Birth School Metallica Death - Vol I by Paul Brannigan, Ian Winwood Page A
Authors: Paul Brannigan, Ian Winwood
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from fishing trips at four in the morning, whereupon Cliff would prepare for the party a huge cooking pot of Mexican food, chiding Donato for a loud voice which occasionally rose to a pitch capable of waking the house’s sleeping residents.
As with many first bands, EZ Street did not so much disband as dissolve. The group, though, did afford Burton his first public appearances at such estimable gatherings as a church gala, local talent contests and, inevitably, numerous backyard parties beloved of Californian teenagers. The band could even lay claim to one performance for which they were paid, this being an appearanceat the International Café in Berkeley, an establishment run by Greek Americans who were quite happy to have the band play and their friends arrive to watch and to drink the bar dry.
From the ashes of EZ Street Burton and Martin formed Agents of Misfortune, another short-lived, free-form, experimental trio, inspired by Rush, the Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath. Interviewed in 1980, after a local Battle of the Bands competition, the bassist was asked to outline his group’s future ambitions: his answer was both succinct and lyrical: ‘To show [people] what’s on the other side of the fence.’
By the spring of 1980 music had positioned itself as the key component in the life of Cliff Burton. This was the season that he graduated from Castro Valley High School, and after he secured his High School Diploma he decided to continue his studies at Chabot College, a community institution in Hayward, California, which features among its alumni such figures as actor Tom Hanks, author Bruce Henderson, as well as Major League Baseball players such as Mark Davis and Ned Yost. Yet as Burton’s first semester at the college approached, the prospective student was already certain in his own mind that the vocation he desired for his life was that of a professional musician. But while the back stories of many young people who desire to embark upon a musical path they hope will lead to a destination of fame and glory – or even merely a living – come replete with a chorus from unhappy parents urging their offspring to concentrate on activities that loosely correlate under the banner of ‘proper jobs’, in the case of the Burton family the response to their son’s declaration was more supportive. Both Ray and Jan Burton had noted not only their son’s love of music, but also his willingness to apply himself to the business of
playing
music. In light of this, the parents struck a deal with their youngest child.
As Jan recalled, ‘We said, “Okay, we’ll give you four years. We’ll pay for your rent and your food. But after that four yearsis over, if we don’t see some slow progress or moderate progress, if you’re just not going any place and it’s obvious that you’re not going to make a living from it, then you’re going to have to get a job and do something else. That’s as far as we’re going to support you. It should be known by then whether or not you’re going to make it.” So he said, “Fine.”’
In order to begin making good on his end of this bargain, the next group Burton joined was Trauma. Then a regular presence on the Bay Area’s live club circuit, at the time of Burton’s arrival the group were propelled by singer Donny Hillier and guitarist Mike Overton and played a rather odd combination of straight-ahead power metal combined with the kind of glam-metal stylings that had begun to dominate the boulevards of West Hollywood. The band, though, did possess a solid work ethic, something that was no doubt attractive to a bass player whose own work ethic had afforded him the support of his mother and father. The insertion into Trauma’s ranks of a new member dressed in flared jeans and denim jacket – an ensemble often derided as ‘a Canadian tuxedo’ – only added to the band’s sense of musical and stylistic uncertainty. Critical opinion among those who covered the
As with many first bands, EZ Street did not so much disband as dissolve. The group, though, did afford Burton his first public appearances at such estimable gatherings as a church gala, local talent contests and, inevitably, numerous backyard parties beloved of Californian teenagers. The band could even lay claim to one performance for which they were paid, this being an appearanceat the International Café in Berkeley, an establishment run by Greek Americans who were quite happy to have the band play and their friends arrive to watch and to drink the bar dry.
From the ashes of EZ Street Burton and Martin formed Agents of Misfortune, another short-lived, free-form, experimental trio, inspired by Rush, the Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath. Interviewed in 1980, after a local Battle of the Bands competition, the bassist was asked to outline his group’s future ambitions: his answer was both succinct and lyrical: ‘To show [people] what’s on the other side of the fence.’
By the spring of 1980 music had positioned itself as the key component in the life of Cliff Burton. This was the season that he graduated from Castro Valley High School, and after he secured his High School Diploma he decided to continue his studies at Chabot College, a community institution in Hayward, California, which features among its alumni such figures as actor Tom Hanks, author Bruce Henderson, as well as Major League Baseball players such as Mark Davis and Ned Yost. Yet as Burton’s first semester at the college approached, the prospective student was already certain in his own mind that the vocation he desired for his life was that of a professional musician. But while the back stories of many young people who desire to embark upon a musical path they hope will lead to a destination of fame and glory – or even merely a living – come replete with a chorus from unhappy parents urging their offspring to concentrate on activities that loosely correlate under the banner of ‘proper jobs’, in the case of the Burton family the response to their son’s declaration was more supportive. Both Ray and Jan Burton had noted not only their son’s love of music, but also his willingness to apply himself to the business of
playing
music. In light of this, the parents struck a deal with their youngest child.
As Jan recalled, ‘We said, “Okay, we’ll give you four years. We’ll pay for your rent and your food. But after that four yearsis over, if we don’t see some slow progress or moderate progress, if you’re just not going any place and it’s obvious that you’re not going to make a living from it, then you’re going to have to get a job and do something else. That’s as far as we’re going to support you. It should be known by then whether or not you’re going to make it.” So he said, “Fine.”’
In order to begin making good on his end of this bargain, the next group Burton joined was Trauma. Then a regular presence on the Bay Area’s live club circuit, at the time of Burton’s arrival the group were propelled by singer Donny Hillier and guitarist Mike Overton and played a rather odd combination of straight-ahead power metal combined with the kind of glam-metal stylings that had begun to dominate the boulevards of West Hollywood. The band, though, did possess a solid work ethic, something that was no doubt attractive to a bass player whose own work ethic had afforded him the support of his mother and father. The insertion into Trauma’s ranks of a new member dressed in flared jeans and denim jacket – an ensemble often derided as ‘a Canadian tuxedo’ – only added to the band’s sense of musical and stylistic uncertainty. Critical opinion among those who covered the
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