SCOTTY MOORE

While releasing a solo album titled The Guitar That Changed The World

could be considered as indefensible hubris if it was from any other player, the claim holds water when it’s from Scotty Moore. When Keith Richards first heard Moore’s guitar on Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel it certainly changed his world. “Everyone wanted to be

Elvis; I wanted to be Scotty,” he said.

Deft country picker Moore was first paired with Presley by Sun Records’ Sam Phillips at the age of 22 in 1954 for an upbeat version of That’s

All Right. Against a driving rhythmic, Moore cannily melded and simplified country and blues methodology to lay down foundations for all subsequent guitar-driven rock’n’roll.

As Moore’s guitar echoed around the world, inspiring and influencing countless players, he honed his craft and played on global hits (Hound

Dog, Heartbreak Hotel). Others may have been louder, faster and flashier, but Moore was first.

Listen to this: Heartbreak Hotel (Elvis Presley, single, 1956)