This is an article by Bob Johnson of the Press Scimitar who was probably their biggest fan in the Memphis Press, followed their careers from the beginning and rarely failed to acknowledge the boys contributions as a "unit," or band if you will, though he still uses the term "sidemen." You can almost see the seeds being sown here for the ultimate resignation that would come 9 months later.

http://scottymoore.net/articles121556.html

Thanks,
Jim

PS as an interesting read later, revisit
http://scottymoore.net/articles.html
and
http://scottymoore.net/57resignation.html

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That trio was absolutely amazing. They often did jazz, blues and rock all in one song.

And Scotty - he cannot be beat. SO many rock guitar players learned his style and licks - and most of them could never master some of his exact licks. I read an article about Alvin Lee's album from Tennessee on which Scotty played, and even Alvin Lee got a corrective lesson from Scotty on one of his own Elvis tune solos. I had no idea you could teach Alvin Lee anything, and I figured what he didn't know or have right didn't matter (fanboy here).

Any player interested in jazz, blues and/or rockabilly would do well to buy those first few Elvis albums and learn those guitar parts.

It was unfortunate that the record companies later had Elvis dump the trio to use their own studio musicians. On the other hand, those recordings had other great players on them such as Hank Garland (another OMG type player with great jazz feel), Glen Campbell and James Burton.

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Bobby
Coming again soon to a club near you
... or at least one near me. Hopefully.

Great site, very informative. Those guys were the real deal.

Thanks for the read..I knew Glen Campbell did tons of studio work for many artists but never realized he did for Elvis..neat bit of trivia!

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Mona
"Music is What Feelings Sound like"

Bill Black is one of the bassists whose work I gravitate to most. His work with both The Blue Moon Boys, and The Bill Black Combo were what I consider the true building blocks of Rock/Pop bass playing. While he was never a "fancy" bassist, his simple but solid, tasteful lines are where the core of rock n' roll starts, imo. His Precision tone is incredible, and the reason I think I love the Single Coil P tone so much.

What a great sound these guys had together. Legendary.

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2012 Fender Custom Shop 55 Precision Bass
2012 Fender American Vintage 57 Precision Bass RI
2014 Fender Super Bassman and Bassman 100T/410 Neo

The article on the resignation was very informative. Great stuff. Though I think any of us who've worked in music at any level understood what went down. While Parker definitely had a hand in turning Elvis into a brand. I've always wondered how things would have turned out had Scotty and Bill never left. While many of Elvis' works post the resignation went on to sell amazingly. I don't think any of his later recordings have the energy that he had with The Blue Moon Boys. While Elvis was always paired with musicians of incredible caliber, there was something about the way that band sounded as a unit that was more then the sum of their parts. Shame.

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2012 Fender Custom Shop 55 Precision Bass
2012 Fender American Vintage 57 Precision Bass RI
2014 Fender Super Bassman and Bassman 100T/410 Neo

+1

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In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.