Elvis Presley’s lead guitarist passed away this week in Nashville at the age of 84, and in tribute the Guardian has published a piece discussing how the musician shaped Elvis’s country-blues rockabilly sound so evident in songs like “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound Dog,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Mystery Train,” and “Jailhouse Rock.”
Scotty Moore’s legacy can possibly best be mapped through how he paved the way for other lead guitarists. Of Moore, Keith Richards said:
When I heard “Heartbreak Hotel,” I knew what I wanted to do in life. It was as plain as day…All I wanted to do in the world was to be able to play and sound like that. Everyone else wanted to be Elvis, I wanted to be Scotty.
