Awesome guitar work, but...
Jack Dempsey | South Miami Beach, Florida | 08/13/2001
(2 out of 5 stars)
"This cd is worth at least two stars because, come on, it's Scotty Moore. That alone, is worthwhile.But, having said that, it would have been a brilliant release if they stuck to the formula of the Sun Studio years, minus, of course, Elvis himself. That's right, if Scotty would have just stuck with an upright and, occasionally, some drums....and made this a more instrumental effort, it would have been perfect.Instead, what you get here sounds incredibly (and painfully) like the Lawerence Welk Singers, or for those who remember, The Swingle Singers, humming along and making these pieces almost unbearable. If your local doctor's office or dentist's office, or even local elevator, decided to start playing old Elvis tunes, this is the cd they'd pick. That's the general vibe if you get me.Nowhere present is the raw, unrefined, yet, incredible skill and energy that went into first recording these pieces at 706 Union Street in Memphis.You wanna hear good Scotty? Go check out the recently repackaged and rehashed Sun Singles disc(s) by Elvis: "SUNRISE.""
Interesting reworking of ELvis tunes by his guitarist
hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 08/10/1999
(3 out of 5 stars)
"If you subtract Elvis from his greatest hits, what's left? Elvis' original guitarist provided part of the answer with this 1964 outing. Shorn of the King's vocals, and rearranged to feature Moore's six-string sting, hit singles like "Hound Dog", "My Baby Left Me," and "That's All Right," still pack a surprising rock `n' roll punch.Despite Billy Sherrill's countrypolitan arrangements and the Jordanaires lyrical verbalizing (reminding you that Elvis has left the recording studio), Moore's finger-picking and echoing hollow-body Gibson shine with the authenticity of primordial rock `n' roll.These versions can't possibly compare with the lightning strikes captured on the originals, but as exercises in deconstruction, they're a fascinating testimony to Moore's pivotal place in rock `n' roll history. Exclamation mark and all."
Beam us up, Scotty
BN | 08/25/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Yep, this shoulda been an instrumental. And yep the Jordanaires just got in the way, as they did on every Presley record they appeared on. But until Scotty actually gets a bass player and a drummer together, sits down and produces a pure instrumental, this is way, way, way better than nothing. Remember who you're listening to, fellas and be thankful!"