The one thing Johnny Cash loved about Elvis Presley that everyone else missed: “I loved that”
When it comes to having a memorable voice and exemplary levels of showmanship, there aren’t many ways you can find fault in the efforts of someone like Elvis Presley, but when it comes to his musical abilities, these can often get overlooked.
There were, of course, stronger aspects of his artistry that perhaps deserved the attention more than his aptitude for playing a musical instrument, and the reason why other artists tend to be perceived as more of a complete package in the world of rock and roll due to having the same traits as Elvis plus a superior musical talent probably can’t be argued with.
However, it’s not as though his brilliance didn’t go unnoticed, and in the eyes of Johnny Cash, he ought to have been offered more of a chance to demonstrate his abilities. In a passage from his autobiography, ‘The Man in Black’ vividly recalls his earliest memories of seeing Elvis in the flesh, and noted just how talented he was at playing guitar, despite this not being a prominent feature of his shows after a certain point.
“I remember Elvis’ show at the Eagle’s Nest as if it were yesterday,” Cash recounted, adding that the infamous Memphis venue’s status as an adults-only establishment meant that there was only a handful of attendees, with him and his first wife, Vivian Liberto, being part of the lucky few who were there to witness it.
Cash was nonetheless impressed by the performance that Presley put on in spite of there being barely anyone there, with him recalling many of the tracks from the setlist such as ‘That’s All Right, Mama’ and ‘Long Tall Sally’ as being highlights.
“He didn’t say much,” Cash remembered. “He didn’t have to, of course; his charisma alone kept everyone’s attention.”
However, there was one thing that stood out to Cash from the outset, and given how proficient a guitar player he was himself, he felt more than equipped to compliment the ability that Presley showcased at this 1954 appearance.
“Elvis was a fabulous rhythm player,” he continued. “He’d start into ‘That’s All Right, Mama’ with his own guitar alone, and you didn’t want to hear anything else. I didn’t anyway.”
The only issue with this was the fact that the two other guitarists he had with him in his band, Scotty Moore and Bill Black, would eventually go on to cover for him more frequently. While Cash acknowledged that they were the perfect accompaniment for Presley, allowing him to be more commanding on the stage without the burden of carrying a guitar, he missed how Elvis sounded in his early years with a minimalist sound and more emphasis on his guitar playing.
“I loved that clean, simple combination of Scotty, Bill, and Elvis with his acoustic guitar,” Cash concluded. “You know, I’ve never heard or read anyone else praising Elvis as a rhythm guitar player, and after the Sun days, I never heard his own guitar on his records.”
Perhaps it’s a shame that we didn’t hear more of what Presley had to offer in this regard, but when you’re as talented as he was in other regards, there are always going to be exceptional musicians wanting to back you up, and in Moore and Black, he had the perfect companions to help his live performances come to life.
