Cliff Burton died on September 27, 1986 12-miles north of Ljungby in Sweden. The world started to get word of his death days after; I heard on September 29th, which was a Monday. This was in the pre-internet era and news travelled a lot slower than it does now.
Cliff was killed when Metallica’s tour bus lost control and tipped on its side. He was killed in what could be considered a series of ironic fate-driven events: he happened to win the “nicest” bunk in a game of cards that night, the window happened to have a broken latch, and he happened to fall out of the bus as it tipped on its side.
There’s speculation that he was still alive after the crash but while trying to lift the bus with a crane, it fell and killed him at that moment. The driver disappeared shortly after and was never seen or heard from again.
This was a terrible terrible tragedy and I personally think the beginning of the fade of the thrash metal scene in San Francisco; the musical equivalent of losing a project linchpin at a critical, defining moment.
Without his stubborn drive, energy, and charisma, the life force that fed the music scene in San Francisco changed; it became less supercharged as creativity languished for many years after. It seemed less invincible.
The spot where Cliff died is 12-miles north of Ljungby in Sweden; there’s a memorial stone that fans recently put on the side of the road to denote the spot. From Stockholm, the memorial is a 4-hour drive South. From Copenhagen, it is a 2-hour drive North.
Back in California, hidden behind the playground at Marshall Elementary in Castro Valley where he and his family lived, there is another memorial to Cliff, his brother Scott, and others who were students or teachers at the school.
In 1975, 16-year old Scott died of a brain aneurism and some have said that his death was the catalyst behind Cliff’s desire to be a musician.
I visited the site to pay my respects. Cliff’s memorial stone was clear and free of debris while others were covered with tree foliage. It was not lost on me that even 28-years after Cliff’s death people still come to the site to remember him.
RIP Cliff. As the stone says: Thank you for your beautiful music.
There is no grave. Cliff Burton was cremated and his ashes scattered in a private location near Maxwell Ranch. The location is fairly obscure, difficult to find, and dangerous during certain times of the year.
The photos below of Cliff and the band come from magazines that were sold between 1985 and 1986.
What makes the location dangerous during sometimes of the year? Is it just the weather and ice on the road? Thanks!
I believe the reference refers to Maxwell Ranch where Cliff’s ashes were spread. Maxwell Ranch is an isolated spot in Solano County California (roughly an hour or so north of Castro Valley where Cliff grew up. Cliff and other musicians(Jim Martin of Faith No More) would road trip to the ranch to jam music, drink beer and raise hell. Read “To Live Is To Die” by McIver.
Oddly, Ray Burton says Maxwell Ranch is in Glenn County, not Solano. It is actually difficult to find anything specific about that place online.
«Cliff, Jim, Dave, and Lou spent a lot of time up at the Maxwell Ranch in Glenn County; it’s about two hundred miles north [of San Francisco]. For Jim and Cliff it was a way to unwind from the business and all of the scheduling and recording. They had some pretty wild times up there.» Ray Burton.
Matt Taylor, Metallica: Back to the Front: A Fully Authorized Visual History of the Master of Puppets Album and Tour, Simon and Schuster, 2016, p.128.
«Maxwell is a [Martin] family hunting cabin on about six hundred acres in the foothills. It’s a twenty-five by twenty-five room: no electricity, no running water. We’d run a few lights off the car battery, fire up the gas generator for the stereo and amps, then jam all night: me, Dave, Lou, Cliff—sometimes James.» Jim Martin.
Matt Taylor, Metallica: Back to the Front: A Fully Authorized Visual History of the Master of Puppets Album and Tour, Simon and Schuster, 2016, p.128.
sorry for the late reply, but the driver told james they hit black ice, but upon further inspection of the road, there was no black ice at all. personally I think he addicentaly fell asleep on the weel and lost control. thats why he dissapeared.