21 Facts About Scotty Moore

Winfield Scott Moore III was an American guitarist who formed The Blue Moon Boys in 1954, Elvis Presley's backing band.

Scotty Moore was studio and touring guitarist for Presley between 1954 and 1968.

Rock critic Dave Marsh credits Scotty Moore with inventing power chords, on the 1957 Elvis hit "Jailhouse Rock".

Scotty Moore was ranked 29th in Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time in 2011.

Scotty Moore was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007, and the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2015.

Winfield Scott Scotty Moore III was born near Gadsden, Tennessee, to Mattie and Winfield Scott Scotty Moore II, as the youngest of four boys by 14 years.

Scotty Moore learned to play the guitar from family and friends at age eight.

Early in 1958, when Presley was drafted, Scotty Moore began working at Fernwood Records and produced a hit record, " Tragedy," for Thomas Wayne Perkins, the brother of Johnny Cash's guitarist Luther Perkins.

In 1960, Scotty Moore commenced recording sessions with Presley at RCA Victor and served as production manager at Sam Phillips Recording Service, which involved supervising all aspects of studio operation.

Scotty Moore mostly played rhythm guitar with his last lead guitar work occurring by 1962 with " Devil in Disguise".

Scotty Moore played on sessions for Roy Orbison and others.

In 1964, Scotty Moore released a solo album on Epic Records called The Guitar That Changed the World, played using his Gibson Super 400.

Scotty Moore reunited with Fontana and Presley for the NBC television special known as the '68 Comeback Special, again with his Gibson Super 400, which was played by Presley.

Scotty Moore's playing on his Gibson with his unique finger-picking style using a thumbpick, as on the Sun and early RCA Victor recordings, represented a move of the Chet Atkins style into a more rockabilly mode.

Scotty Moore is given credit as a pioneer rock 'n' roll lead guitarist, though he characteristically downplayed his own innovative role in the development of the style.

Scotty Moore became an inspiration to many subsequent popular guitarists, including George Harrison, Jeff Beck, and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.

In July 1955, Scotty Moore traded this guitar for a blonde-finish 1954 Gibson L-5 CESN, with which he recorded the last Sun sessions, as well as several RCA cuts, and in 1957 he switched to a Gibson Super 400.

Scotty Moore had to give up playing guitar a few years before his death because of arthritis.

Scotty Moore died on June 28,2016, in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 84.

Scotty Moore co-wrote the songs "My Kind of Carrying On" and "Now She Cares No More" which were released as Sun 202 on Sun Records in 1954 when he was a member of the group Doug Poindexter and the Starlite Wranglers with Bill Black as the double bass player.

Scotty Moore co-wrote the instrumental "Have Guitar Will Travel" in 1958 with Bill Black, which was released as a 45 single, 107, on the Fernwood Records label.