Scotty Moore’s guitar ‘changed the world’

One summer evening in 1996, Keith Richards and Scotty Moore sat across from each other in a studio in Woodstock, New York.

Richards drank a vodka and orange soda, while Moore sipped from a jug of Johnnie Walker Red. By daylight, Moore had finished the jug of scotch and Richards was on his second bottle of vodka. At some point during the drinking, they had recorded “Deuce and a Quarter” with the remaining living members of The Band, Tom Petty’s former drummer and various other musicians, according to Moore’s biography, “That’s Alright, Elvis.”

Richards had brought his father to witness the session, because meeting Moore had been a dream of his for 40 years.

This anecdote might seem odd to some — Richards is one of rock’s most famous stars, and Moore’s name probably rings only vague, if any, bells. But Moore practically invented the modern rock ’n’ roll guitar sound — bluesy licks and delicate finger picking — as the guitarist for Elvis Presley’s original band, the Blue Moon Boys.

Richards, among many others such as Jimmy Page and Bruce Springsteen, credits Moore for his own career. He decided to become a musician after hearing “Heartbreak Hotel” at 13 years old.

Then, as Moore recounted to Guitar Player in 2014:

“One day, we went to have coffee with Sam and his secretary, Marion Keisker, and she was the one who brought up Elvis. We didn’t know, but Marion had a crush on Elvis, and she asked Sam if he had ever talked to that boy who had been in there. Sam said to Marion, ‘Go back in there and get that boy’s telephone number, and give it to Scotty.’ Then, Sam turned to me and said, ‘Why don’t you listen to this boy, and see what you think.’ Marion came back with a slip of paper, and it said ‘Elvis Presley.’ I said, ‘Elvis Presley — what the hell kind of a name is that?’ ”

Moore and Bill Black, the bassist of the Starlite Wranglers, met with Elvis on July 4, 1954, and played through a few tunes. When Phillips later asked what Moore thought, he said, “I thought he was pretty good.”

The next night, the three gathered for a true audition session at Sun, but it was going poorly — 19-year-old Elvis’ voice was too high for ballads, which all three found too slow anyhow. Moore packed up his guitar, and Black was about to.

Maybe in frustration, maybe as a last-ditch effort, Elvis began “beating the snot out of his guitar — acting the fool and singing,” according to Moore. The other two joined in, and Phillips loved it.

They recorded “That’s All Right” that very evening.

The Blue Moon Boys were born.

Together, they would record many of Elvis’ early hits, including “Mystery Train,” “Heartbreak Hotel,”

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Scotty Moore, left, who died last week, is shown performing with Elvis Presley and Bill Black, right, in 1957.