“Scotty Moore was my hero. There’s a little jazz in his playing, some great country licks and a grounding in the blues as well. It’s never been duplicated. I can’t copy it.” — Keith Richards on Scotty Moore

It’s the birthday of Scotty Moore, Elvis’ first guitarist, who played on all of the Sun tracks, who then moved on to RCA with Elvis, and then on to Hollywood (Elvis was loyal). He died in 2016 at the age of 84. His style was influential and – like all great guitarists – “he” is unmistakable: you can recognize him by his playing. Here is the Rolling Stone obituary for Moore, which gives a good overview of his near-century upon the earth.

Moore was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 as part of the inaugural class celebrating sidemen, a category that honored “those musicians who have spent their careers out of the spotlight, performing as backup musicians for major artists on recording sessions and in concert.”

He sits there on that crowded little stage in Elvis’ 1968 comeback special.

The two hadn’t seen one another in years. (Eventually, the Hollywood thing – and being a studio musician for all the soundtracks – was too much of a drag and Scotty moved on. Elvis had Scotty – and DJ Fontana – his original drummer – come back for the TV special. Bill Black, the original stand-up bass player, had died just 3 years before. There’s the moment where Elvis “spontaneously” (please. He always knew exactly what he was doing and why) asks Scotty if they can switch guitars. Elvis had been playing acoustic, and Scotty had his gleaming ’64 Gibson. Elvis wanted to be plugged IN, man. (Peter Guralnick is wonderful on this moment in his Elvis biography: how much it blew everyone’s minds to see Elvis playing electric guitar). And of course, Scotty was a way better guitarist than Elvis, but in the context of the 68 comeback special, it doesn’t matter.

Scotty Moore’s website, by the way, is a treasure-trove of information. This page on his 1963 Gibson guitar is a prime example.

Scotty Moore was such a legend that guitar players from all over the world would make pilgrimages to see him, to talk with him, to play with him.

Listen to Elvis’ first track, “That’s All Right,” recorded on the fly, practically, based on Elvis goofing around in between recording. This is the track that shook the world, that started it all, and listen to what Scotty’s doing in the background. Elvis really couldn’t play the guitar, beyond rudimentary strumming. Scotty’s presence was essential.

After they recorded that song on July 5, 1954, Scotty remarked, “They’re gonna run us out of town for that one.” He knew. He knew they were onto something BIG.

Mark Knopfler, who – along with Eric Clapton, Albert Wood, and a couple of others – did a concert with Scotty Moore (one clip to follow), was interviewed about Scotty Moore.

From Keith Richards’ great autobiography Life, on the first Elvis Sun tracks:

That Elvis LP had all the Sun stuff, with a couple of RCA jobs on it too. It was everything from “That’s All Right,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky”, “Milk Cow Blues Boogie.” I mean, for a guitar player, or a budding guitar player, heaven. But on the other hand, what the hell’s going on there? I might not have wanted to be Elvis, but I wasn’t so sure about Scotty Moore. Scotty Moore was my icon. He was Elvis’s guitar player on all the Sun Records stuff. He’s on “Mystery Train”, he’s on “Baby Let’s Play House”. Now I know the man, I’ve played with him. I know the band. But back then, just being able to get through “I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone”, that was the epitome of guitar playing. And then “Mystery Train” and “Money Honey”. I’d have died and gone to heaven just to play like that. How the hell was that done? That’s the stuff I first brought to the johns at Sidcup, playing a borrowed f-hole archtop Höfner. That was before the music led me back into the roots of Elvis and Buddy – back to the blues.

To this day there’s a Scotty Moore lick I still can’t get down and he won’t tell me. Forty-nine years it’s eluded me. He claims he can’t remember the one I’m talking about. It’s not that he won’t show me; he says, “I don’t know which one you mean.” It’s on “I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone.” I think it’s in E major. He has a rundown when it hits the 5 chord, the B down to the A down to the E, which is like a yodeling sort of thing, which I’ve never been quite able to figure. It’s also on “Baby Let’s Play House.” When you get to “But don’t you be nobody’s fool / Now baby, come back, baby …” and right at that last line, the lick is in there. It’s probably some simple trick. But it goes too fast, and also there’s a bunch of notes involved: which finger moves and which one doesn’t? I’ve never heard anybody else pull it off. Creedence Clearwater got a version of this song down, but when it comes to that move, no. And Scotty’s a sly dog. He’s very dry. “Hey, youngster, you’ve got time to figure it out.” Every time I see him, it’s “Learnt that lick yet?”

Happy birthday to one of the greatest sidemen of all time.

 
 
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