Scotty Moore
The guitarist who gave Elvis Presley's rock and roll its spark
Winfield Scott Moore III grew up on a farm in western Tennessee, the youngest of several sons in a musical family, and began learning guitar as a young boy. While still a teenager he enlisted in the US Navy, serving from the late 1940s into the early 1950s. After his discharge he settled in Memphis, working at his brother's dry-cleaning business and playing country music with the Starlite Wranglers, a group that included bassist Bill Black and that recorded for Sam Phillips' Sun Records.
In the summer of 1954 Phillips asked Moore and Black to try out a young singer named Elvis Presley. During a break in a July session the trio launched into a sped-up version of Arthur Crudup's That's All Right, and Phillips knew he had something new. Moore's crisp, busy guitar filled the space of a full band. He briefly acted as Presley's manager, and as the Blue Moon Boys the three toured the South relentlessly and appeared on the Louisiana Hayride, cutting a string of classic Sun singles.
When Presley moved to RCA in 1956, Moore's solos went global on Heartbreak Hotel, Hound Dog and Too Much, and he appeared in Presley's early films and television spots alongside drummer D.J. Fontana. Frustrated by low pay as their boss became a superstar, Moore and Black quit in 1957, though Moore returned for sessions afterward. He also moved into production and engineering, and in 1964 he released a solo album, The Guitar That Changed the World, reworking Presley hits as instrumentals.
Moore's final major appearance with Presley came in the 1968 NBC television special, where the informal sit-down segments reunited old bandmates and are now seen as a forerunner of unplugged performances. He spent much of the following decades running studios in Nashville and working as an engineer, largely setting his own playing aside. In 1997 he and Fontana made All the King's Men with admirers including Keith Richards. He entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 and died in Nashville in 2016.
The 10 greatest Scotty Moore solos
- 1Elvis Presley · solo by Scotty Moore · 1956
- 2Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill · solo by Scotty Moore · 1954
- 3Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill · solo by Scotty Moore · 1955
- 4Elvis Presley · solo by Scotty Moore · 1957
- 5Elvis Presley · solo by Scotty Moore · 1956
- 6Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill · solo by Scotty Moore · 1955
- 7Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill · solo by Scotty Moore · 1954
- 8Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill · solo by Scotty Moore · 1955
- 9Elvis Presley · solo by Scotty Moore · 1957
- 10Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill · solo by Scotty Moore · 1955
The sound
Moore blended the fingerpicked country style of Chet Atkins and Merle Travis with jazz chord knowledge and a bluesman's snap. Using a thumbpick and fingers, he played bass lines, rhythm and lead at once, which let a three-piece band sound full. His solos are compact and melodic, mixing double stops, bent notes and quick chord fragments, often with a slightly reckless edge, as on the famously tangled Too Much break. The slapback echo from Sam Phillips' studio and later his EchoSonic amp gave his tone a bouncing, three-dimensional quality.
- Gibson ES-295 (guitar) The gold-finished hollowbody he played on the early Sun sessions with Presley.
- Gibson L-5 (guitar) A premium archtop he adopted in the mid-1950s as the band's success grew.
- Gibson Super 400 (guitar) His later main guitar; Presley played it during the 1968 television special.
- Ray Butts EchoSonic (amp) A handmade amp with built-in tape echo that let him recreate slapback on the road.
- Sun Studio slapback echo (effect) Sam Phillips' tape delay gave the early records their distinctive bounce.
Covers
- That's All Right, originally by Arthur Crudup The trio turned a slow blues into an urgent, upbeat record that helped launch rock and roll.
- Blue Moon of Kentucky, originally by Bill Monroe They converted a bluegrass waltz into a rocking shuffle.
- Good Rockin' Tonight, originally by Roy Brown Moore's clipped chords stand in for the horns of the jump-blues original.
- Mystery Train, originally by Junior Parker His rolling riff became as iconic as the song itself.
- Hound Dog, originally by Big Mama Thornton He replaced the original's slow grind with jagged, explosive solos.
- Milkcow Blues Boogie, originally by Kokomo Arnold A 1930s blues reborn as a driving rockabilly stomp.
- Baby Let's Play House, originally by Arthur Gunter Moore sharpened a laid-back blues into a nervy rocker.
Timeline
- 1931 Born near Gadsden, Tennessee
- 1948 Enlists in the US Navy while still a teenager
- 1954 Records That's All Right with Elvis Presley and Bill Black at Sun
- 1955 Acquires the Ray Butts EchoSonic amplifier
- 1956 Presley's RCA hits including Heartbreak Hotel and Hound Dog
- 1957 Quits Presley's band with Bill Black over pay
- 1964 Releases solo album The Guitar That Changed the World
- 1968 Appears in Presley's NBC television special
- 1997 Records All the King's Men with D.J. Fontana and guests
- 2000 Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Facts
- He briefly served as Elvis Presley's manager in 1954.
- He joined the Navy before he was old enough to do so legally.
- The original Presley trio had no drummer; Moore's guitar and Black's slapped bass carried the rhythm.
- His EchoSonic amp, built by Ray Butts, was one of the first amps with built-in tape echo.
- During the 1968 TV special, Presley played Moore's Gibson Super 400.
- He and Bill Black left Presley's band in 1957 because their pay had not kept pace with his fame.
- His 1964 solo album consisted largely of instrumental versions of Presley songs.
- He spent much of his later career as a recording engineer and studio owner in Nashville.
- He engineered Ringo Starr's 1970 country album Beaucoups of Blues.
- Keith Richards has repeatedly named him as the guitarist who made him want to play.