METALLICA – 1982 “Helpless” Rehearsal Demo

Having first been released in ’94 via a collaboration between KNAC and Ron McGovney, a number of demos were debuted during the CLASSIC and ORIGINAL Mandatory Metallica show on 105.5 KNAC. They did a whole week with Ron McGovney in the studio and some of these gems were played on the air. Pat O’Connor, one of the DJ’s from the Mandatory show, had his hand in putting out numerous Silver Bootleg CD’s and promptly released Sucking My Love between ’94 and ’95 and then released Things That Should Not Be in late ’95.

TMD’s creator, Randy “Rocket” Cody, has remastered the second track “Helpless”, a Diamond Head cover, one of eight tracks in the collection, which were originally recorded between March & April of 1982 in Downey, CA, during rehearsals in Ron McGovney’s garage.

Listen to the historic recording below!!

On December 10, 1982, after nearly a year as Metallica’s bass player, Ron McGovney quit the band. McGovney later explained that it was due to the fact that guitarist Dave Mustaine got really drunk and poured his beer all over McGovney’s bass. Nobody said anything to him, and when he went to go plug it in to start jamming he was electrocuted.

The animosity between McGovney and Mustaine continues all these years later, for Dave himself fails to mention Ron in any interviews when speaking of first joining Metallica. Keep in mind, Ron and James Hetfield had played together prior in a garage band called Leather Charm. McGovney himself addressed the ugly feud on his Official Facebook page in 2012:

“I really don’t understand why a certain former lead guitar player of a band that I played bass in still disses me in interviews. Saying that they were a ‘three-piece’ is just ridiculous. He can minimize my contribution to the band all he wants. Sometimes he doesn’t even mention my name. What he needs to realize is that he came to MY garage to try out for this band. The first song he learned was a song that the singer and I had already played in a previous band. He even got kicked out of the band when I was still a member, even though it only lasted a couple of days. I wish he would just tell the whole story if he is going to talk about that part of his career.”

Both McGovney and Mustaine shared the stage together while performing with Metallica during the band’s last 30th Anniversary show in San Francisco.

METALLICA March/April 1982 Rehearsal Lineup:

James Hetfield – Vocals (No Guitar)
Dave Mustaine – Guitar
Ron McGovney – Bass
Lars Ulrich – Drums

https://metallica.com/