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Utilisateur:Mwarf/Jerry Miller

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Jerry Miller (né le 10 juillet 1943 à Tacoma) est un compositeur, guitariste et chanteur americain. Il joue en solo ou avec son groupe, le Jerry Miller Band. Il est par ailleurs membre fondateur du groupe des années 1960 originaire de San Francisco Moby Grape, qui joue toujours occasionnellement sur scène. Le magazine Rolling Stone l'a classé à la position 68 de sa liste des 100 meileurs guitaristes de tous les temps[1].

Les débuts : de la fin des années 1950 à 1966 modifier

La carrière professionnelle de Jerry Miller commence à la fin des années 1950 : il joue et enregistre des disques avec divers groupes de rock dont notamment The Elegants. Il est à la guitare sur une première version de la chanson à succès I Fought the Law de The Bobby Fuller Four, et participe à des tournées avec Bobby Fuller et le groupe qui a précédé The Bobby Fuller Four[2]

Jerry Miller fait la connaissance de Jimi Hendrix et se lie d'amitié avec lui alors que tous deux jouent localement dans la région de Seattle, et donc avant qu'Hendrix ne devienne célèbre internationalement. Avec Larry Coryell, qui est alors en train de se faire une reputation en tant que guitariste tout en poursuivant ses études à l'Université de Washington à Seattle, ils se retrouvent régulièrement pour assister à des concerts de groupes en tournée dans la région de Seattle. Ils fréquentent en particulier un club, le « Spanish Castle » de Des Moines (Washington), situé entre Seattle et Tacoma[3]. Hendrix écrira plus tard la chanson Spanish Castle Magic, qui est basée sur ses expériences vécues au Spanish Castle de Des Moines avec ses amis guitaristes[4]

Formation et évolution de Moby Grape, 1966-1969 modifier

Avant de fonder ensemble Moby Grape, Miller et Don Stevenson faisaient tous les deux partie de The Frantics, un groupe de bar du Nord-Ouest Pacifique basé à Seattle. Le groupe déménage ensuite à San Francisco. Après l'arrivée de Bob Mosley le noyau dur des membres de ce qui allait devenir Moby Grape s'était formé. Le groupe est effectivement créé à San Francisco en 1966. Il comporte troisguitaristes, dont Jerry Miller est le principal. Les « Grape » signent chez Columbia, et enregistrent quatre albums pour ce label, qui sont commercialisés entre 1967 et 1969. Durant cette période, Miller co-écrit (avec Don Stevenson) trois des titres les plus célèbres de Moby Grape, Hey Grandma et 8.05, tous deux présents sur le premier album, tout simplement intitulé Moby Grape (1967), et Murder In My Heart for The Judge, issu de l'album Wow (1968). Cette dernière chanson a été reprise à la fois par Three Dog Night[5] et par Lee Michaels[6], tandis que Robert Plant a repris 8:05[7] et que The Move a proposé une version de Hey Grandma[8] Plus récemment, Hey Grandma est présent dans la bande originale du film de 2005 avec Sean Penn et Nicole Kidman The Interpreter, et a été reprise en 2009 par les Black Crowes sur leur album en public Warpaint Live.

Moby Grape fait des tournées aux États-Unis et en Europe, avant de devenir semi-inactif à partir de 1970. Le groupe se réunit pour un album sur Reprise Records en 1971, puis apparaît sur scène et enregistre de manière intermittente par la suite, dans diverses configurations. Moby Grape continue à se produire occasionnellement à ce jour.

The Rhythm Dukes, 1969-1971 modifier

In the late summer of 1969, subsequent to the release of Truly Fine Citizen, Moby Grape's last album for Columbia, Jerry Miller and Don Stevenson joined with John Barrett (bass) and John "Fuzzy" Oxendine (drums) to form The Rhythm Dukes.[9] Don Stevenson played guitar, rather than drums. It is speculated that he left the band shortly after its formation for that reason, preferring to remain a drummer. The band came together at Jerry Miller's initiative, at a time when the future of Moby Grape was uncertain.[10] The band lived together in Santa Cruz, and was later joined by Bill Champlin on organ and vocals. Champlin, along with Miller, became the group's principal songwriters. The Rhythm Dukes shared the stage with such artists as Albert Collins, Lee Michaels, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Canned Heat, The Grateful Dead and Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys, generally being second-billed. They recorded one album in 1970, which saw release in 2005 as Flashback, featuring three Jerry Miller songs.[11] The Rhythm Dukes disbanded in 1971, when Moby Grape reformed to record 20 Granite Creek.

