Reply With Quotemy memory is that Scotty was asked but that's he wasn't willing to give up studio work to fufill Elvis' commitmetnts at vegas.
Can anyone tell me why Elvis did not choose Scotty for his TCB Band? Wasn't he "good enough" or just not up to date?
I know that DJ went back to studio sessions and Bill Black passed away few years earlier.
I'm sure I've read it somewhere but can't remember.
TCB
John
my memory is that Scotty was asked but that's he wasn't willing to give up studio work to fufill Elvis' commitmetnts at vegas.
I never looked for trouble but I never ran.
I personally think it would have been a waste of Scotty's talents at that point. By the 60's he recoginzed for his own amazing talent and I'm not sure he'd have gained much being back in Elvis's shadow.
Of course Elvis asked Scotty to play with him, after all those years, he still was his first choice, as it was D.J. Fontana and the Jordanaires. But Scotty wasn't interested anymore, not that he didn't wanted to play with Elvis, he had a great time doing the '68 TV Special, but that was a matter of a couple days, Scotty was not interested in leave studio work for more time, as touring with Elvis demanded.
Here is a interview with Scotty about that matter: http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/inte...ore_1973.shtml
The last project on which Elvis Presley used the guitar of Scotty Moore was his 1968 NBC TV Special. In 1969 Elvis went to Vegas but without the usual crew of Scotty Moore, D.J. Fontana and The Jordanaires. Why did Scotty not go to Vegas with Elvis ?
The reason why I didn't go to Vegas, The Jordanaires didn't go to Vegas and D.J. didn't go, was because we had to go for six week at a time (then) and there just was no way that any of us could leave here for that period of time. We had our clients here you know, we had a business and you might as well close up and start all over.
Did Elvis ask you to come ?
Oh yes, D.J., The Jordanaires and myself, but it just was impossible.
Great, thank you very much!
They made the right decision. It worked out best for both parties as the TCB band was more in line with where Elvis was at musically at that time.
Studio work meant big money and a steady job, especially during the late sixties, early seventies as the music business was thriving, big-time. In the Houston press conference in Feb of 1970, Elvis mentions that the Jordanaires were making so much money in Nashville, he couldn't get them to leave.
Yes that's right, same goes for D.J. Fontana. Now Scotty Moore was not only working as a session man as them, but as a studio owner (in an interview with Guitar Player, Scotty recalls Elvis wanted to record in Scotty's studio at one point after the '68 special, but American Studios turned out to be the one) and as producer, (Scotty produced Ringo Star "Becoupes of Blues" in the fall '69 early '70 and many other country classic albums during the late 60's and early 70's), and let's not forget Scotty was a bit older than Elvis, so he was not going to risk a comfotable and steady way of making a living to go back on tour with Elvis, and then go back to uncertainity between Elvis tours or recording sessions.Originally Posted by Joe Car
As rocknroll recalls, I think too it was a good decision for both parties, both going to American and gettin James Burton and forming the TCB Band was a great move,fresh talent that renewed his sound, that was what he needed. The '68 sit down sessions were TERRIFIC and MOST IMPORTANT in Elvis career, but if he had sticked with Scotty and D.J. both in the studio and in live performances, soon that epic moment would have turned out in mere nostalgia, an oldies show.
Anyhow, latter on, by '75, when the TCB Band was going dead end with the big orchestal sound and all, and Elvis was bored in the studio, for my money, then it was the right time to put Elvis, Scotty and D.J. back in the studio for a couple of weeks, and I would add Sam Philips in the control both.
I guess that kind of reunion would have happened eventually if Elvis had stayed with us a bit longer.
The kind of material Elvis was performing live in the 70`s would have been tough for Scotty on lead guitar. Scotty had been playing rhythm for most of the 60`s studio cuts.
For sure, plus, after the '68 special, he wasn't even playing to much, he was into producing more than anything.
I think Elvis and Scotty were Okey, they just took diffrent paths in life.
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