It's about 60 years since Scotty Moore did anything revolutionary, which is a long time to still care. But Scotty Moore’s thing meant a lot. In those 60 years he changed so many people’s lives.

It's not strictly true to say that without Scotty Moore there wouldn’t be rock n’ roll. What Chuck Berry was doing was sort of similar. And so was Chet Atkin’s playing. Scotty just added a thumb pick. And an attitude.

But if you added Scotty’s amazing electric guitar to Elvis’ amazing voice and presence you had magic, and that magic spread across the world. Fast.

So you could say that without Scotty there would be no rockabilly, and without rockabilly no Carl Perkins, no Jerry Lee, no Buddy Holly, no Everly Brothers.

No Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps and no Johnny Burnette & The Rock’n’Roll Trio, and without them no Beatles or Dylan.

Or Stones, Kinks, Who, Yardbirds, Fleetwood Mac or Led Zeppelin.
Or Ramones (a stretch maybe, but Johnny always said Elvis was his #1, and Scotty played on the best Elvis ever).
Or the Clash (for sure).

And without Scotty Moore no James Burton, and so no country rock. Or Modern Country Music. And so on.

Go to the gospel of Keef - "Everyone else wanted to be Elvis…I wanted to be Scotty”. All of which would go some way to saying how much he contributed.

Or you could say something else - without Scotty there would be no teenagers, and teenagers changed the world. They soundtracked its progress, from an old stable quiet place, into the most exciting 50 years in the history of Mankind. 

Scotty Moore’s guitar has been the sound of change...

The sound of a million teenage rumbles.
The sound of sharp dressed men.
The sound of war and peace.
The sound of going to the moon.
The sound of progress.

He was right, we’re left and now he’s gone.

The Sun Sessions - still the most exciting “pop” music ever made.

- TH