(Credits: Far Out / Chris Hakkens / YouTube Still)

Sun 17 August 2025 19:30, UK

The rock and roll explosion of the 1950s was not only a huge cultural phenomenon that was revolutionary for its time, but you can argue that it shaped the entire following decade by inspiring the next generation of songwriters and musicians to pick up an instrument.

Artists such as Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry were undoubtedly the most prominent figures, but there was so much beyond those at the forefront that meant there was an abundance of exciting music to become invested in.

Without this movement, all of the big acts that were so beloved in the 1960s wouldn’t have existed, or at the very least, would have sounded dramatically different. Acts like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who are indebted to ‘50s rock and roll to varying degrees, and the amount of artists who even extended the style into the next decade without pushing to develop it was perhaps even greater.

However, while some people were fixated on the vocalists who were in the spotlight and captivating audiences with their bombastic performances, others were listening to the instrumental innovations going on, and this period was truly when a lot of guitar heroes were born. In the case of Keith Richards and Jeff Beck, they both idolised the work of one sideman in particular who made the electrifying performances of a frontman even more of a spectacle with his slick guitar work.

Speaking about Scotty Moore, the guitarist best known for his work alongside Elvis Presley and for playing on a large portion of his biggest hits, Richards proclaimed that it was his influence that persuaded him to pick up an electric guitar in the first place. While The Stones’ guitarist would undoubtedly have forged a career for himself in the folk scene, his transition to playing an electric instrument was ultimately the catalyst for his career taking off, and that’s thanks to Moore.

In an interview with Rolling Stone following Moore’s death in 2016, Richards claimed that “Elvis would not have been Elvis without Scotty Moore.”

He continued, distinctly recalling the first time he was exposed to his music, and how it was a transformative experience. “When I was a kid, after the BBC would shut off, another station would come on, called Radio Luxembourg,” he remembered. “It had terrible reception – I’d be carrying my radio all around my room. That’s how I heard ‘Heartbreak Hotel’. I was an acoustic player, lurking in the folk area. But that’s when I knew I wanted to go electric.”

Beck was similarly effusive in his praise for Moore’s work, and claimed on a number of occasions that the sound of his instrument was incomparable to any other guitarist’s work at the time. “The first guitarist who really turned me on was Scotty Moore,” Beck claimed. “I heard ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ and I just couldn’t believe the sound and simplicity and the power of it.”

While it’s clear that this one particular performance had a gigantic effect on these two legendary guitarists, Beck has also claimed that he learned plenty of valuable things from speaking to Moore about how he created such an instantly recognisable sound. “Tone is the thing,” Beck professed. That’s something that came from Scotty Moore, who once told me, ‘Get some better tone and you’re there.’ The only way you can get Scotty Moore’s tone is with a big hollowbody guitar.”

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