book, you obviously issued the 2004 book 'Justice For All: The Truth About Metallica' through Omnibus Press. In writing 'To Live Is To Die', did the fact you'd written that 2004 book help a lot?
It certainly helped in that I had a lot of background knowledge on Cliff and the band in general. I knew which areas of his life remained unexplored (basically all of it before 1982) and which of his closest friends and associates had never spoken on the record about him before, so I knew where to start my research. Also, most of the people who knew Cliff already knew me from the previous book, so I didn't have to track down – say – Brian Slagel and Dave Ellefson and introduce myself. I could just mail them and request an interview.
Since you've written unofficial biographies on Metallica and Cliff Burton, are unofficial biographies on any other Metallica members future possibilities? For example, do you feel say James Hetfield or Lars Ulrich's stories would be interesting stories to tell?
They would be, but I'd only be interested in doing such a book if it was their official autobiography and I was the co-writer. I'm doing this with Glenn Hughes at the moment and it's a blast.
Some spoke about Cliff Burton publicly for the first time. How did you manage to track down these people, and what type of general picture did they paint of the bassist?
Just through perseverance and word of mouth. Harald Oimoen and Brian Lew, who knew the band in the early days when they lived in El Cerrito, helped me get hold of Ron Quintana (who came up with the name 'Metallica'), Cliff's girlfriend Corinne Lynn, his bass teacher Steve Doherty and a bunch of others. These people in turn recommended other interviewees, and so it went on.
The picture they painted of Cliff was of a talented young guy with a lot of ambition, but in a quiet way. He practised a lot, worshipped his musical idols and had plans to settle down with Corinne after the 'Puppets' tour. He was a genuinely nice guy – one of the best – which makes his early death all the more tragic.
"He was a genuinely nice guy – one of the best – which makes his early death all the more tragic."
I don't know if any of them have read it, but I doubt it. They might have had their legal team flip through it for anything libellous before putting it on sale, I guess. It's a great compliment to be acknowledged in this way: Lars told me that he is constantly asked to sign copies of my other Metallica book all over the world, so you'd think they'd be sick of hearing my name by now.
If possible, I'd like to touch upon Cliff Burton's playing upon Metallica's first three albums, and how his style evolved and matured. Firstly, 1983's 'Kill 'Em All' obviously features the song "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth". Upon that album, what bass techniques did he utilize that were possibly unheard of in the world of metal during 1983?
Basically, in 1983 no metal bass player apart from Steve Harris of Iron Maiden played a melodic counterpoint to the main guitar riffs. Cliff did this to a certain extent on "Seek And Destroy", and he also found an alternative to simply copying James' tremolo picking in "Whiplash" by playing a ringing line with an octave. In "Anesthesia" itself he brought classical progressions, triads and a massively distorted tone to the metal bass for the first time outside the world of progressive rock.
Secondly, upon 'Ride the Lightning', in what ways did he broaden his wings so to speak, and return with a more refined approach?
This album was Cliff's first real showcase. Listen to the wah riffs in "The Call Of Ktulu" and the intro solo in "For Whom The Bell Tolls", and in a dozen subtler instances. The bass is mixed low on 'Lightning' so you need to listen hard, but it's all there.
Thirdly, why do you feel that 'Master of Puppets' possibly displayed Burton at the height of his powers?
Because his songwriting came to the fore. To me, "Orion" is like a classical symphony, not just a metal instrumental. His three solo parts blow my mind, every time. The intro to "Damage, Inc." is amazing too. Listen carefully and you can hear him having fun – sliding into the verse riff in "Master Of Puppets", throwing in that weird line in "Leper Messiah", adding that nutty fill right before the fast break in "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"… not only was he good enough to come up with that stuff, he was good enough to enjoy himself while he was doing it.
In your opinion, how vital a part did Cliff Burton play in early Metallica? Is his importance in early Metallica overrated, or does his accomplishments justify his latter day reputation?
According to several of the interviewees, Cliff enjoyed a lot of say over Metallica's decisions in the early days, probably because of his musical skills – which were way more advanced than the others' at that time – and because he was a little older and more experienced than the other guys. So his influence over what they did was greater than most people think.
"Cliff helped to shape the whole of heavy metal – that's how important he was."
The other guys were understandably distraught by his death, but there was never any real likelihood that they would quit afterwards. They recruited Jason Newsted immediately and carried on, which was the right commercial decision but didn't allow them any time to grieve: all that emotion had to be bottled up, as they've said many times. That led to serious consequences and was one of the factors which almost destroyed the band in 2002. That's the impact which his death had.
It's hard to say how Cliff's absence affected their later work: if he'd still been around I think they would still have recorded 'Justice' and the 'Black Album' – although what would have happened in the 1990s with him still on board, I don't know.
If you named the hundred greatest metal bassists, where would Cliff Burton figure and why? In terms of positioning upon such a list, which metal bassists would be similarly placed in that list?
I'd love to do that book. In the top ten I'd put Cliff, Steve Harris (Iron Maiden), Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath / Heaven & Hell), Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse), Steve DiGiorgio, Robert Trujillo (Metallica / ex-Suicidal Tendencies), Frank Bello (Anthrax), Sean Malone (Cynic), Roger Patterson (Atheist) and Tony Choy (Pestilence), but in what order I'm not sure.
In your opinion, what is Cliff Burton's lasting influence upon the world of metal? Some musicians influenced by him provide separate introductions to 'To Live Is To Die'.
Yes, and they all sum up what he means to them very succinctly. To me, Cliff is responsible for bringing outside influences to thrash metal for the first time, leading to the rise of prog-metal and a higher status for bass players. If he hadn't taught James musical theory, then Metallica might never have stepped outside their garage roots, and if they hadn't done that, heavy metal would be a much diminished force today. Cliff helped to shape the whole of heavy metal – that's how important he was.
Interview by Robert Gray
Ultimate-Guitar.Com © 2009
