Moby Grape co-founder and guitarist Jerry Miller has died aged 81
Moby Grape co-founder and guitarist Jerry Miller has died at age 81.
Yesterday (July 21), a member of the Facebook fan group for Moby Grape shared the news in a public post.
âSadly, I have to relate that Jerry Miller passed away last night,â wrote the member. They added that Millerâs partner Jo Johnson and his family are âasking for everyone to please give them some privacy and respectâ and that she asked for people to âcease phone calls for the time beingâ. No other information has been given about Miller’s passing.
Members of the group then shared text messages from Jo, who told the groupâs members to âflood the Ether with Jerry Millerâs musicâ and to âplay it all day long for me and himâ.
Miller formed the San Francisco-based Moby Grape in 1966 alongside guitarists Peter Lewis and Skip Spence, the latter of whom has since inspired a cult following with his only solo album, 1969âs âOarâ, the same year he left Moby Grape. Per Deadline, Eric Clapton once called Miller the âbest guitar player in the worldâ during his first US tour in 1967 with Cream.
The psychedelic rock bandâs 1967 self-titled debut was a modest success upon release â over time, its stature grew with covers of its songs recorded by Robert Plant, Cat Power, R.E.M.âs Michael Stipe, with Rolling Stone awarding it one of 500 greatest albums of all time at Number 121 in 2003.
The Miller-written Moby Grape songs â8:05â and âNaked, If I Want Toâ were covered by Plant in 1993 and released as B-sides. The latter was also covered by Power on her 2000 album âThe Covers Recordâ.
The bandâs first tenure lasted briefly from 1966 to 1969. During this period, they released three more albums: 1968âs double album âWow/Grape Jamâ, and 1969âs âMoby Grape â69â and âTruly Fine Citizenâ, the latter two exhibiting a shift towards a country rock-oriented sound.
Over the next few decades, the band would disband and reunite on several occasions from the 1970s to the 1990s, with its members Spence and Bob Moseley battling mental illness and drug addiction. Their final reunion happened in 2007 with a one-off concert featuring Miller, Moseley, and Lewis, along with drummer Don Stevenson.
The band’s tumultuous career didn’t faze Miller. âThe way I see it, Iâm the luckiest guy in the world,â Miller told The Spectator in 2023. âIâve still got my health and my music, and I still get to do what I most love for a living. Maybe the Grape were screwed, but so what? If you havenât been ripped off, you havenât been in the music business.â
Moby Grape’s last album was 1989âs âLegendary Grapeâ, which was originally issued on cassette tape in limited quantities before being remastered and re-released on compact disc in 2003.
Miller released four solo albums independently: 1993âs âNow I Seeâ, 1995âs âLife Is Like Thatâ, 1998âs âLive at Coleâsâ and 2000âs âRunninâ the Trainâ, all of which are currently unavailable on streaming platforms.
In a 2021 interview with The Seattle Times, Miller revealed that he and the bandâs surviving members were open to reuniting once more. âWe sometimes talk about getting together again, but the whole COVID business hasnât helped,â he said.
Musician Bill Cutler shared a tribute to Miller on Facebook. âHearing Moby Grape’s amazing debut album in 1967 was the reason I decided to move to San Francisco as a young songwriter,â he wrote. âWe spent some wonderful times together when he lived in Santa Cruz. I will miss him for the rest of my days. He was a giant and this is a huge loss for music.â
The post Moby Grape co-founder and guitarist Jerry Miller has died aged 81 appeared first on NME.
Moby Grape co-founder and guitarist Jerry Miller has died aged 81
Moby Grape co-founder and guitarist Jerry Miller has died aged 81
Moby Grape co-founder and guitarist Jerry Miller has died aged 81
Moby Grape co-founder and guitarist Jerry Miller has died aged 81
Moby Grape co-founder and guitarist Jerry Miller has died aged 81
Play online games for free at games.easybranches.com
Guest Post Services www.easybranches.com/contribute