Cliff Burton

[Rudreax]

Here's something I found on Wikipedia (i.e. take with a grain of salt):

"(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth" is a bass solo by Cliff Burton. An instrumental track, with accompaniment on drums by Ulrich, it features Burton's distinctive "lead bass" style of playing, incorporating heavy distortion, use of the wah-wah pedal, and tapping. This is also the bass solo that Burton was playing when Hetfield and Ulrich first saw him at a gig: “We heard this wild solo going on and thought, 'I don’t see any guitar player up there.' We were both counting the strings and I finally turned to Lars and said 'Dude, that's a bass!' Cliff was up there on stage with his band Trauma with a wah wah pedal and his huge mop of red hair. He didn't care whether people were there. He was looking down at his bass, playing", recounts Hetfield.

 

[Thorsoundcore]

he's great,but i don't think there is a "best bassist ever".
problem with cliff is,his style isn't very bass like.so that makes it hard to compare him to other bassists.but it is a one of a kind style,and most other bassists cannot replicate it.
i mean,who can shred on a bass with just their fingers? i don't know anyone that can do that exactly.he is amazing in his own way though,probably not the "best" though.

 

[Thorsoundcore]

Thats ********, McGovney could barely play the instrument

and you know that how?????? metallica doesn't have one recording with him on bass. there is no way you could prove this unless you've seen metallica around like 1982.

 

[TheHegemon]

and you know that how?????? metallica doesn't have one recording with him on bass. there is no way you could prove this unless you've seen metallica around like 1982.

There some demos floating around with him playing on them. Not that Im agreeing he sucked, I havent heard them but its possible someone could have heard him. Also theres some old school bassists on this board, not out of the realm of possibility someone saw them that far back

 

[JehuJava]

Which bass would they rename? The small mouth or the large mouth?

Influential, yes. But not anywhere near my top 1000 bassists.

 

[Korladis]

he's great,but i don't think there is a "best bassist ever".
problem with cliff is,his style isn't very bass like.so that makes it hard to compare him to other bassists.but it is a one of a kind style,and most other bassists cannot replicate it.
i mean,who can shred on a bass with just their fingers? i don't know anyone that can do that exactly.he is amazing in his own way though,probably not the "best" though.

Are you talking about his soloing style or his ensemble playing style? They're different.

His solos... I think sometimes he wanted his bass to be a pipe organ.