"Big" Jim Martin
| James B. Martin | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | James Blanco Martin |
| Born |
July 21, 1961 Oakland, California, United States |
| Genres | Alternative metal, funk metal, heavy metal, thrash metal |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar, bass, vocals, banjo |
| Years active | 1979–2002, 2011, 2013, 2014 |
| Associated acts | Agents of Misfortune, EZ-Street, Fang, Faith No More, Infectious Grooves, Pigs of Death, Recluse, Spastik Children, The Chickenfuckers, Vicious Hatred, Voodoocult, Metallica |
James Blanco Martin (born July 21, 1961, in Oakland, California), known professionally as Big Jim Martin, is an American guitarist best known for his membership in the rock band Faith No More from 1983 to late 1993. Martin also played guitar with the groups EZ-Street, Vicious Hatred, Agents of Misfortune, Recluse, and Pigs of Death.
Martin was known for his long hair, bushy beard, and trademark red-rimmed glasses that he wears alone or over another darker pair of glasses.
In the early '80s Martin was playing guitar in thrash band Vicious Hatred. During the 80s he was an on-off member of the jamming band Spastik Children, also featuring schoolmate and close friend Cliff Burton, and other members of Metallica.
Martin joined Faith No More in 1983, four 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 the release of Angel Dust, Martin left the group for reasons that remain unknown. On his now-defunct website, Martin statedThe Real Thing was FNM's ideal album, both in the creative process and the touring afterward. 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 songwriting and recording on Angel Dust is a subject that the band for years never directly addressed, except to recognize his major influence on the track "Jizzlobber."
In an October 2016 PopMatters interview with Faith No More bassist Billy Gould, Gould addressed the controversy head on about whether studio musicians or Martin played on Angel Dust:
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