Credit: Far Out / John Mathew Smith / Sun Records
Fri 21 August 2026 2:00, UK
While Elvis Presley would undoubtedly have made it as a successful performer regardless of who he was playing with, it certainly helped that the session players and live musicians he worked alongside were among some of the greatest of their generation.
In a period where rock and roll was taking off as the most prominent style, it quickly became obvious which players were able to keep up with the times and adapt their knowledge of blues, jazz and classical music to be able to play this new style of music that had a vice-like grip on popular culture.
From 1954 until 1958, from his very first sessions at Sun Studio and through the most successful period of his career, he performed alongside the Blue Moon Boys, with Bill Black on upright bass, DJ Fontana on drums, and perhaps most significantly, Scotty Moore on guitar.
All three of these musicians became essential to Presley, establishing a sound for himself in the late ‘50s, but Moore was perhaps the most instantly noticeable element of the band, with a slick yet electrifying style that elevated the frantic way in which Presley was known to perform. Fans would go crazy for Presley’s warbling voice and sensual moves, but the more musically inclined people who were into Presley were sitting with their mouths agape at what Moore could do.
The likes of Keith Richards and Jeff Beck cited Moore as a major reason for them ever wanting to pick up the instrument in the first place, and his influence continued long into the 1960s after he’d ceased working with Presley and the Blue Moon Boys. Evidently, a person with an ear for how things ought to sound, given how he chose to switch to being an engineer in the 1960s, some of his innovations on the guitar were clearly the sort that would impact future playing forever.
Moore is credited with having invented the power chord, having used a finger-picking technique that more resembled rockabilly than it did anything traditional, and having favoured a guitar tone that could be considered a precursor to the metal tone. Understating Moore’s importance is to diminish the sound of so many of Presley’s early hits, and to ignore just how much influence he’s had on others.
However, given just how many timeless tracks he worked with Presley on, it’s potentially tricky to pick out one standout track from his catalogue. During a 1993 interview with Vintage Guitar, where he reflected on this period of his career, he attempted to pick out which of his performances he was proudest of, and while there were many candidates to choose from, he settled on one that further underlines his innovative skills.
Further reading: From The Vault
“‘Mystery Train’ became like a signature thing for me,” he said of Presley’s 1955 B-side. “That was the first one I played through my custom-made amplifier. It had the same slapback effect that Sam [Phillips, Sun Studio owner] had been using on the overall record, so I could even do it myself.”
Many have looked towards this cover as having the quintessential Scotty Moore sound, with his undulating picking style turning into a lick typical of his performances.
As much as Presley’s recordings were always meant to be about Presley himself and put the singer’s talents front and centre, what Moore does on the track commands the attention so much that it even takes the gloss off the frontman’s voice and makes it all about the guitar. It’s by no means one of the more popular Presley songs, but as far as Moore’s performances go, it’s truly electrifying.