Continuing Evolution of Career modifier

Jerry Miller went on to share the stage with many musical greats – Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, and The Doors. His admirers include Jimmy Page, Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Taj Mahal, David Fricke, Eric Clapton, and Robert Plant. Eric Clapton called Jerry the "best guitar player in the world" when he first came to the U.S. Robert Plant cites Jerry as a major influence for Led Zeppelin – the band even played Moby Grape songs at its first rehearsal. Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead are just two of the famous bands that have covered Jerry Miller songs live and on record.

He is #68 on Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, ahead of Eddie Van Halen (#70), Johnny Winter(#74),Robbie Robertson (#78), David Gilmour (#82), Neil Young (#83), Robbie Krieger (#91), Angus Young (#96) and Leigh Stephens(#98). In being so ranked, he is described as follows: "His playing was never self-indulgent, and his soloing was propulsive, always aware of where the song was headed." "Hey Grandma", from Moby Grape's first album, is cited as an essential recording of Jerry Miller.[12]

1995-Present: Return to Tacoma modifier

Since 1995, Jerry Miller has been based in Tacoma, Washington, for the most part living a few blocks from his childhood home.[13] He currently fronts The Jerry Miller Band, with Tom Murphy and Darin Watkins on drums and Kim Workman on bass, among other musicians.[13] In July 2007, the Jerry Miller Band performed in Monterey for the 40th Anniversary of Monterey Pop.

In July 2008, Jerry Miller participated in a benefit to raise funds for medical care for Rick Burton, a bassist with the Jerry Miller Band and a close personal friend, whose days of playing with Jerry went back over forty years. They had been in The Elegantstogether. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Burton had been in another band fronted by Jerry Miller, DiaBando. He had also contributed to a 2005 benefit when Miller himself was in need of assistance to fund the Jerry A. Miller Foundation for the Advancement of The Arts, with an objective of using local facilities to provide practice and teaching space for local musicians.[14] In the fall of 2007, the 60 year old Burton had been assaulted and gravely injured in what was viewed as a random, gang-oriented attack, where those responsible have not yet been found. The benefit, "Harm None" was also intended to raise awareness about violence in Tacoma.[15]

In January 2009, Miller lost virtually all of his personal possessions and career memorabilia to flood damage. Included in the loss were numerous concert tapes and photographs of Miller with other musical notables, including Jimi Hendrix and Robert Plant. Local Tacoma musicians held two benefit concerts to assist Miller financially.[16]

In the summer of 2009, Miller joined the "California '66" package tour, featuring reformed versions of The Electric Prunes and Love. Miller substituted for Sky Saxon, who had been scheduled to perform with The Seeds, but who died unexpectedly a month before the tour was set to begin. Miller performed with his own band, rather than with a Moby Grape configuration.[17]

In 2010, Jerry Miller, Don Stevenson and Omar Spence (son of Skip Spence) performed at the South by Southwest festival, playing a mix of classic Moby Grape songs and newer songs, principally composed and recorded in 2009.[18]

Despite continuing to write new songs,[19] Miller has not released an album of original material since 1998. In addition, similar to Moby Grape bandmates Bob Mosley and Peter Lewis, his solo work has not yet been subject to broad-based national or global distribution.

Images of the Jerry Miller Band (with Tom Murphy, drums and Rick Burton, bass) are accessiblehere.

