Scotty Moore Influenced Me: Henri Gann Trekkers

On Jul 4, 2016, America's Independence Holiday Weekend, former Singaporean and an American citizen today, Henri Gann wrote:

Hi Andy,

When I received an email from my fellow Trekkers George Wang on the passing of Scotty Moore, it brought back lots of memories on our days in Singapore playing the Elvis music in the 60's before we had The Trekkers. 

I would like to share my thoughts on Scotty Moore and how his music had inspired our band in later years. I am sure that your reader will have their own Elvis experience to share after reading this.

Thanks.

Who was Scotty Moore? 

Scotty Moore died recently. Who was Scotty Moore? If you have listened to Elvis's music, you have heard of Scotty.  He rose to prominence playing the lead guitar in Elvis first years and was hero to many musicians. As Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones said,  "Everyone else wanted to be Elvis; I only wanted to be Scotty."

To the guitar enthusiast, Scotty Moore's name is synonymous with a finger-picking, open rockabilly rhythm on the acoustic guitar. His guitar playing definitely had the hallmark of Chet Atkins. He was one of the first to experiment with playing open chords and a pioneer in using the tape delay system to exaggerate the rhythm/solo guitar sound.

Scotty was Elvis's lead guitarist before Elvis gained national recognition. Together with his famous bassist Bill Black and later on with his drummer Fontana, Scotty and the "Blue Moon Boys" trio ( picture 5 ) accompanied Elvis in many of his earliest hits. 

These include classics like Don't Be Cruel, Heartbreak Hotel, Blue Suede Shoes, Hard Headed Woman and Hound Dog, Mean Woman Blues, I've Got a Woman, Loving You, Don't, and Blue Moon of Kentucky. Many of these recording were done in Sam Philips' Sun Studio, which later on became famous because of Elvis. Scotty's unique guitar style is on full display on Elvis's "That's All Right Mama" and "Mystery Train."  

Scotty was not just central to Elvis's music, but was also a part of many of Elvis's early films like Loving You, G.I Blues, and King Creole. In the movie "Jailhouse Rock," starring Elvis, Scotty and his trio can be seen giving one of their best performances.

Scotty's style is perhaps one of the most imitated in rock music. Artists like George Harrison, Hank Marvin, Jeff Beck, and Chet Atkins all emulate the guitarist's style. Likewise, Scotty's rhythm and solo have been adapted by Eric Clapton and Mark Knopler. ( see YouTube link below )

I have been an Elvis fan since the early 1960's. Watching Elvis movies at the Cathay or Alhambra was a favorite past time of mine. Like many people in those days, I did not appreciate the fullness of Scotty Moore's contribution to Elvis' sound. 

Now, when I listen to Elvis's hits , I can fully appreciate the dimension Scotty added to the rhythm in Elvis's music.  His last performance with Elvis was in the Comeback Special TV broadcast of 1968.  In the broadcast, Scotty had his favorite Gibson Super 400 acoustic guitar  on stage. In that performance, it's clear how his guitar accompaniment completed Elvis overall performance. Without Scotty, Elvis's sound would have been very different.

I never realized how Scotty's style had influenced me personally until I came across an old photograph  of my friends and me in the early 60's playing Elvis's music. This was before we had the Trekkers*. With my best friend George Wang my and my lifetime buddy Brother Johnny Gan, we played Scotty's accompaniment to our lead singer Israel Lim to the Elvis tunes. 

Even though we had never performed on stage, we had great fun playing Elvis music and especially Hound Dog, Don't Be Cruel and Jailhouse Rock. Years later we found Israel playing bass with The Crescendos (Singapore 60's vocal group).

When I heard that Scotty Moore had passed away at the age of 84, reading about Scotty was the next best thing I could do to feel his pulse in Elvis's music. 

This was what he said on his first jam session with Elvis,

"We were getting ready to call it off, because, you know, we had to work the next day. The door to the control room was open about half way, and Elvis just started beating the snot out of his guitar—acting the fool and singing—and Bill grabbed his bass and started playing along with him. Sam poked his head out of the door—this was before mixing consoles had a talk back button—and he said, 'What are you guys doing? That sounds pretty good. Why don’t you keep doing it.' So I got my guitar, ran through it a couple of times, and that was it. That was the beginning of, how do you say it—all hell breaking loose!" 

                Watch Scotty Moore on the left. (Raw Elvis: 3 piece band)

They were rehearsing " That's All Right Mama" ( originally written and sung by blues singer Arthur Crudup ) with producer Sam Philips at his studio.

Seeing Elvis live in concert had to be a magical experience not to mention the concert of a young Elvis.  In his memoirs, Scotty was able to share this feeling with us in their first concert.

"Oh, yeah. The first live show we played with Elvis was at the Overton Park Shell in Memphis, opening up for Slim Whitman. Elvis was trying to sing and play guitar—he was sort of standing on his toes—and, you know, back then you wore these big baggy britches. And he started going, and his legs were shaking those loose pants around, and the girls were screaming. 

We did two shows that night, and when we finished the first show, Elvis asked, 'What happened? How come those girls were screaming?' We told him, 'The girls were going crazy because you were up there on your tiptoes, shakin’ your legs. Do more of it!' And that’s really where it started—that first live show."

Without Elvis, we may never have discovered Scotty. His music was inspired only when he played with Elvis. When he broke up with Elvis, he stayed away from his guitar for many years. In those time, he revealed that he could not replay the stints he did with Elvis without his presence. 

His contribution to Elvis's music was not recognized for many years. Elvis died in 1977, and Scotty Moore was not inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame until the year 2000 and the Memphis Hall of Famein 2015. 

A special thank you note to my daughter Carolyn Gan for editing this transcript on Scotty Moore.

Written by Henri Gann (left), an inspirational piece indeed. He is a successful business man in the US and takes time to reflect on his youthful days in Singapore 60's. Thank you Henri.


Images: from Personal Collection and Google as selected by Gann.
You Tube Videos: from Rolling Stone magazine.

                             Watch Moore again with 'Hound Dog' solo.