Robert Franklin Palmer Jr. (June 19, 1945 – November 20, 1997) was a 20th-century American writer, musicologist, clarinetist, saxophonist, and blues producer. Robert Palmer is best known for books he authored such as Deep Blues, his music journalism articles for The New York Times and Rolling Stone magazine, his work producing blues recordings and the soundtrack to the film Deep Blues, and his clarinet work in the 1960s band The Insect Trust. A collection of his work, titled Blues & Chaos: The Music Writing of Robert Palmer and edited by Anthony DeCurtis, was published by Simon & Schuster on November 10, 2009.