Jerry Miller Dead: Moby Grape Guitarist Was 81 (variety.com)

I am not one to mourn and make a big deal over an old rock star's death. There are too many to keep up with lately with the 60's and 70's class hitting the wall. But Jerry Miller holds a soft spot for me. He was part of my youth in Santa Cruz, CA where he was a fixture in the local music scene for years in a series of bar bands after his brief flirtation with real fame ended with the self-demolition of the Moby Grape. One of the most surreal nights of my life started at a Rhythm Dukes show at the Opal Cliffs Inn, aka the OD Inn, in 1972, but that will be a story in itself someday, maybe. I may have to wait until all the witnesses are dead, and we are getting close. I know a few of my FB Friends share memories of Miller too, and even played with him on occasion. My second wife worked with his wife at the phone company, and my best friend from back in the day bought his amp that he used all through the Grape's career when Jerry was going through hard times and needed some bread. Moby Grape's last album was titled '20 Granite Creek', the road I lived off of for pretty much my entire life.

I am even a little surprised that Miller's death was picked up on by major media. Glad to know he was more famous than I realized. It showed up on my MSN page from several different sources. Moby Grape was arguably the best band to come out of the psychedelic San Francisco Sound days of the 60's, though never gaining the fame of the Jefferson Airplane, The Dead, etc. I will let pop music and culture historian Jeff Tamarkin describe the career trajectory of Moby Grape: "The Grape's saga is one of squandered potential, absurdly misguided decisions, bad luck, blunders and excruciating heartbreak, all set to the tune of some of the greatest rock and roll ever to emerge from San Francisco. Moby Grape could have had it all, but they ended up with nothing, and less."

Hey, Eric Clapton called Miller "The greatest Guitarist in the world" and Led Zepplin played some Moby Grape covers at their first rehearsal to make sure they were all on the same page. Robert Plant was a huge Moby Grape fan. Maybe Jerry didn't get to bang Valerie Bertinelli in her prime and had to settle for the dive bar Santa Cruz pussy posse later on, but he came in ahead of Eddie Van Halen in the Rolling Stone list of the 100 greatest rock guitarists of all time and outlived him by 16 years to boot. 81 is like 120 in rock star years. Good show, Jerry.