The Blue Moon Boys
In July 1954, Sam Phillips, of Sun Records, asked Black and Moore to play backup for the as-yet-unknown Elvis Presley. Black slap-played the double bass with Moore on lead guitar, while Presley played rhythm guitar and sang lead. Neither musician was overly impressed with Presley, but they agreed a studio session would be useful to explore his potential.
On July 5, 1954, the trio met at Sun studios to rehearse and record a handful of songs. According to Moore, the first song they recorded was "I Love You Because", but after a few country music songs that weren't impressive they decided to take a break. During the break, Presley began "acting the fool" with Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right (Mama)", a blues song. When the other two musicians joined in, Phillips taped the song. The upbeat sound was original. Black remarked, "Damn. Get that on the radio and they'll run us out of town."
The next day, the group recorded four more songs, including "Blue Moon of Kentucky", by the bluegrass musician Bill Monroe, which he had written and recorded as a slow waltz. Sources credit Black with initiating the song, with Presley and Moore joining in. Moore said, "Bill is the one who came up with "Blue Moon of Kentucky." ... We're taking a little break and he starts beating on the bass and singing "Blue Moon of Kentucky," mocking Bill Monroe, singing the high falsetto voice. Elvis joins in with him, starts playing and singing along with him ..." They ended up with a fast version of the song in 44 time. After an early take, Phillips can be heard on tape saying, "Fine, man. Hell, that's different—that's a pop song now, nearly ʼbout."
Phillips took several acetates of the session to DJ Dewey Phillips (no relation) of Memphis radio station WHBQ's Red, Hot and Blue show. From August 18 through December 8, "Blue Moon of Kentucky" was consistently higher on the charts, and then both sides began to chart across the South.
Black and Moore became Presley's backup group and were paid 25% of his earnings. Moore and Black left the Starlite Wranglers after the success of "That's All Right", jealousy within the group forcing them to split. Their recordings at Sun were released with the credits as "Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill." The group was later billed as "Elvis Presley and the Blue Moon Boys."
Over the next 15 months, the trio released five singles, toured across the South, and appeared regularly on the Louisiana Hayride. They had auditioned for the Grand Ole Opry in October 1954, but they failed to impress the people in charge, or the audience, and were not invited back.
In 1955, Black went to RCA Victor along with Presley and Moore when Presley's contract was sold to that company. Except for the RCA reissue of "Mystery Train" and "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" ("with Scotty and Bill"), they were no longer credited on record labels.
Black played on early Presley recordings including "Good Rockin' Tonight", "Heartbreak Hotel", "Baby Let's Play House", "Mystery Train", "That's All Right", and "Hound Dog", and eventually became one of the first bass players to use the Fender Precision Bass (bass guitar) in popular music, on "Jailhouse Rock", in the late 1950s.
Black, Moore and the drummer D. J. Fontana toured extensively during Presley's early career. Black continued his onstage "clown" persona and developed comedy routines with Presley. Black's onstage personality was a sharp contrast to the introverted stage presence of Moore. The balance fit the group's performances.
According to Black's son Louis, Moore said, "Elvis used to just stand up there and not move, and Bill would jump around on the bass. Your daddy would come down through there and get everybody to laughing and loosen them up." Fontana called Black the mainstay of the band in the early days. "He was a comedian who could warm up a crowd. That was necessary for us because we played for a lot of country crowds that weren't used to people jumping up and down on stage."
