“Metallica is nearly equal to Ozzy in terms of the respect factor – not all the way, but nearly”: When Jason Newsted swapped bands with Robert Trujillo

Metallica fans of a certain age will recall Jason Newsted's arrival in October 1986, when he was recruited to fill the huge boots of Cliff Burton. As current bassist Robert Trujillo told Bass Player: “Cliff was very aggressive, very melodic, and a busier player, but there’s an art to simplicity, and Jason brought that art.”

After one too many disputes with the other band members, Newsted called it a day in 2001, following 15 years with the thrash metal giants, and was eventually replaced by Trujillo in 2003.

Having played with Suicidal Tendencies, Jerry Cantrell's solo band, Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society and a seven-year stint with Ozzy Osbourne prior to joining – Trujillo was well prepared for life in Metallica.

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“I think he's the best choice they could have possibly made,” Newsted told Bass Player in 2003. “Robert is solid and musical; he knows his shit and his style is very strong. He's got a big heart and a good family. All of those things are important to be able to put up with something as huge as the Metallica entity, and he's got what it takes.

“As a fan I wasn't sure Metallica would be able to come out and be a force again, but now that they have Robert, I think they will. If Robert and James can click the way I think they can, they could be a huge, huge thing.”

As fate would have it, just a few weeks after Metallica announced that Trujillo had emerged at the top of the audition heap, Ozzy Osbourne made his own proclamation, announcing Jason Newsted as his new bassist.

Newsted was officially welcomed with a press event at 3rd Encore Studios in North Hollywood, where the band powered through Black Sabbath’s War Pigs, and three Osbourne hits, Believer, No More Tears and the classic Crazy Train.

At the end of a busy press conference fielding questions like, “How does it feel to play with a metal icon?" and “Who in the band drinks the most?” Newsted sat down to talk to Bass Player about music – and the new page in his career.

When you found out about joining Ozzy's band, was it a surprise?

“Totally. I didn't put it all together until Sharon Osbourne called me. Mike Bordin and I have been friends for years – he was one of Cliff Burton's best friends – so I got Ozzy's setlists for the last two tours, figured out the tunings they were using live, and made a tape with 13 tunes – six Sabbath songs and the rest Ozzy.”

“I did everything that I had heard you're supposed to do, or that I had done before, to get a gig. I played until I could not play anymore. The flesh on my fingertips was actually cracking; it got down to the nerve, and the pain was shooting up my arm. That's when I'd stop. But I'd sleep with the headphones on, with my work tape playing on repeat.

“When I'd take 30 minutes to eat something, I'd watch old Sabbath videos. So I was literally living, breathing, eating, and sleeping Ozzy for eight days. It was full-on preparation – just like what I did with Metallica. When the day came, I felt pretty good about everything.”

So you didn't consider it an audition?

“The guys told me it wasn't an audition and that I was already in the band, and Ozzy had already mentioned it in a radio interview. But that didn't stop me.

“First I played with just Zakk and Mike. I had all the songs I'd learned written on a list, and I had pinpointed my questions: ‘Zakk, how does this resolve, what is that note.’ I got all those things tight, and we jammed for a while.

“Then Ozzy came in. I wanted him to be able to point to any one of those songs on the list and for me to be able to just knock it out. He picked five of the tunes, and from the first bit of Paranoid, when I began playing, he started bouncing around the room.

“He made a couple of comments in between songs; I didn't talk much. After the fifth tune he said, ‘If you want a job, you've got it.' And I said, ‘Yes, Oz, I want it. Wherever you want me to be, I'll be there.’”

How much freedom will Ozzy afford you in the band?

“In the first three minutes that I spoke to him on the phone, he was already talking about writing songs together, which pretty much freaked me out. Black Sabbath is my all-time favorite band, and it has been ever since I started playing.

“They influenced me so much that with every riff I wrote for Metallica or anyone else, the guys would always say, 'We can't play that – it sounds too much like Sabbath’ – or, 'Nice ripoff.' Now, those riffs I write will fit.”

With Ozzy will you be playing 4-strings, 5’s, or both?

“Usually I play a Sadowsky 5-string, though I have one new 4-string that I like a lot. As I start figuring out the songs a bit more and see exactly what they're going to play, things will change.

“If I can get away with some of the Sabbath stuff on a 4-string, I'll do it. But for the Ozzy stuff I want the 5 so I can put my own signature on the tunes. I want to make all those old songs new again, but still get what Geezer Butler did in there.”

You were branching out into things like fretless towards the end of your Metallica career. How will this shift affect your development as a musician?

“I haven't played fretless in a long time. My groove is more toward sounds and production now. Again, I need to pay justice to something that's already been done – I'm stepping into a situation where some cool bass players have been. I mean, Rudy Sarzo... whatever, right? But Bob Daisley – fantastic. Geezer Butler – number one. That's big, and they're much bigger shoes to fill than Cliff Burton’s.

“Ozzy hasn't really had a high-profile bassist before. A lot of guys became more famous after playing with Ozzy, but none was really established when they came in. In my eyes, Metallica is nearly equal to Ozzy in terms of the respect factor and accomplishments – not all the way, but nearly.”

Do you have any idea why you've now been picked to play in two of the world's elite metal bands?

“I ask myself, ‘Why does this happen to me?’ There are a lot of bassists out there who can play circles around me. But have they developed a style? Do they have personality? Do they have what it takes to be in the big leagues? I like to think I got this call because of the good energy I spread around.”

“And like I always did with Metallica, I want to make sure I say hello to the fans. They might have something they've been wanting to say to you for 10 years, and they get one minute with you and they finally spew it out – and it's the most sincere thing and just knocks you down.

“The guys who have been around the longest are the coolest guys – the ones who'd be the first to embrace you. It took B.B. King 90 seconds to embrace me and tell me about his family. Eric Clapton – the second time he met me, he called me by my name, and I just about dropped to my knees. It's the same with Ozzy.

“For someone who's been through that much, what does he have to prove? So I'll push myself to make it happen. Whatever he asks of me, I'll be there for him.”