BO DIDDLEY

Bo Diddley was the least popular and most avant-garde of the major rock & roll originators. He had only one Top 40 hit--the groove-based comedy record "Say Man," in 1959, well after his magical name and ubiquitous beat became famous. The dozens of origin myths surrounding these two wonders boil down to one: Afro-America. Habanera, hambone, sanctified handclaps, Congo retentions, Chicago playground games, forgotten black vaudevillians, 19th-century street shtick, broom wire nailed to the side of a house--all this and more went into the 20 songs variously compiled as The Definitive Collection, released in April 2007.

Everybody knows the beat, a swung three-and-two--like for instance, the Rolling Stones ("Not Fade Away"), Bruce Springsteen ("She's the One") and U2 ("Desire"). The man born Ellas Bates didn't invent that beat. He merely isolated it, orchestrated it and built his own less-is-more, rhythm-first style around it. The archetype is the 1955 R&B sensation "Bo Diddley," which arranges Bo's beat for toms, maracas and his loudly distorted guitar--no bass. Its B-side, however, was unsyncopated: his much-covered Chicago blues "I'm a Man." Three quarters of The Definitive Collectionreconfigures the beat--for drum kit on "Hey! Bo Diddley," for guitar and voice on the Stones' beloved "Mona," on and on. But it also shuffles, boogies, shouts and rips off the Everly Brothers.

Bo Diddley wasn't one for catchy tunes. So although his big voice was made for electric blues, and his commercial conscience made room for any black pop mode that might sell, the choicest of the 25 additional tracks on the now-download-only Chess Box are Diddleybeat variations--"Cadillac"'s sax, "The Clock Strikes Twelve"'s violin--and one-upping routines like "Signifying Blues" and "Say Man, Back Again." Early Bo was the best Bo, and so it goes. The strongest proof of what a powerhouse he remained anyway is the blues-dominated 1984 concert Bo's the Man!: Bo Diddley Live on Tour. But he was a man until he died of heart failure on June 2, 2008. (Robert Christgau)

Bo Diddley was one of the great fathers of rock and roll, ranking with such artists as Fats Domino in both

importance and influence.  His most important songs included "I'm A Man", "Who Do You Love", "Mona", and "Road Runner."  These were among the building blocks of the English rock of the 60's. If Chuck Berry had a vision of America as a comic-book paradise, Bo countered it with a view of all of life, but particularly sex, as a profound cosmic joke, played out at the expense of everyone, but particularly the solemn and pompous.  So he wisecracked and cackled his way through songs with themes that bordered on the absurd: a botched stickup; a series of crazed, sometimes demonic love affairs.  In addition to Bo's whipping guitar, his singing told the story,  Cracking up, biting, sarcastic, jive and angry by turns, that voice often seemed to be putting on everything in the world, including itself.

People will say when someone new comes along, that he's kind of like this guy or that guy. They will never, ever say, 'Oh, he's like Bo Diddley.' He was as one-of-a-kind as you could possibly imagine. (Dave Marsh)

It's a good day because I've walked on the planet at the same time as Bo Diddley, (Billy Gibbons) 

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Essential Listening

The single best Bo collection I've seen is The Story Of Bo Diddley, which covers all the bases and includes some rare obscurities like the hard-to-find "Here `Tis", "You All Green" ("the baddest hombre that you've ever seen!") and "Hey Kruschev".  If you want one Bo CD, that's the one to get.

If, however, you're dedicated enough to want to dig deeper (I was), the Rare and Well Done collection contains some pretty good stuff ("We're Gonna Get Married", "Hey Mr. Engineer").

The original Bo Diddley album from 1958 us a stone classic - not a single weak track.  You can get it as a two-fer with his second album, Go Bo Diddley which is quite decent in its own right.  My next favorite after the debut is the also-named Bo Diddley, released on Chess subsidiary Checker in 1962.  It's out-of-print and tough to find, but well worth it (with a little web-searching, a digital version can be easily re-created).  It was a hit in the UK and a major influence on the British R&B scene.   Also highly recommended: Bo Diddley in the Spotlight available as a two-fer with Have Guitar Will Travel, Bo Diddley's A Twister (available as a two-fer with the also very good Bo Diddley and Company).  Bo Diddley's Beach Party is a rackety live album from the early 60's and worth hearing.

Essential Reading

There is actually a Bo Diddley book - Bo Diddley: Living Legend by George R. White.  I haven't read it.

Essential Viewing

The only extensive footage I've come across of the man in action at his peak is in The Big TNT Show, a fascinating (and underrated) concert film from the mid 60's featuring a plethora of worthy talent.  TNT has not been released officially on DVD, but bootlegs can be found.  If you still have your VCR, it's on with the even better TAMI Show on a 1984 tape entitled That Was Rock, and you can get it cheap.