Jerry Miller, Moby Grape lead guitarist and co-founder, dies at 81

Jerry Miller, lead guitarist and co-founder of the group Moby Grape, has died at the age of 81.

News of Miller's death has been shared by friends and family on the Moby Grape Facebook page on behalf of his wife Jo.

"With sadness in my heart I was asked to let everyone know that Jerry Miller passed away this morning at 11," Debra Kennard wrote.

"Out of respect for Jo please give her some time and space to get through this horrible tragedy.

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"As soon as things calm down and she knows more we will let everyone know more."

No cause of death has been given.

After news of Miller's death, his daughter Sarah Kabbani shared on Facebook what it was like to "live with a legend" and to be a "first-born kid in a wild time of some epic partying and revolutionary music."

"Late night jam sessions, getting to sneak into a gig here and there. Jerry (Garcia) letting me stay up after Michan (her mother) went to sleep, hiding me under pillows on the couch if she woke up, so I could stay up late with him and listen to him play," Variety reports her as saying.

"Afternoons of mowing and fluffing the lawn together. Building a giant train set in the barn. And buffing our bicycles to ride to the store for snacks. At one point I thought he was making me do too many chores. At another point I finally realised he just wanted me to do everything with him."

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She ended the post by saying: "We just saw him in SF and I'm so thankful now. He gave me a big smooch and told me I was da mos buutiful girl."

Moby Grape rose to prominence in the 1960s, with Miller's extraordinary guitar skills praised far and wide.

He was ranked in Rolling Stone as the 68th greatest guitarists of all time.

The band initially formed in 1966, breaking up three years later. They released four albums for Columbia during that time including a self-titled debut album in 1967 which reached 24 on the charts.

In 1968 they released Wow/Grape Jam, which reached number 20 on the charts.

Their fifth album was recorded for Reprise in 1971 when the band reunited for a brief period. Further reunion albums were released in the 1980s.

High-profile admirers of the influential group include Eric Clapton, David Crosby and Led Zeppelin.

Miller, born in Washington, began his career in local Tacoma bands. Some members of these bands would join Miller to form Moby Grape in 1966.

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Miller spoke of the band's three-guitar approach to music.

"When we first started rehearsing, we just sounded so good," he said in a video interview with Saint Bryan in 2016.

"Three guitars — I'd barely ever layed with more than me! it was great, and right then, we knew we had something. We laughed al the way home. We said, 'This is gonna be good.'

"And it was, until some things went haywire. … We all sang, we all wrote, and we thought, 'Hell, there's no end to the possibilities here.' We were all young and handsome."

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Moby Grape faced obstacles to commercial success including lead singer Skip Spence's substance abuse issues which led to his departure from the band which continued with three remaining members.

A profile of Miller published in Inlander in 2014 spoke of Miller's skill on the guitar, saying he "never rehearses, and says most of his practice comes from teaching guitar two to three times a week for $50 a lesson."

He reportedly made his living during his final years through teaching and local gigs as well as some welfare payments and royalties.

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