Jerry Miller, influential Moby Grape guitarist who Eric Clapton called the “best guitar player in the world”, has died aged 81

Jerry Miller, Moby Grape co-founder and guitarist and one of the most influential guitarists in San Francisco's ’60s music scene, died Sunday at age 81 in Tacoma, Washington.

His grandson, Cody, confirmed the news to Rolling Stone after reporter Eric Brenner first broke the news on the Moby Grape Facebook fan page. No immediate cause of death was given.

“Sadly, Jerry Miller passed away last night,” said the post. “Jo [Johnson, Miller's partner] and the family are asking for everyone to please give them some privacy and respect, and Jo asked that people cease phone calls for the time being. Thank you.”

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Members of the group then shared messages from Johnson, who encouraged fans to “flood the Ether with Jerry Miller’s music” and to “play it all day long for me and him”.

Miller was born in Tacoma in 1943 and honed his skills in the same Pacific Northwest music scene as Jimi Hendrix, who was also his friend since his teenage years. In the late 1950s, he was playing and recording with Northwest dance-rock bands like The Frantics, even recording an early version of I Fought the Law by The Bobby Fuller Four.

By 1966, Miller was living in San Francisco. Together with his Frantics bandmate Don Stevenson, he formed the nucleus of what would later become Moby Grape, with the addition of bassist Bob Mosley. The Grape formed part of San Fran's thriving psych music scene, fusing elements of rock, blues, pop, folk, and country.

The band broke up in 1969. During their tenure, they toured the US and Europe, recorded four albums with Columbia Records, and released some of their best-known songs, including Hey Grandma (1967), 8.05 (1967), and Murder In My Heart for The Judge (1968).

Over time, some of the Grape's songs were covered by Robert Plant, R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, the Black Crowes, Three Dog Night, and Lee Michaels. A fifth album was recorded during a short-lived reunion in 1971, with further reunion albums released in the ’80s.

“Moby Grape was really bigger than the sum of its parts,” drummer Stevenson told The Seattle Times. “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.”

After Moby Grape, Miller went on to form The Rhythm Dukes with Stevenson, and were on the same bill as The Grateful Dead, Canned Heat, and Albert Collins, among others.

After the group disbanded, Miller went on to share the stage with Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, the Doors, and B.B. King, with Clapton even calling him the “best guitar player in the world”. Robert Plant even cited him as one of Led Zeppelin’s influences.

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In 2003, Miller was ranked 68th on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. The publication stated, “His playing was never self-indulgent, and his soloing was propulsive, always aware of where the song was headed.”

Miller returned to Tacoma in 1995, where he actively played and sang with The Jerry Miller Band, and was involved in the local community.

In a 2023 career-spanning interview with The Spectator, Miller said, “The way I see it, I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I’ve 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 haven’t been ripped off, you haven’t been in the music business.”