Scotty Moore, Elvis Presley’s first guitarist who was credited with changing the role of the guitar in pop music, has died at home in Tennessee. He was 84 after months of ill health.
He is most famous for backing The King during first part of his career, 1954 until the beginning of his Hollywood years.
Indeed he played on what are arguably Elvis’ most influential records, including his first hit That’s All Right, as well Heartbreak Hotel and Hound Dog.
Born Winfield Scott Moore III on his family’s Tennessee farm on December 27, 1931, he was the youngest of four boys.
Moore began playing the guitar aged eight and enlisted in the Navy at just 16 in 1948, lying about his age. He served in Korea and China before being discharged four years later.
In 1954, he was playing with a country band and recording at Sun Records in Memphis, when the label’s owner introduced him to Elvis, kicking off what would become a 14-year career as Presley’s guitarist and first manager.
He last performed with Elvis on an NBC television special in 1968. In subsequent years he worked as a sound engineer, working with the likes of Ringo Star, Dolly Parton, Bob Hope and Johnny Cash.
Moore was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, and Rolling Stone magazine ranked him as 29 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.