Steve Doherty was Cliff's bass teacher from September 1978 to January of 1980.
Steve introduced Cliff to styles ranging from Classical to Jazz.
"He was a good student, very focused."
"He knew what he wanted."
"He was a kind of student who always came in with the lesson prepared, which is not all that common."
"We did a number of different rhythm studies."
"I can hear some of the odd metered rhythms we studied in his playings."
"I had many serious students, but Cliff had that rare inner drive to get out and do something about his music."
"I can't take credit for that; it was already there even when I taught him".
"Cliff was responsible for a lot of the things that happened between 'Kill 'Em All' and 'Ride The Lightning'."
"I think the biggest maturity or change or growth was between 'Kill 'Em All' and 'Ride The Lightning', and most of that was down to the fact that all the songs on 'Kill 'Em All' were written before Cliff and Kirk were in the band."
"So when Cliff and Kirk joined, especially Cliff, Cliff really exposed me and James to a whole new musical horizon of harmonies and melodies, just a whole new kind of thing, and obviously that's something that greatly influenced our song writing abilities on 'Master Of Puppets' and '...And Justice for All'."
"It's something that's still with us, so from that point of view I'd obviously say 'yes' (to the notion that Cliff's influence on the band is still strong)."
"On the '...Justice...' album there were still some bits left over from some of Cliff's old tapes and stuff, so I mean, Cliff was with us really up through '...Justice...'."
"On this album ('Metallica') there aren't any specific, direct things that I can think of, but the whole way that me and James write songs together, I mean, that was shaped when Cliff was in the band, and was very much shaped around Cliff's musical input; the way he really taught us about harmonies and melodies and that kind of stuff."
"I mean, I don't want to sound corny, but his vibe is always with us, and he was certainly a big part of the whole way that we got our chops together in the early days, about our attitudes and our musical vibe and our everything." "He was a great part of the way Metallica has turned out, even after he is no longer with us."
Lars Ulrich, February 1992
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