Support for NPR and the following message comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

RWJF is a national philanthropy, working toward a future where health is no longer a privilege,

but a right. Learn more at RWJF.org.

This is fresh air. I'm Terry Gross. It's a fresh air tradition that the week leading into Labor Day, we do a themed series of interviews from our archive. This week's theme is R&B, rockabilly, and early rock and roll. I got that idea while listening to a terrific podcast I recommend called A History of Rock Music in 500 songs. While listening to the early episodes about the prehistory and early

history of rock, I often found myself thinking, wait, that person is in our archive. Those are the

people we'll be hearing from. Later today, we'll hear my interview with one of the pioneers of

rockabilly, Carl Perkins, who wrote and made the first recording of blue-swaite shoes.

After that, Elvis made his hit recording. We begin our series with the guitarist on Elvis's version,

Scotty Moore. He played with Elvis from 1954 to 1964. He reunited with Elvis for his

1968 comeback special. As Peter Goralnik, the author of the

definitive biography of Elvis wrote, quote, guitar players of every generation since rock began

have studied and memorized Scotty's licks, even when Scotty himself couldn't duplicate them,

unquote. Scottie Moore died in 2016 at the age of 84.

We're going to hear the interview I recorded with him in 1997, after the publication of his

memoir about his years with Elvis, called That's All Right Elvis. The title is a reference to Elvis's

first single, That's All Right, which was recorded in

1954 and featured more on guitar. It was recorded for Sun Records, the label created and

owned by Sam Phillips, who will hear from on tomorrow show. When we spoke, a box set of

previously unreleased Elvis' tracks had just been released. We started with a previously unreleased take

of Lordy Miss Claudi. Listen

for Scotty Moore's solo.

G2WB, 129,3, take one.

...