Ron McGovney (born November 2, 1963,
Los Angeles, California) is an American musician most notable for being
Metallica's first
bass player when they formed in the early 1980s. He was replaced by
Cliff Burton. Ron McGovney was reportedly often bullied by lead guitarist
Dave Mustaine, who poured beer on his bass contributing to an electric shock which McGovney described as "causing him to fly across the room". After leaving Metallica, McGovney was disillusioned with music and sold most of his equipment. However, several years later, he was enticed into another band called Phantasm, whose only album he contributed to. He then left Phantasm after a couple of years of unsuccessful music. McGovney is of
Scottish descent.
Metallica
At the time James and Ron were in a band called
Leather Charm with guitar player Hugh Tanner. Tanner later decided that he wanted to pursue music management, and left the band. James and Ron then met guitarist Troy James and drummer Jim Mulligan, the latter of whom left the band shortly afterward. Soon James, Ron and Lars brought guitarist
Dave Mustaine into the band and Metallica was officially born.
Though McGovney was the bass player for the band, his time with the band was reportedly not enjoyable. He and Ulrich frequently clashed for a variety of reasons during their stint. Further, McGovney and Mustaine had similar incidents
. McGovney's sentiments were he was being used more as "monetary management and transportation" than being respected for being a member of the band. Due to this, McGovney was quickly growing tired of acting as unofficial manager.
On October 18th, 2009 at a Metallica concert in Charlotte North Carolina, James dedicated Phantom Lord to Ron McGovney, who was in attendance that evening. He wasn't asked on stage to perform.
Departure
McGovney recorded several
demos with Metallica including one from his own garage in 1982, the
Power Metal Demo,
No Life 'Til Leather and the notable live demo
Metal Up Your Ass. "
Hit The Lights" was a song that eventually went on the
Metal Massacre Vol. 1 album.
Reportedly, Hetfield and Mustaine were of the opinion that McGovney "didn't contribute anything, he just followed."
Ron has two sons, Justin and Tyler.
