Moby Grape co-founder and guitarist Jerry Miller has died aged 81

nme.com:

Deadline, Eric Clapton once called Miller the “best guitar player in the world” during his first US tour in 1967 with Cream.The psychedelic rock band’s 1967 self-titled debut was a modest success upon release – over time, its stature grew with covers of its songs recorded by Robert Plant, Cat Power, R.E.M.’s 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 ‘8:05’ and ‘Naked, If I Want To’ were covered by Plant in 1993 and released as B-sides.

The latter was also covered by Power on her 2000 album ‘The Covers Record’.The band’s first tenure lasted briefly from 1966 to 1969.

During this period, they released three more albums: 1968’s double album ‘Wow/Grape Jam’, and 1969’s ‘Moby Grape ‘69’ and ‘Truly Fine Citizen’, 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. “The way I see it, I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” Miller told The Spectator in 2023. “I’ve still got my health and my music, and I still get to do what I most love for a living.