Searching through many Elvis-related websites is both prep work for Elvisblog and a lot of fun. One site I go back to frequently is www.scottymoore.net . That’s right, the man who helped Elvis give birth to rock & roll has a great website of his own. It contains almost a dozen sections you can check out, but my favorite is SCRAPBOOK, a digital photo album.
Lovely lady Gail Pollock, who has been with Scotty for over 25 years, hosts the site and writes the commentary under each picture in the scrapbook. Hundreds of photos tell the story of places they’ve been, people they’ve met, and shows he’s done. There are 89 entries, mostly from 1992 to 2006, but a few go back to the 50’s.
I visit Scotty’s site frequently to see the latest photos in SCRAPBOOK. But while I’m there, I’m always drawn back to the same set of pictures I’ve seen four or five times before. You probably will understand why, when you see the title: “Backstage With the Rolling Stones in Memphis — December 15, 2005.”
Keith Richards and Ron Wood, who do the guitar fireworks for the Rolling Stones, both love and admire Scotty. They’ve recorded with him and had him backstage at four of their concerts. What started as admiration has grown into genuine friendship.
The SCRAPBOOK pictures show that Scotty and Gail and others obviously had a ball in Keith’s dressing room before the show. Then they had concert seats in the eighth row right in front of Mick Jagger (Scotty stayed backstage and watched from there). After the concert, there was a wrap party at the Peabody Hotel. It was here that Scotty got to spend some time with Mick Jagger and drummer Charlie Watts. Ron Wood spent a lot of time posing for smoochin’ pictures with Gail and the other girls. Sure looks like it was a fun party.
One backstage picture is outstanding. The dressing area at the concert venue contained a full-sized, color cutout of Elvis in his famous gold suit. Of course, this got into several of the pictures. I just love the photo of four musicians, Keith, Scotty, Elvis, and Ron. Take a quick glance at the picture and see if Elvis doesn’t look real. I liked the photo so much, I downloaded it to my hard drive and printed it out. Very cool picture.
Scotty’s whole site is, too. You can get lost for hours scrolling down through HISTORY, and connecting on all the links. Gail does a wonderful job with SCOTTY’S UPDATES. These periodic journal entries started in December 2003 when Scotty had some health problems. Now the updates are long chatty letters to all of Scotty’s fans telling them what’s going on in his life. By the way, Gail, we are long overdue for another one.
So check out Scotty’s excellent website. He’s the last man standing of those who were at Sun Studios in 1954 when it all began. He’s a gentleman who deserves all the good things going on for him now. He’s a national treasure to be cherished.
© 2006 Philip R Arnold All Rights Reserved www.elvisblog.net