Jim Martin (musician)

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"Big" Jim Martin (born James Blanco Martin, on 21 July 1961, in Oakland, California)^[1] is an American guitarist best-known for his membership in the hard rock/metal group Faith No More from 1985 to late 1992. Martin also played guitar with the groups EZ-Street, Vicious Hatred, Agents of Misfortune, Recluse, and Pigs of Death.

Martin was known for his reverse mohawk hairstyle (adopted due to male pattern baldness), bushy beard, and trademark red-rimmed glasses that he wears alone or over another darker pair of glasses.

[edit] Faith No More

Martin joined Faith No More in 1983, two years after the group's formation. He played on their albums We Care a Lot, Introduce Yourself, their breakthrough album The Real Thing with new vocalist Mike Patton replacing Chuck Mosely, and Angel Dust.

Following Angel Dust, Martin left the group for reasons that remain uncertain. On his now-defunct website, Martin stated^{[citation needed]} The Real Thing was FNM's ideal album, both in the creative process and the touring afterwards. The musical about-face that the band took with Angel Dust, including the change in focus from guitars to vocals, did not sit well with Martin. The extent to which Martin did or did not contribute to song writing and recording on Angel Dust is a subject that the band has never clarified one way or the other, except to point out his heavy influence on the track "Jizzlobber." Martin was fired (by fax apparently) by the band on November 30, 1993, after seeing the rehearsals and compositions were not getting better. In fact, the band had recorded and released "Another Body Murdered" (with Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. for the Judgment Night soundtrack) without Martin's participation. Producer Matt Wallace later mentioned in The Real Story (a biographical book about Faith No More) that the death of Martin's father was a factor in the guitarist's departure.^[2]

On February 18 2009 Roadrunner Records^[3] announced that Martin would not be participating in the rumored Faith No More reunion tour. On February 23 2009, it was announced as part of a press release by Mike Patton that Faith No More would be reuniting for a string of European tour dates.^[4],^[5] On February 25, shortly after Patton's press release, Bill Gould announced a Faith No more reunion tour and identified the line-up, which excluded Martin.^[6]

[edit] Solo career

Martin's solo project was originally called "The Behemoth" but he changed the moniker after finding out about a Polish death metal band already named "Behemoth". His first and only solo album to date is entitled "Milk And Blood", on which he covers his former band's song "Surprise! You're Dead", from The Real Thing.

Jim toured as lead guitarist with punk band "Fang" between 1998 and 2000. He then recorded a track on the recording titled Conflict with Anand Bhatt under the name Bhatt/Martin.

[edit] Discography

[edit] As a band member

• Faith No More - We Care a Lot (1985)
• Faith No More - Introduce Yourself (1987)
• Faith No More - The Real Thing (1989)
• Faith No More - Angel Dust (1992)
• Voodoocult - Voodoocult (1995)
• The Behemoth - The Behemoth (1996)
• Jim Martin - Milk And Blood (1997)
• Anand Bhatt/Jim Martin - Conflict (2000)
• Fang - Fish and Vegetables (2000)

[edit] As a featured musician

• Die Krupps - The Final Remixes (1994) - "Crossfire (Remixed by Jim Martin)"
• Metallica - Garage Inc. (1998) - "Tuesday's Gone"
• Primus - Antipop (1999) - "Eclectic Electric"
• Flybanger - Headtrip to Nowhere (2001) - "Cavalry" and "When Are You (Gonna Die)?"
• Echobrain - Echobrain (2002)

[edit] Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (June 2007)

• Jim Martin is the record holder for having grown the 235th largest pumpkin ever, at 1,064 lbs.
• Jim Martin appeared in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey as "Sir James Martin, founder of the Faith No More Spiritual and Theological Center", in a futuristic world. Faith No More also appeared on the official soundtrack.
• Some wrestling fans have mistaken him for being a regular attendee at shows put on by the now defunct wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling. No proof exists of Martin ever attending an ECW show, but the fan in question was nicknamed "Faith No More Guy" by ECW workers due to the uncanny resemblance.
• Jim was a schoolmate, close friend and fan of the late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton. In the video for Faith No More's video for their song "Epic" he can be seen wearing a t-shirt with a photo of Cliff with the words 'A Tribute to Cliff Burton'.
• During the 80s he was part of the band "Spastik Children", a jamming band, other members included James Hetfield and Cliff Burton of Metallica.
• Lives in Castro Valley, California with his wife and son.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• Anand Bhatt and Jim Martin