An Appreciation of Robert Martin

Five essential performances

Robert Martin with Banned From Utopia, Montgomery, NY, July 30, 2024. Photo by me.

As I’m sure some of you know, Robert Martin, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire, recently had a serious health scare. While I will not dwell on the details here, there are efforts being made to raise some money on his behalf, through the medium of Facebook (you can also find them via Google), and needless to say we wish Robert all the best as he recovers from this deeply unfortunate situation.

It could well be that most of you who subscribed to this Substack have met Robert somewhere along the line. Not only did he play with Frank Zappa from 1981 to 1988, but since 1994, Robert has been a fixture of various assemblies of Zappa alumni bands and other tribute groups. When on the road, Robert has always been a very positive figure, eager to meet fans, and generally be just about the nicest guy you could possibly meet. For me personally, Robert has been unfailingly kind in giving me his time over the years, including an interview for the ZappaCast. He could talk endlessly about music and his other passion, staying fit and healthy, something that I certainly could pay some heed to (I do not believe that his current medical issues should throw any shade on his proselytizing of health and fitness, I think sometimes, shit happens).

This past summer, the latest incarnation of the Zappa alumni Banned From Utopia swung through the East Coast again, giving audiences everywhere a chance to admire Roberts, breathtaking musicianship, which has not significantly dimmed even at age 77. To think that he may be sidelined for any length of time is just tragic, but if anybody can pull himself back to 100%, it is Robert Martin.

For this week, I thought I would write about some of my favorite performances of Robert’s, and highlights some of the musical brilliance that he brought to the Zappa band. For the purposes of this article, we’re going to focus on Robert’s years with Frank, though there is plenty of brilliance in the years that followed.

Robert Martin was born on June 29, 1948 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As I’m sure many of you know, Robert was the son of two opera singer parents, which should come as absolutely no surprise when one considers his staggering vocal range. It was classical music (and notably Igor Stravinsky) that caught his attention early on, but like every young man in the early 60s, he was also exposed to early rock and roll, jazz, The Beatles, et al in his formative years. Growing up in Philadelphia meant that he got a chance to see the birth and development of blue-eyed soul close up, and much like Frank Zappa‘s compositional style, these elements were randomly synthesized by Robert into a musical whole.

After graduating from Philly’s Curtis Institute Of Music, Robert became a session musician, and spent the 1970s playing with the likes of Billy Paul, the O’Jays and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. In the process, he appeared on a number of hit records, and became pretty adept at playing in just about any style, just like any good session musician should. He also did a great deal of work with Etta James, and some of their performances together are very much worth tracking down. Check out the piano underpinning Etta’s vocal on this cover of the Eagles’ “Take It To The Limit”:

Overwhelming marvelosity on all fronts.

In 1981, Robert was tipped off by a road crew tech friend of his named Dave Robb that Frank Zappa was looking for a musician to join the latest incarnation of his road band. The very next day, Robert got the audition, that was led through a series of typically complex technical challenges by Frank. As fate would have it, it was his voice –– a truly superhuman voice, particularly in the history of Zappa bands, that would land him the gig. Robert would become a fixture of the band up until Frank’s last rock shows in 1988.

Now, with that very brief bio out of the way, I’d like to hip you to five performances of Robert’s that I think are absolutely essential. He was capable of greatness on any night, and very typically delivered that greatness. So this list could be 500 performances, but I think five will do. For now. These would be my top five performances that come immediately to mind when I think of Robert Martin.

1. Bamboozled By Love (Palladium, NYC October 31, 1981 (late show)

I couldn’t really decide between this one and the version of “Teenage Prostitute” from the early show on this date, but I’ll settle for this one in this case because it’s one of my favorite FZ songs. We’ve heard Ray White, Denny Walley and Ike Willis take this one on, but I’m a huge fan of Robert’s vocal here. The vamp is the original slow, menacing model, which is another big plus for me.

2. Zomby Woof (Parco Redecesio, Milan, Italy July 7, 1982 with a guitar solo from Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK June 19, 1982 (late show))

My favorite arrangement of this song would be the 1982 arrangement. Steve Vai’s guitar work is stunning, but Robert’s vocal is simply otherworldly.

3. A Pound For A Brown On The Bus (PalaEUR, Rome, Italy, June 7, 1988)

Robert is somewhat underrated as a soloist in my book, but this particular rendition, performed at one of the last ever Frank Zappa rock concerts, sees Robert rip a most impressive jazzy keyboard workout.

4. Any Kind Of Pain (Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA, February 12, 1988, Warner Theatre, Washington, DC, February 9, 1988, Music Hall, Cleveland, OH, March 5, 1988 and Falkoner Teatret, Copenhagen, Denmark, April 25, 1988)

Need I say more? Robert’s “big ol’ cadenza” is, for me, one of the most memorable moments in Zappa live history. Frank is happy to acknowledge this particular effort.

5. Whipping Post (Pier 84, New York, NY, August 26, 1984)

And of course, the classic. Maybe Robert’s signature Zappa vocal performance. I’m going to ignite some debate here and say that Robert’s performance on this edges out Gregg Allman’s legendary soulful vocal.

While there is clearly not a lot of unusual stuff here, this is sort of a primer, particularly for those of you who are not well acquainted yet with the magnificent of Robert Martin. You could pick just about any show that he has done over the years, and come out of it with some brilliant performances.

Here is hoping that Robert makes a speedy recovery, so that we can enjoy his music for years to come!

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