Elvis' legendary guitarist Scotty Moore has passed

Steve Green · Post by **Steve Green** » 28 Jun 2016 5:44 pm

Scotty Moore died today at age 84 in Tennessee

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/ob ... 74031.html

Danny Hammers · Post by **Danny Hammers** » 28 Jun 2016 6:14 pm

May he rest in peace and prayers for his family
I always love his playing.

Mitch Drumm · Post by **Mitch Drumm** » 28 Jun 2016 6:35 pm

That really hurts. He personified rock and roll guitar playing for me far more than any other player---no contest.

It's difficult to imagine any other guitar player being associated with the first few years of Presley's career. He was such an integral part of that sound and I think why I far prefer hollow body guitars to this day.

I've been dreading this day and did not know he had been ill.

Here's 3 pics: 1950, 1954, and 2003, the latter a re-creation of the first.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 28 Jun 2016 7:48 pm

Scotty was indeed the epitome of rock and roll guitar playing. He mixed in so many cool influences with total taste, but he rocked. Not as routinely noted, but he also did a lot of excellent production work, covering a lot of styles. His production of early blues by Frank Frost is some of the best juke-joint blues ever put to wax.

RIP Scotty.

Gary Cooper · Post by **Gary Cooper** » 28 Jun 2016 8:11 pm

I too am a big fan of Scotty. Before Chet passed away, I met and talked with Scotty at CAAS and he explained to me some of his licks. Scotty was a true gentleman. I am sadden by his passing. These legends are almost all gone.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 28 Jun 2016 8:34 pm

http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/323 ... arist-dies

Gerry Hogan · Post by **Gerry Hogan** » 29 Jun 2016 12:17 am

This is very sad news. R.I.P Scotty!

Gerry

Billy Murdoch · Post by **Billy Murdoch** » 29 Jun 2016 12:19 am

Scotty was a Legend. That's all right Mamma and Mystery train always blew Me away.
I had the pleasure of meeting Scotty in '99 when He visited My home town.I spoke to Him as did many people but He hardly said a word,He did not seem to be in the best of health at that time and some time later I heard He had,had a stroke.
He was Elvis' first manager.
R.I.P. Scotty

Donna Dodd · Post by **Donna Dodd** » 29 Jun 2016 1:25 am

Moved to MUSIC section.

Don Sulesky · Post by **Don Sulesky** » 29 Jun 2016 4:41 am

He was one of my major influences when I started playing guitar in the 50's.
May he rest in peace.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 29 Jun 2016 5:41 am

Scotty's was a giant in American music, a seminal influence on millions, and probably under-credited with having a key role in the early success of Elvis' records.

Dustin Rhodes · Post by **Dustin Rhodes** » 29 Jun 2016 6:31 am

He had a good run like Stanley. No way of measuring how much he changed the music world.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 29 Jun 2016 7:17 am

Heartfelt thanks to Scotty for his inestimable influence on me and thousands like me all those years ago. The first time I heard 'Mystery Train' it was life-changing for me.

Then there was his amazing work on 'Tryin' To Get To You' - his counterpoint to Elvis' vocal was a cascade of clever blues runs yet, when the solo comes, his good taste dictated that he simply strums a sequence of three-note chords. Masterful!

I corresponded with Scotty about twenty years ago, asking his about a couple of details that had intrigued me. He replied with courtesy and at great length. I've always treasured that letter and now it's especially poignant.

I find it sad that he was treated somewhat disdainfully by the Elvis camp. He was eclipsed as early as 1959 when Hank Garland took over lead guitar duties on the records (Scotty was still there but in a subordinate role) and his compensation through those early years was shockingly low. Still, Scotty left a mark on music that will resonate for as long as humans have ears.

RIP, Scotty Moore.

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 29 Jun 2016 7:57 am

I can't exactly remember the year it was, maybe 2000. I was at Newbury, England to attend the Steel Festival. I turned on the radio at night and there was Joe Brown interviewing Scotty Moore. I thought I was on a different planet.
Goodbye Mr. Moore.

Lefty · Post by **Lefty** » 29 Jun 2016 12:25 pm

So many people were influenced by his playing.
I cannot imagine the early Elvis recordings without him playing. Always one of the players that I strived to play like (but could not).
Too cool for school.
May you rest in peace Scotty.
Lefty

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 29 Jun 2016 1:33 pm

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-36660103
I just learned about that a few minutes ago, whilst listening to my car radio. It brought tears to my eyes. I guess at 84 one expects that people will eventually wear out, but it doesn't lessen the grief when they eventually do. He had a good life, and that's the best we can wish on anyone.

He was really the one who shaped Elvis's sound. We all know the story of how he, Elvis and Bill Black were just fooling around, jamming, but no-one jams without referring back to their own origins. Scotty was the guitarist for the Starlight Ramblers, a country group. He always played down his part and said that all he did on those first Elvis records was Merle Travis picking, but he did more than that. He created a sound that well suited Elvis's singing style. Anyone can replicate his picking nowadays, but he was a young man at the time, and what came out of him was his alone, for others later to copy.

Craig Stock · Post by **Craig Stock** » 29 Jun 2016 3:00 pm

Well said Alan.

RIP Scotty!

Mitch Drumm · Post by **Mitch Drumm** » 29 Jun 2016 7:33 pm

Here's a few more pix I have.

Is that a legitimate Bigsby in the first picture--or a reproduction? It looks very much like the one originally built for George Groh in 1948 and later owned by Bobby Durham and R.C. Allen. The second pic is the Allen guitar.

I guess that's a home made steel in the last pic with a band Scotty had in the late 40s called the "Rodeo Wranglers".

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 30 Jun 2016 8:10 am

Is Bill Black still with us?

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 30 Jun 2016 10:20 am

Erv Niehaus wrote:Is Bill Black still with us?

No, he died at an early age, way back in 1965.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 30 Jun 2016 10:22 am

Does anyone know of any recordings that Scotty made with the Starlight Wranglers before he met up with Elvis?

Mitch Drumm · Post by **Mitch Drumm** » 30 Jun 2016 12:14 pm

I think the only known recordings were released on Sun 202, a few weeks before the first Presley release.

It was Doug Poindexter's band---a short-lived affair.

Both sides of it are on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FwvOdrXLZU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc5VrzURUg4

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 30 Jun 2016 2:08 pm

Alan Brookes wrote:
Erv Niehaus wrote:Is Bill Black still with us?
No, he died at an early age, way back in 1965.

So I wonder what's the background for this record.

It's from '73. It features a current hit called "Crocodile Rock". Did they only use his brand name?

Mitch Drumm · Post by **Mitch Drumm** » 30 Jun 2016 2:25 pm

Black rarely toured with "Bill Black's Combo" and the group made several albums after his death.

There aren't many pictures of Bill Black's Combo in which Black appears.

He opened a recording studio in the early 60s and it occupied most of his time.

Nor was he in the best of health for years prior to his death, which tended to keep him around Memphis rather than on the road. I think he smoked incessantly. I recently saw a picture of Elvis and band eating dinner in the back yard of a promoter's home in West Texas in 1955---Bill had a fork in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

His family sold the right to the name "Bill Black's Combo" after he passed away.

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 30 Jun 2016 2:34 pm

Aha! Thank you.