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The Tribute at Abbey Road
In December of 2004 several of the UK's leading musicians gathered at Abbey Road studios in London to participate and pay tribute to Scotty Moore. Conceived earlier that year the objective was to invite many of England's rock performers and Scotty's friends that had been weaned on and inspired by the music he had recorded with Elvis. The inability to secure an exact date for the event until very late prohibited several of the invited guests to attend.
The event was scheduled for 3 days and performances were filmed before a live studio audience of invited guests. Bill Wyman, most widely known as the original bassist for the Rolling Stones, along with his Rhythm Kings served as the anchor band for many of the songs performed with appearances by several guest artists. In addition, several of Scotty's UK band mates from the Grundy/Pritchard band were on hand to play.
Two of the invited guests who performed were Mark Knopfler and Eric Clapton. Mark, formerly of Dire Straits has been a fan and friend of Scotty's since he recorded an album in Nashville with Chet Atkins in 1989. At the time he told Chet that he had always wanted to meet Scotty so Chet brought him by. They've been friends since. Mark performed "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Baby Let's Play House" and in almost a nod to Scotty used an early '50s Super 400 similar to the one Scotty had played with Elvis. He noted too after the performance that the song traditionally should have also been performed with an upright bass.
Eric first met Scotty during the awards ceremony in New York for the Rock Hall of Fame when Scotty was inducted in 2000. He said he had hoped to record with him at some point. Though he could only attend the first two days of the sessions at Abbey Road they performed 3 songs: "That's All Right", "Money Honey" and "Mystery Train". Eric sang and performed Elvis' guitar parts on his signature Martin accompanied to Scotty's leads, Pete Pritchard on bass and Graham Broad on drums. Scotty's friend Steve Shepherd also filled in on keyboards at one point.
Also in attendance were Martin Taylor and Albert Lee. Martin is a jazz guitarist and Scotty has been a fan and friend of his for years. Scotty has in his collection a Martin Taylor signature guitar given to him by his friend Mike Eldred when he worked for Yamaha. Martin performed "Blue Moon" and "Tennessee Waltz". Albert, who sometimes performs as a member of the Rhythm King's is widely known in the guitar world as a master of his craft and has performed with the likes of Emmy Lou Harris, The Everly's and Joe Cocker to name but a few. During these sessions he performed "Trying to get to you", "Baby I don't Care", "Blue Sued Shoes" and "Hound Dog".
English rocker Steve Gibbons performed "Heartbreak Hotel", "Don't Be Cruel", "Jailhouse Rock" and "I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine", while Grundy-Pritchard band mate Paul Ansell performed several other Elvis classics that included "Mess of Blues", "Good Rockin Tonight" and "Ready Teddy". David Gilmour of Pink Floyd fame performed "Don't".
Another member of the Rolling Stones to participate was Ron Wood. Ron's been friends with Scotty since the time Scotty went to see the Rolling Stones play on their Steel Wheels tour. They recorded together for Scotty and DJ's "All The King's Men" album.
After the filming had been completed and the editing had been done the production company decided to release the DVD as a tribute to Elvis rather than a tribute to Scotty. Its probably more of a marketing decision but those in attendance who witnessed and performed all know why everyone was there. All in all it was a momentous occasion and Scotty was thrilled they all came.
November 14, 2005 Special thanks to Trev Wilkins of Tight Digital Music Services providing Live and Studio Services to the music industry for the use of his photos.
A TRIBUTE TO THE KING Available Amazon.co.uk and from Amazon.com
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All photos on this site (that we didn't borrow) unless otherwise indicated are the property of either Scotty Moore or James V. Roy and unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited. |
