Who was in Elvis Presley’s band?
Elvis Presley may have been the ‘King of Rock and Roll’, but it was far from a one-man show. He was the sexy mover with the rich, rolling vocal, but behind that was a crack team who kept the man on his feet and moved through the motions of Presley’s career with all the grace and steadiness that the best foundations must possess. They were, of course, the TCB Band.
TCB, dubbed by Presley as ‘Taking Care of Business’, really did just that. They were the strength and stay of his rhythm section in the course of the late 1960s and through the ‘70s until Presley’s death; though they hadn’t been there for the full ride, they were as much an integral part of King’s brand and lasting legacy.
The band stepped on to stages across America, ultimately always in Presley’s shadow but never once resenting that fact. After all, they were a part of the story of rock and roll’s greatest star; who couldn’t be happy with that?
This was clear even to the point that following the passing of their main man in 1977, the TCB Band stayed together through various iterations and even stage reunions to this very day. They are an iconic unsung force in history, so it is well worth putting names behind the title.
Who were the members of Elvis Presley’s TCB Band?
Although the TCB Band churned through a slew of members in their continued tenure in the time since Presley’s death, the key musicians who backed up the King are the main figures remembered in the TCB legacy. They consisted of James Burton on lead guitar, Jerry Scheff on bass guitar, John Wilkinson on rhythm guitar, Larry Muhoberac on keyboards, and Ron Tutt on drums.
These five musketeers were the steering force behind Presley as he took back to the stage in a make-or-break period in his career, so it was essential they made it work. They had come together as the singer was gearing into his fully fledged comeback era following his roaring 1968 TV concert comeback, and with the King knowing he had some work to do, he set about assembling a crack squad.
It first involved finding replacements for members of his original band, Scotty Moore, DJ Fontana, and Bill Black, who had all either moved on to new projects or sadly passed away. That was when Burton and Muhoberac got the call-up and were later followed by Scheff, Wilkinson, and Tutt, who were all suggested by the pair. As a five-piece, they set about building on the momentum of Presley’s resurgence – firstly, and most pressingly, a four-week residency at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, beginning in July 1969.
Eventually, as the signs that the curtains on Presley’s career were beginning to close, various core members of the TCB Band jumped ship to go and work with other musicians, most notably with Johnny Cash on his 1975 album John R Cash and with the Emmylou Harris Hot Band. But they never forgot where they came from – with numerous aforementioned reunions as well as a tribute album; the TCB Band ensured that Elvis really did live on.
