Ex-Metallica Bassist Says Kirk Hammett And Cliff Burton Walked Into A Band That Had Their First Album Ready
Former Metallica bassist recently shared his thoughts on Metallica’s ‘Kill ‘Em All’ and revealed that when Cliff Burton and Kirk Hammet joined the band, Metallica’s first album was ready.
Ron McGovney was in the original lineup of Metallica as their bassist from October 1981 to December 1982. Before joining Metallica, he was in the band Leather Charm, which he co-founded with James Hetfield. He often came into conflict with Lars Ulrich and Dave Mustaine which resulted in him leaving the band in 1982. Cliff Burton soon took McGovney’s place, and McGovney left the music scene and sold most of his equipment.
After a long hiatus, in late 2011, McGovney performed on stage with Metallica, Mustaine, and Lloyd Grant for the first time in 23 years. Following that, in December 2013, he collaborated with Mustaine’s band Megadeth for a cover of Thin Lizzy’s ‘Cold Sweat.’
Despite leaving Metallica, McGovney still gets along with his former bandmates and shares his Metallica-related stories on social media. Recently, he replied to a tweet by Metal Up Your Podcast. In the tweet, the podcast celebrated the album ‘Ride The Lightning’s birthday and claimed that the leap of ‘Ride The Lightning’ from ‘Kill ‘Em All’ in less than a year is one of the most staggering leaps in metal history.
Upon seeing this, McGovney replied saying that it is more than a year as ‘Kill ‘Em All’ has all of the songs from ‘No Life Til Leather.’ He then said ‘Kill ‘Em All’ was written in his garage in 1982, and that they played ‘Whiplash’ and ‘No Remorse’ on stage during his time. He then went on to say that Cliff and Kirk walked into a band that already had their first album written and played their songs live many times.
Metal Up Your Podcast’s tweet was:
“The jump from ‘Kill ‘Em All’ to ‘Ride The Lightning’ in less than a year is one of the most staggering leaps in songwriting/execution in all of metal. Happy birthday to Clint’s all-time favorite Metallica album, ‘Ride the Lightning’!”
McGovney replied to the tweet, saying:
“It’s more than a year considering all of the songs from ‘No Life Til Leather’ are on ‘Kill ‘Em All.’ Except for a couple of bridges and lyric changes. We played ‘Whiplash’ and ‘No Remorse’ live when I was in the band. Besides the bass solo, ‘Kill ‘Em All’ was written in my garage in 1982.”
He then continued:
“But let’s be honest… Cliff and Kirk walked into a band where the first album was already written and the songs had been played live many times.”
Below are the tweets posted by McGovney.
It's more than a year considering all of the songs from No Life Til Leather are on Kill em All. Except for a couple of bridges and lyric changes. We played Whiplash and No Remorse live when I was in the band. Besides the bass solo , Kill em All was written in my garage in 1982.
— Ron McGovney (@RonMcGovney) July 27, 2021
But let's be honest….Cliff and Kirk walked into a band where the first album was already written and the songs had been played live many times.
— Ron McGovney (@RonMcGovney) July 28, 2021
