(drawing by Lukas Biel)
An icon of heavy metal, Metallica bassist Cliff Burton died all too young at just 24, but not before he made three amazing albums with the band, including the top-rated Master Of Puppets, an album that shows this band of young drunks to possess incredible talent and song-writing chops. The bassists from the bands Black Sabbath, Rush, Thin Lizzy and Motorhead, as well as jazz bassist Stanley Clarke were his biggest influences. Check out his bass work on "Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)" and "Orion" with Metallica.
Here's that classic tune from Master of Puppets, "Orion":
And I can never get enough of this great dual acoustic-guitar version by Rodrigo & Gabriela: