by Robert Wilkinson
We begin our Sunday swing session with an early rockabilly musical feast which introduced rock and roll to the world! December 27th would have been Scotty Moore’s 92nd birthday! He was the guitar player who inspired Keith Richards (and 10,000 other pickers) to pick up their axe. Need moore? Scotty was Elvis Presley's original guitarist who played on every major early hit.
From Wikipedia about Scotty Moore (December 27, 1931 – June 28, 2016), "He was ranked twenty-ninth in Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time in 2011," and he delivered big time right up to his death this past summer. When Sam Phillips put Scotty and Bill Black behind Elvis, pop music was changed forever!
Scotty is one who helped birth the musical form known initially as "rockabilly," later to be known as "rock and roll." Without any more delay, here are a few of his best from when the world was much younger! We start with some of the earliest tunes, all studio versions, with live performances down the line a little.
In the beginning…..
We start this shindig with two songs which kicked the doors down and introduced Elvis to the world! Recorded in early July 1954, these are the Sun Studio recordings with Scotty picking lead, Bill Black on bass, and DJ Fontana on drums. For your enjoyment, "That's All Right Mama" which was backed by "Blue Moon of Kentucky"
In September 1954 they hit again with the iconic “Good Rockin’ Tonight.”
In January 1955, Elvis went into radio station KDAV in Lubbock and cut this early demo of “Shake Rattle and Roll,” and then went back to Sun Records and cut this monster hit in February 1955 “Baby Let’s Play House.”
The early run at Sun finished up with a tune written by Junior Parker in 1953. When Elvis gave his electrifying version to the world in July 1955, he launched countless musicians to do their own covers of it! “Mystery Train”
Before we jump into some great 1956 television appearances, we’ll begin with a film of his classic performance on September 26, 1956, at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show. This 13 minute segment is called “Tupelo’s Own, and features film footage with sound of Elvis live and on stage shredding the diaphragm of the mic in the afternoon show! Scotty’s impeccably dressed. Elvis Live in 1956 – “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Long Tall Sally,” “I Was the One,” “I Got A Woman,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” and “Hound Dog.”
From the evening show, an audio clip of “Baby Let’s Play House”
For the full 28 minute show, here's The Complete Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show on 26 Sept 1956 - Elvis at his early live best!
Now we jump into a bunch of great television appearances!
This year we have a score! Elvis did several performances on the CBS Dorsey Brothers Stage Show in 1956 which introduced him to the mass market, and they’re all reappeared because they’re now in the public domain. This is classic rock and roll in its infancy, with Scotty laying down prototypical guitar licks! For your amazement, the King’s first television appearances which blew the doors down for a rock and roll revolution! These are great videos with a great sound system.
From January 28, 1956, “Shake Rattle and Roll” and “Flip Flop and Fly”
Here’s the audio-only recording of that tune, much better than the video sound. “Shake Rattle and Roll” and “Flip Flop and Fly”
After his Dorsey Show appearance in January 1956, he split for the RCA studios and recorded "One Sided Love Affair," but also his first monster hit! Singing goin’ low and sultry as Scotty laid down immortal lead lines! The studio version of “Heartbreak Hotel.”
He came back for another appearance on Stage Show in February 4, 1956 and gave us his version of the Little Richard classic “Tutti Frutti”
From a few weeks later on March 17, 1956, the tunes which blew the whole nation away!
“Heartbreak Hotel” (This is a prototypical lead break combining rock and roll and “walking bass strings” in a perfect run!)
From a week later at his final appearance, great live performances of "Money Honey" and “Heartbreak Hotel.”
Last year I had a 9 minute bizarre jingoistic offering of his two songs at this gig but this year it’s nowhere to be found. In April 1956, Milton Berle did a show supposedly featuring Elvis but actually featuring an aircraft carrier! Here’s video footage of the two songs he did on the carrier, so for your enjoyment, “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Blue Suede Shoes”
This year I found the entire one hour show on board the USS Hancock. It also includes the gag between the two songs with Uncle Miltie and Elvis doing some sort of strange piece, ending with Miltie’s fake guitar coming apart in the middle of the song and ending with what looks like prototypical Pete Townshend bashing his guitar into the stage. This may be the first televised guitar smash in history! Elvis’ performance begins around 17 min 30 sec in, and lasts for about 8 minutes.
Elvis live on The Milton Berle USS Handcock Show
From June 1956 on Milton Berle, Scotty plunking away on "Hound Dog." Dig that lead!! It’s preceded by a gag bit that is definitely classic Uncle Miltie!
From The Steve Allen Show in 1956, Elvis, Scotty, Bill and DJ doing a live performance of "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You," which they followed with a piece that Elvis said was his most embarrassing moment on tv! Scotty cranks on the lead of the smash hit ”Hound Dog."
That Summer, Scotty played guitar on the first double sided #1 in history! Here’s the original studio version of “Don’t Be Cruel” ("Hound Dog" was on the flip side).
Because Ed Sullivan had his ratings tank when Elvis appeared on the Steve Allen Show, he figured out he better book him. On September 9, 1956, he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show to promote his first movie appearance and sing the hit of the same name. Here’s a young, brash Elvis belting out “Love Me Tender.”
From that same The Ed Sullivan Show, the King giving us “Ready Teddy” and "Hound Dog."
From Ed Sullivan October 28, 1956, Elvis and Scotty did their double sided #1 smash hits “Hound Dog” and “Don’t Be Cruel,” as well as "Love Me." For 1956, those screams were something else! As was usual, the band was off camera.
On January 6, 1957, Elvis came back on The Ed Sullivan Show for the third and last time to reprise “Don’t Be Cruel” and perform "Too Much" Scotty's definitely playing the guitar behind Elvis and the Jordanaires. He closed his appearances with "Peace In the Valley”
Elvis played the Tupelo Mississippi Alabama Fair September 27th, 1957. In the first clip you'll see a rare shot of Gladys and Vernon, his parents. This is great footage! First, "Mean Woman Blues," which we'll follow with "All Shook Up," move into "Jailhouse Rock," and we'll close with one of his biggest, "Good Rockin' Tonight" For the encore, a clip called “Tupelo Gold Suit,” with Elvis and Scotty and the band live that Autumn of 1957 doing “Hound Dog”
From the Autumn 1957 movie Jailhouse Rock, here's Elvis and Scotty doing "Treat Me Nice."
Also from Jailhouse Rock, a color version of Elvis and Scotty doing one of my faves, written by Brill Building legends, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Here's Elvis and the group doing "Baby You're So Square (Baby I don't care)"
Here’s a rare one! When Elvis got out of the Army, Frank Sinatra produced a TV special called Welcome Home Elvis in 1960. Again, the band is off camera, but history was made when Scotty was invited to get together to play with drummer D. J. Fontana for this special. Here’s Elvis live on stage performing “Fame and Fortune” and “Stuck on You”
Here’s a great album of early Elvis hits, and Scotty’s leads are all over it from the first tune! Elvis Presley's Early Rock and Roll Hits
A Some of Scotty's newer performances with modern legends!
Here's a great session by Scotty with Eric Clapton doing 3 greats, including “That’s All Right Mama” done in the original arrangement with Scotty doing the exact lines! For your enjoyment, “That's All Right Mama,” “Money Honey," and "Mystery Train."
Same show, more rockabilly roots music, this time with Mark Knopfler! Here’s another of the original 4 songs cut at Sun that created a revolution, the great "Blue Moon of Kentucky." For another of the first and best, Mark and Scotty doing an amazing version of "Baby Let's Play House."
Those performances and more are part of a fantastic hour and 21 documentary titled Scotty Moore and Friends: A Tribute to the King which I had last year, but which has disappeared this year.
From UK TV, A Tribute to Scotty Moore
For the closer, here’s Scotty Moore talks about the Sun Records sessions
Thanks for playing, rocking, and rolling, Scotty for over 60 years! You helped to change the world forever, and that's no small thing. Thanks for the leads that inspired a million guitarists!
p.s. December 27 is also the birthday of Lenny Kaye (December 27, 1946), the producer and guitarist for the Patti Smith Group. I don't have time to do a tribute this year, but here's a big send up since the Patti Smith Group blazed a bright trail in music! And of course, he's still going strong with the Lenny Kaye Connection and other projects. A big happy to ya, Lenny!!
© Copyright 2023 Robert Wilkinson
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