Moby Grape was a key part of the ’60s San Francisco revolution, melding psychedelia with the earliest vestiges of country-rock. Even Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin were avid Grape fans. Despite the pioneering music, the quintet became more famous for its spectacular downfall than actual career.
On lead guitar, Jerry Miller – who died on July 20 at age 81 – proved a notch above many Bay Area players, his blues licks sounding more akin to British hotshots than oft-noodly locals. Miller’s pre-Grape adventures found him working with singer Bobby Fuller (cutting an early version of “I Fought the Law”), The Frantics, and jamming in jazz-organ trios with his trademark Gibson L-5 archtop, which he dubbed Beulah. Young Jerry also befriended fellow Washington-state guitarists, Jimi Hendrix and Larry Coryell.
After relocating to San Francisco, Miller appeared on the Grape’s acclaimed self-titled debut album and played the Monterey Pop Festival in June of ’67. Album tracks “Omaha,” the rockin’ “Hey Grandma,” and “8:05” remain classics, the latter rife with impressive acoustic fingerpicking. For rock and roll fury, “Fall on You” is lit by Miller’s smokin’ solo. Moby Grape also had a rare three-guitar lineup influenced by the Byrds. Jerry later told puremusic.com, “The Byrds were the first band that I heard that made me say, ‘Hey, I could play with other guitar players.’”
A victim of its own bad decisions, mismanagement, and drugs, Moby Grape fractured and reunited several times; later, Miller played with the Rhythm Dukes and Jerry Miller Band. Describing his guitar work, Grape drummer Don Stevenson told Christopher Sandford of The Seattle Times, “Moby Grape was really bigger than the sum of its parts. Everyone was superbly proficient, maybe Jerry Miller most of all. There was something magnificent about both him and his music. If John Wayne had played the guitar, he would have sounded like Jerry did.”
This article originally appeared in VG’s October 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
