1986 július 5-ét mutattak a naptárak, és a Metallica nevű együttes túl volt első szárnypróbálgatásain és épp a Master Of Puppets turnéján voltak.

Akkoriban egész más volt a zenekar viszonya a közönségükkel, és nem kellett hozzá isteni csoda, hogy egy rajongó mondjuk elbeszélgethessen a banda egy-két tagjával. Egy ilyen rajongó, John is ott volt ezen a júliusi napon a nyári Ozzy turnén, melynek szüneteiben a Metallica csinált kisebb showkat. Nagyjából 4500 ember előtt lépett fel az együttes egy The Villa Real in McAllen Texas nevű kisebb helyen. Az előzenekar a The Godz volt. Akkoriban a Metallicának még nem volt meg a mai kultusz-jellege, úgyhogy a tagok simán sétálgathattak össze-vissza....John egyszer még bele is futott James Hetfieldbe a fürdőszobában.

Később John a turnébusz körül kószált, és nemsoká ki is jött az egyik bandatag, beszélgetni kezdett néhányukkal és adott pár aláírást. Aztán szólt, hogy egy perc és jön is vissza, ezzel visszament a buszba és kihívta a többi srácot, hogy jöjjenek ki, adjanak ők is autogramot. Egy idő után a Metallicának már mennie kellett, de John arra még tisztán emlékezett, hogy a tag újra meg újra köszöngetett és ezt mondta: "Viszlát jövőre." A bandatagot Cliff Burtonnek hívták. És már soha többé nem látta viszont.

Az idő lassan őszbe fordult, és ezzel nem csak a nyár ért véget. John a koncert után körülbelül 3 és fél hónap múlva hallotta, hogy Cliff halott. Nem tudta elhinni.

De kezdjük most előről a történetet, 1962 februárjában...

Clifford Lee Burton 1962 február 10-én látta meg a napvilágot a San Francisco-i Eden Klinikán, egészen pontosan este fél tíz után 8 perccel. A szülei, Jan és Ray Burton, helybeli hippik voltak, ennek hatására alakult ki később Cliff imidzse, hippi életszemlélete, de mindenelőtt gondolkodásmódja.

Ray Tennesse-i születésű volt, és a San Francisco-i Bay Area-nak dolgozott mint „Assistant Highway Engineer”. Jan származását tekintve Califoniai volt, ő pedig a helyi iskolában (Castro Valley) tanított hátrányos képességű gyermekeket. Cliffnek volt egy bátyja, akit Scott Davidnek hívtak, és egy Connie nevű nővére is. Scott 1975 május 19-én déli tizenkettő előtt 10 perccel Scott életét vesztette úton a kórházba menet, halálát agy-aneurizma okozta.

Cliff 6 éves korában kezdett el zongorázni, a basszusgitárt pedig tinédzserként kezdte. 1978 szeptemberében vette első gitáróráját, az utolsót pedig 1980 januárjában.

Cliffnek megvolt a maga stílusa. Nagyon kiegyensúlyozott, nyugodt és boldog ember volt. Szerette a sört, a marihuánát sem vetette meg, stb. Állandóan trapéznadrágban járt, H. P. Lovecraft könyveit olvasta, odavolt a mexikói konyháért, szívesen vadászott vagy ült ki a mólóra halászni, szeretett csak úgy zenélgetni mindenféle előzetes próba nélkül, és persze együtt lógni két legjobb barátjával, Dave-vel és Jimmel. San Francisco mellett nőtt fel, ugyanott, ahol Jim Martin, a Faith No More gitárosa. Ha mondhatjuk így, Cliff valamilyen szinten Clint Eastwood és E. F. Hutton „ötvözete” volt: nem beszélt sokat, de ha megszólalt, mindig odafigyeltek rá.

Back in late 1982, it was decided that former bassist Ron McGovney wasn't really pulling his weight in Metallica. He wasn't taking the band seriously, which James and Lars had a real problem with. By that time, Metallica was beginning to go down. Lars and James were having problems with their Lead Guitarist, Dave Mustaine, because of his growing addictions and abuse of alcohol and drugs, and the terrible conflicts that he and James had on stage were becoming more frequent. Also James didn't want to sing anymore because he felt he wasn't doing a good enough job, so he proposed that he play Rhythm Guitar only.

Cliff was discovered in August of 1982. One of Metallica's peer bands up north making the rounds about this time was Trauma. In addition to being 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 within its ranks "the most head banging bassist" Lars and James had ever seen - Cliff Burton.

They initially spotted him during a live Trauma show at LA's Troubadour. Lars and James were very impressed by the way he played the bass.

Metallica set out on a grand pursuit to get Cliff to join the band. Burton presented the Los Angeles station band with an ultimatum, 'If Metallica relocated to San Francisco, he would join them.'

Metallica, with all their problems, relocated to San Francisco, where they were better received than in Los Angeles. Their first jam with Cliff occurred in the house of sound-man Mark Witaker, where their was a studio type setup in his garage. At the time James and Lars were living there, having relocated Metallica to the Bay Area in 1983 to be closer to Cliff. They recorded a 4 track demo and on March 5, 1983, Cliff played for the first time with Metallica at the Stone, in San Francisco. This was the beginning of 3 1/2 incredible years.

Cliff lived with his family in San Francisco, 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 with his classic "wind-mill" style of thrashing on stage, with his hair flying out in all directions, and with his outdated, completely "unfashionable" image. With his hair hanging straight down from him head, he seemed seemed to be always dressed in a pair of bell-bottom jeans and a faded denim jacket. If it was cold, he wore a flannel shirt underneath.

Offstage, he was the ultimate laid-back Californian, a total opposite from his wild, aggressive on-stage 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 on-stage, he would just go wild. Cliff was also responsible for expanding the scope of Metallica's lyrical themes. Along with Kirk, he admired the works of H. P. Lovecraft.

The best example of how cool and unflappable Cliff was happened in the summer of 1985 at their Castle Donnington Festival appearance (August 17, 1985). Having ducked beneath a flying pear which 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.

Cliff was also a fine and inventive soloist, and his clever use of distortion and wah-wah in his "(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 a 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.

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 even greater glory. Then, during the European leg of the group's phenomenally successful Master of Puppets world tour, something went wrong - catastrophically wrong.