Scotty Moore (American guitarist and recording engineer)

Winfield Scott "Scotty" Moore III (Gadsden, 27 de diciembre de 1931–Nashville, 28 de junio de 2016) fue un músico y compositor estadounidense, conocido mundialmente por tocar junto a Elvis Presley en la primera parte de su carrera, entre 1954 y los primeros años de Elvis en Hollywood. El crítico de rock Dave Marsh acredita a Moore con la invención de los acordes de poder, en la canción de 1957 de Presley "Jailhouse Rock", la introducción de la cual Moore y el baterista D.J. Fontana, según este último, "copió de una versión de swing de los años 40 de 'The Anvil Chorus'". Moore ocupó el puesto 29 en la lista de la revista Rolling Stone de los 100 Mejores Guitarristas de Todos los Tiempos en 2011. Fue incluido en el Salón de la Fama del Rock and Roll en 2000 y en el Salón de la Fama de la Música de Memphis en 2015. El guitarrista principal de los Rolling Stones, Keith Richards, ha dicho de Moore, Cuando escuché "Heartbreak Hotel", supe lo que quería hacer en la vida. Era tan claro como el día. Todo lo que quería hacer en el mundo era poder tocar y sonar así. Todos los demás querían ser Elvis, yo quería ser Scotty." Winfield Scott Moore III nació cerca de Gadsden, Tennessee, hijo de Mattie (née Hefley) siendo el menor de cuatro hijos con 14 años de diferencia. Aprendió a tocar guitarra de su familia y amigos a los ocho años de edad. Aunque era menor de edad al momento de enlistarse, Moore sirvió en el United States Navy en China y Corea desde 1948 hasta enero de 1952. Moore's early background was in jazz and country music. A fan of the guitarist Chet Atkins, Moore led a group called the Starlite Wranglers before Sam Phillips at Sun Records put him together with then-teenage Elvis Presley. The trio was completed with the bass player Bill Black, who brought a "rhythmic propulsion" that much pleased Phillips. In 1954, Moore and Black accompanied Elvis on what would become the first legendary Presley hit, the Sun Studios session cut of "That's All Right", a recording regarded as a seminal event in rock and roll history. The session, held the evening of July 5, 1954, proved entirely unfruitful until late in the night. As they were about to give up and go home, Presley took his guitar and launched into a 1946 blues number, Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right". Moore recalled, All of a sudden, Elvis just started singing this song, jumping around and acting the fool, and then Bill picked up his bass, and he started acting the fool, too, and I started playing with them. Sam, I think, had the door to the control booth open ... he stuck his head out and said, "What are you doing?" And we said, "We don't know." "Well, back up," he said, "try to find a place to start, and do it again." Phillips quickly began taping; this was the sound he had been looking for. During the next few days, the trio recorded a bluegrass number, Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky", again in a distinctive style and employing a jury-rigged echo effect that Sam Phillips dubbed "slapback". A single was pressed with "That's All Right" on the A side and "Blue Moon of Kentucky" on the reverse. Phillips's rhythm-centered vision led him to steer Moore away from the pretty finger-picking style of Chet Atkins, which he deemed fine for pop or country, but not for the simple, gutsy sound Phillips was aiming at. Simplify was the keyword. By his performance at the Louisiana Hayride of October 1954, Black and Moore were called the Blue Moon Boys. For a time, Moore served as Presley's personal manager. They were later joined by the drummer D.J. Fontana. Beginning in July 1954, the Blue Moon Boys toured and recorded throughout the American South, and as Presley's popularity rose, they toured the United States and made appearances in various Presley television shows and motion pictures. The Blue Moon Boys, including Moore, appear in the few surviving 1955 home movie clips of Presley before he achieved national recognition. Moore, Black, and Fontana also appeared on the Dorsey Brothers, Milton Berle, Steve Allen, and Ed Sullivan live TV shows from January 1956 to January 1957. Moore and Fontana also reunited on the 1960 Timex TV special with Frank Sinatra welcoming Presley upon his return from service in the U.S. Army.[cita requerida] Moore played on many of Presley's most famous recordings, including "That's All Right", "Good Rockin' Tonight", "Milk Cow Blues Boogie", "Baby Let's Play House", "Heartbreak Hotel", "Mystery Train", "Blue Suede Shoes", "Hound Dog", "Too Much", "Jailhouse Rock", and "Hard Headed Woman". He called his solo on "Hound Dog" "ancient psychedelia". During the filming and recording of Loving You in Hollywood in early 1957, Moore and Black drove the boredom away by jamming with Presley between takes, but they usually saw little of Presley, who stayed only a couple of floors away from them. They grew hurt and resentful at the separation, which they came to perceive as willfully organized. They did not accompany Presley on the soundtrack recordings for his first movie, Love Me Tender, because 20th Century Fox had refused to allow him to use his own band, with the excuse that they could not play country. By December 1956 they were experiencing financial difficulties, because there had been few performances since August: when there were, they received $200 a week (US$2368 in 2025 dollars), but only $100 (US$1184 in 2025 dollars) when there were not. Moore and his wife were forced to move in with her three sisters and brother-in-law. In an interview with the Memphis Press-Scimitar that December, they spoke about this and about their lack of contact with Presley himself. The reason for the interview was their announcement that management had given them permission to record an instrumental album of their own, which RCA Victor would release. Such permission was needed in order to appear as a group without Presley. During Presley's 1957 tour of Canada, the concert promoter Oscar Davis offered to represent them as his manager. Moore and Black, who had seen Presley become a millionaire while still earning $200 a week themselves, were willing to work with Davis, but the backing vocalists, the Jordanaires, were not, because they did not trust him. Tension came to a climax right after the September 1957 sessions for Presley's first Christmas album. Moore and Black had been promised an opportunity to cut tracks after the session, on Presley's studio time. Yet when the session was over, they were told to pack up. That same evening, the duo wrote a letter of resignation. They had only had one raise in two years, and with the lack of personal appearances had to live off $100 a week. They also felt the Colonel was working against them. They had been denied virtually all access to Presley, and felt as if "they were no longer even permitted to talk to him." Colonel Parker did not interfere, but RCA Victor executive Steve Sholes, who had little regard for the ability of Presley's band, hoped the separation would be permanent. Back in Memphis, a journalist found out and interviewed the duo. Presley responded with a press statement wishing them good luck, saying things could have been worked out if they had come to him instead of bringing it to the press. In an accompanying interview, Presley revealed that during the last two years people had tried to convince him to get rid of his band, so from his point of view he had stayed loyal to them. Presley was scheduled to appear in Tupelo within the next two weeks and started to audition new musicians. He performed with Hank Garland on guitar and D.J. Fontana's friend, Chuck Wiginton, on bass, but despite their musical ability it didn't feel the same to him. The week after his Tupelo engagement he hired them back on a per diem basis. In the meantime, the duo had played "a miserable two-week engagement at the Dallas State Fair". Moore declared there were no hard feelings, though Presley himself, according to biographer Guralnick, seems to