Moby Grape’s debut album
Jerry Miller, the lead guitarist in the 1960s San Francisco band Moby Grape, has died, according to the band’s Facebook page, which states that Miller’s death has been confirmed by his wife Jo. The post stated that Miller passed this morning (July 21, 2024) in his hometown of Tacoma, Wash., but did not mention a cause of death. Miller turned 81 on July 10.
Watch Moby Grape perform “Hey Grandma” at the Monterey Pop Festival
Born in Tacoma, Miller played with local rock bands in the Pacific Northwest beginning in the late ’50s and for a while with Bobby Fuller, before the latter scored with his hit record “I Fought the Law.” While living in Seattle in the ’60s, Miller befriended such other rising-star guitarists as Jimi Hendrix and Larry Coryell.
The genesis of Moby Grape came about in 1966 when Miller and drummer Don Stevenson were members of a Seattle band called the Frantics. After relocating to San Francisco at the suggestion of Jerry Garcia, the two musicians teamed up with bassist Bob Mosley and two other guitarists, Peter Lewis and Alexander “Skip” Spence, the latter having recently left Jefferson Airplane, for which he served as drummer.
Columbia Records promotional photo, 1967. (L. to R.): Skip Spence, Jerry Miller, Bob Mosley, Peter Lewis, Don Stevenson (From the band’s Wikipedia page)
With all five members contributing vocals and songwriting, the band, christened Moby Grape after the punch line of a then-popular riddle, signed a management contract with Matthew Katz, who had occupied the same position with the Airplane. While Katz was able to arrange a recording contract for the band with Columbia Records, the management arrangement quickly soured and led to a decades-long dispute that would not only spell the end of the band but give Katz ownership of their name and music. The Moby Grape-Katz saga is often cited as one of the most toxic management arrangements in rock history.
Related: More about Moby Grape’s twisted legal saga
Before things deteriorated, however, Moby Grape was able to release one of the most highly regarded debut albums of the era, a self-titled effort that highlighted their three-guitar lineup and varied vocal approaches. To complicate their problems though, Columbia released five singles drawn from the album simultaneously, with their B-sides also taken from the LP. The stunt backfired, making promotion virtually impossible by pitting the singles against one another, ensuring that none would become a hit. One track, “Omaha,” peaked at #88 in Billboard, but the others never cracked the top 100. The album itself, however, rose to #24 based on positive reviews and radio airplay.
Moby Grape also built a reputation as a solid live act (often compared to L.A.’s Buffalo Springfield) and was a hit at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival (Katz kept them out of the film after reportedly demanding a million dollars for their appearance in it, a request that was soundly ignored), as well as at concert appearances in San Francisco and elsewhere. Robert Plant later covered the ballad “8:05” from the album.
This ad for their debut LP appeared in the July 1, 1967, issue of Record World
The band followed the debut in 1968 with Wow, which came with a bonus LP titled Grape Jam, and that album fared better than the first in Billboard, reaching #20. But again there were no hit singles, although one song, “Murder in My Heart for the Judge,” gained some traction and was covered by Three Dog Night and Lee Michaels.
Listen to the ballad “8:05” from Moby Grape’s debut, as performed on The Mike Douglas Show
By 1969 Moby Grape, despite having released two more albums, Moby Grape ’69 and Truly Fine Cirizen, dissolved due to the legal disarray as well as substance abuse problems plaguing some of the members. They would reunite on occasion for live performances and recordings, but most often were forced to use other band names due to Katz’s ongoing legal challenges. The band finally regained the rights to its name in 2006, four decades after forming. (Spence died in 1999; Katz died in 2023.)
Miller returned to Tacoma in 1995 and worked with his own Jerry Miller Band as well as with other outfits. He recorded three solo albums: Now I See (1993), Life is Like That (1995) and Live at Cole’s (1998)
In 2003, Rolling Stone named Miller the #68 greatest guitarist of all time.
Moby Grape recordings are available here.
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2 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationIt’s a sin and a shame how many black and white musicians were talked out of their publishing rights. Almost all of them unrepresented when the deals were made.
Not a proud part of our music history.
Possibly the most talented and underappreciated band to come out of mid-’60s San Francisco. The 3-guitar lineup and five vocalists? Just ‘Wow’ as the the second LP was named. If you can find it, Moby Grape Live is well worth the effort. RIP Jerry and Skip. Katz? Hope you’re burning in hell.