SCOTTY AND BILL LEAVE ELVIS
SEPTEMBER 7
Guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black quit Elvis Presley’s band due to a pay dispute. “I don’t believe Scotty and I could raise more than 50 bucks between us,” claims Black, who says Colonel Tom Parker kiboshed any attempts the pair made to supplement their income. In an open letter in the Memphis Press-Scimitar, Elvis wishes them luck, but adds, “If you had come to me, we would have worked things out… but you went to the papers and tried to make me look bad.” The two are brought back on a casual basis a few weeks later. Black will go on to form The Bill Black Combo, and dies in 1965; Moore continues to work with Elvis intermittently until the ’68 Comeback Special, after which they do not meet again.