Solo discography modifier

References modifier

  1. ↑ « Jerry Miller | Rolling Stone Music | Lists », Rollingstone.com (consulté le )
  2. ↑ Contrairement à ce qui est souvent rapporté, Miller n'est pas présent sur la version de I Fought The Law qui est devenu un succès national aux États-Unis, et ne faisait déjà plus partie de The Bobby Fuller Four lorsque le groupe est devenu célèbre. La biographie de Jerry Miller sur le site du Jerry Miller Band (consultée le 15 avril 2012), qui n'est apparemment pas sous le contrôle direct de Miller, contient elle aussi ces erreurs. Il est par ailleurs souvent rapporté, de manière tout aussi fausse, que Miller était encore dans le groupe au moment de l'assassinat de Fuller. Jerry Miller a rétabli les faits dans une interview parue dans le magazine Goldmine, et republiée dans le groupe de discussion consacré à Moby Grape : « A little known fact is that you played and recorded with Bobby Fuller in Texas. How did that come about? Jerry Miller: In 1962, after I left high school, a guy named Larry Thompson from Tacoma who was playing drums with Bobby Fuller, heard me. playing at the Crescent Ballroom. Within two days I jumped on the Greyhound for El Paso where I moved in with Bobby and his parents. At that time it wasn't known as the Bobby Fuller Four, just Bobby Fuller, with his brother, Randall, and Larry and myself. I recorded four tracks with them including the original "I Fought The Law" (released as a single on Exeter), "Wine, Wine, Wine" and "King Of The Beach," though my guitar didn't make it onto that final track. We toured around Texas mainly, wearing those cool matching suits, with long hair even before the Beatles! About the time Bob Keene took over as manager, I thought things were looking a bit shaky, so I returned to Washington state in the summer of '63. ».
  3. ↑ Des photographies du Spanish Castle sont visibles ici : http://pnwbands.com/spanishcastle.html. En dépit de son architecture unique et de son histoire, le Spanish Castle a été demoli en 1968.
  4. ↑ Interview de Jerry Miller : Eric Burdon, « Mods & Rockers Festival: Grapeful For Monterey », Huffington Post,‎ (lire en ligne)
  5. ↑ Sur leur album Harmony (1971).
  6. ↑ Sur son album [https://www.allmusic.com/album/r44717# Barrel] (1970). Cette reprise de Michaels a été décrite par Richie Unterberger comme l'"undoubted highlight" de cet album.
  7. ↑ Robert Plant a inclus 8:05 sur la face B d'un single de 1993 ; la chanson est également présente dans la réédition augmentée de son album Fate of Nations chez Rhino Records. Robert Plant jouait également Hey Grandma en concert avec son groupe pre-Led Zeppelin Band of Joy durant la période 1967-1968. Voir Rare and Unrecorded Songs by Robert Plant and Led Zeppelin. ; voir aussi "Robert Plant albums reborn with nine lives". News Release, Rhino Records, 20 septembre 2006.
  8. ↑ Sur leur premier album, intitulé [[The Move (album)|]] (1968).
  9. ↑ John Oxendine would later play drums with Moby Grape on their Live Grape album (1978).
  10. ↑ Moby Grape members had been shocked by Bob Mosley's abrupt departure to join the Marines, shortly after the release of Moby Grape '69. This added to uncertainties that commenced at the time of the 1968 departure ofSkip Spence from the band, as the result of a six month involuntary psychiatric committal during the course of recording Wow/Grape Jam. The recording of Truly Fine Citizen had been similarly strained, in that Columbia had imposed a three day limit on recording time, thus demonstrating little support for the band's future.
  11. ↑ Details of the band and the CD release are accessible here [1] www.rhythmdukes.com. The CD is artist-distributed directly. See also Profile of The Rhythm Dukes www.bay-area-bands.com.
  12. ↑ Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time; www.rollingstone.com.
  13. ↑ a et b Interview with Jerry Miller by Frank Goodman, June 2007. www.puremusic.com
  14. ↑ The Oppressed, Lovers of Truth: A JAMFA Benefit for the Community. News release, February 6, 2005. "JAMFA will provide facilities so musicians can concentrate on music and make a reality their ideas written and formulated within and for the community. Jerry Miller, once heralded as the best guitarist in San Francisco, is interested in a church that he went to as a child, mainly because it is in the community and there he can use it for an out reach for local musicians and teach music."
  15. ↑ Earnest A. Jasmin, Playing for keeps: Benefit for Tacoma musician impaired after beating. The News Tribune (Tacoma), July 8, 2008.
  16. ↑ John Larson, Friends and fans lend a hand to Jerry Miller; TheTacoma Weekly, February 5, 2009; www.tacomaweekly.com. As described by Larson, "On January 8, the Army Corps of Engineersreleased water from Mud Mountain Dam into the White River. The action was done to relieve pressure in the reservoir, which had reached its capacity due to heavy rain that was causing flooding around the Puget Sound region. Too much water was released too quickly, causing massive flooding in Pacific." Miller had recently moved to Pacific from Tacoma.
  17. ↑ Moby Grape vet subs for Saxon on tour Psychedelic Sight, July 17, 2009
  18. ↑ As "New Wine"; see SXSW Events: New Wine (Jerry Miller, Don Stevenson and Omar Spence of Moby Grape); www.mysxsw.com.
  19. ↑ Interview with Jerry Miller by Frank Goodman, June 2007. www.puremusic.com.

External links modifier

Modèle:Persondata


Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:American rock guitarists Category:American male singers Category:Moby Grape members Category:People from Tacoma, Washington Category:Musicians from Washington (state)

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