Scotty Moore learned to play the

guitar from family and friends at

eight years of age. Although

underage when he enlisted, Moore

served in the United States Navy

between 1948 and 1952. Moore's

early background was in jazz and

country music. A fan of guitarist

Chet Atkins, Moore led a group

called the "Starlite Wranglers"

before Sam Phillips at Sun Records

put him together with then teenage

Elvis Presley. Phillips believed that

Moore's lead guitar and Bill Black's double bass were all that was needed to augment Presley's rhythm guitar and lead vocals on their recordings. In 1954 Moore and Black accompanied Elvis on what would become the first legendary Presley hit, the Sun Studios session cut of "That's All Right (Mama)", a recording regarded as a seminal event in rock and roll history. Elvis, Black and Moore then formed the Blue Moon Boys. For a time, Moore served as Elvis's personal manager. They were later joined by drummer D.J. Fontana. Beginning in July 1954, the Blue Moon Boys toured and recorded throughout the American South and, as Presley's popularity rose, they toured the United States and made appearances in various Presley television shows and motion pictures. The Blue Moon Boys, including Moore, appear in the few 1955 home movie clips that survive of Elvis before he achieved national recognition. Moore, Black, and Fontana also appear on the Dorsey Brothers, Milton Berle, Steve Allen, and Ed Sullivan live TV shows of January 1956 to January 1957, and also reunite on the 1960 Timex TV special with Frank Sinatra welcoming Elvis' return from the Army. Moore played on many of Presley's most famous recordings, including "Good Rockin' Tonight", "Baby Let's Play House", "Heartbreak Hotel", "Mystery Train", "Hound Dog", "Too Much" and "Jailhouse Rock". Moore and the Blue Moon Boys also perform (and have additional small walk-in and speaking roles) with Elvis in three of his movies (Loving You, Jailhouse Rock, and King Creole) filmed in 1957 and 1958. In the 1960s, Moore released a solo album called The Guitar That Changed the World, played using his Gibson Super 400. He performed on the NBC television special known as the '68 Comeback Special, again with his Gibson Super 400 which was also played by Elvis. For his pioneering contribution, Moore has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. In 2000, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Moore's playing on his Gibson with his unique finger-picking style with pick at same time, as on the Sun and early RCA recordings, was unique and exciting, representing a move of the Chet Atkins style into a more rockabilly mode. Moore's best performances are often considered precedent-setting. Moore is given credit as the pioneer of the rock 'n' roll lead guitarist. Many popular guitarists cite Moore as the performer that brought the lead guitarist to a dominant role in a rock 'n' roll band. Although some lead guitarists/vocalists, such as Chuck Berry and blues legend BB King, had gained popularity by the 1950s, Presley rarely played his own lead while performing, instead providing rhythm guitar and leaving the lead duties to Moore. As a guitarist, Moore was a noticeable presence in Presley's performances, despite his introverted demeanor. He became an inspiration to many subsequent popular guitarists, including Bruce Springsteen and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. While Moore was working on his memoir with co-author James L. Dickerson, Richards told Dickerson, "Everyone else wanted to be Elvis--I wanted to be Scotty." Richards has stated many times (Rolling Stone magazine, Life autobiography) that he could never figure out how to play the "stop time" break and figure that Moore plays on "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" (Sun), and that he hopes it will remain a mystery. While with Presley, Moore initially played a Gibson ES-295, before switching to a Gibson L5 and subsequently a Gibson_Super_400. One of the key pieces of equipment to Moore's sound on many of the recordings with Elvis, besides his guitars, was the use of the Echosonic guitar amplifier. The Echosonic was one of the first guitar amps built with an effect (Tape Echo) built-in, invented by Ray Butts in 1952, and also used by fellow musicians like Chet Atkins, Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison.