In 1986, after the death of Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, Primus frontman Les Claypool was invited to audition for the band by his high school friend, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett. The group, however, ultimately chose Jason Newsted for the role.
In a new interview with The Guardian, Claypool admitted he underestimated Metallica’s momentum at the time and that he botched his audition with his laid-back approach.
“I didn’t know how popular they were,” he said. “We played a song or two and I said, ‘Hey, you guys want to jam on some Isley Brothers?’ Nobody laughed.”
Claypool shared the same story in a 2005 interview with Bass Player, adding that he realized very quickly that he wouldn’t be a good fit for Metallica.
“I can’t really remember what songs we played, but I didn’t fit in, that was really obvious,” he recalled. “I believe Lars said. ‘You’re not really used to this kind of music, are you?’ My first response was, goddamn, this is loud! And then I asked them if they wanted to jam on an Isley Brothers tune, just as a joke. which they didn’t think was very funny.”
“At the time I thought it would have been a fantastic, fun thing to do, but I’m incredibly glad it didn’t happen,” Claypool added.
In Metallica’s episode of “Behind the Music,” frontman James Hetfield gave a different reason for why they went in a different direction, saying of Claypool: “He was too good.”
When asked about Hetfield’s comments in a previous interview with Kerrang!, Claypool said: “No, it wasn’t that – I just didn’t fit in. I had a blonde Mohawk and baggy skater pants and two different colored tennis shoes – and this was back when they had long hair long hair and tight pants. I was talking to James a few years ago, and he’d said in this ‘Behind The Music’ documentary on Metallica that I was too good. I told him he was full of it, and thought I was a freak! That was why he didn’t want me! And he just laughed, because it was true. I wouldn’t have fit. They’re not dumb.”
