Bo Diddley
| Bo Diddley | |
|---|---|
 Bo Diddley performing live in 2006
| |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ellas Otha Bates |
| Also known as | Ellas McDaniel |
| Born | December 30 1928 |
| Origin | McComb, Mississippi, USA |
| Genre(s) | Rock and roll, blues |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1951 - present |
| Label(s) | Checker Records, Chess Records |
Bo Diddley (December 30, 1928 - June 2, 2008) aka "The Originator," was an influential American rock and roll singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Often cited as a key figure in the transition from blues to rock and roll, he introduced more insistent, driving rhythms and a hard-edged guitar sound. He was also known for his characteristic rectangular guitar.
Early life and career
Born Ellas Otha Bates[1] in McComb, Mississippi, he was adopted and raised by his mother's cousin, Gussie McDaniel, whose surname he adopted, becoming Ellas McDaniel. The family moved to Chicago when he was seven. He took violin lessons as a youth, but was inspired to become a guitarist after seeing John Lee Hooker.
He worked as a carpenter and mechanic, but also began a musical career playing on street corners with friends, including Jerome Greenb(c.1934-1973), as a band called the Hipsters (later the Langley Avenue Jive Cats). In 1951, he landed a regular spot at the 708 Club on Chicago's South Side, with a repertoire influenced by Louis Jordan, John Lee Hooker, and Muddy Waters. He adopted the stage name, Bo Diddley, which is probably a southern black slang phrase meaning "nothing at all," as in "he ain't bo diddley." Another source says it was his nickname as a teenage Golden Gloves boxer. The nickname is also linked to the diddley bow, a two-stringed instrument that was used in the south by black musicians working in the fields.
In late 1954, he teamed up with harmonica player Billy Boy Arnold, drummer Clifton James, and bass player Roosevelt Jackson, and recorded demos of "I'm A Man" and "Bo Diddley." They re-recorded the songs at Chess Studios with a backing ensemble comprising Otis Spann (piano), Lester Davenport (harmonica), Frank Kirkland (drums), and Jerome Green (maracas). The record was released in March of 1955, the a-side, "Bo Diddley," becoming an R&B # 1 hit.
The Bo Diddley beat and guitar
Bo Diddley is best known for the "Bo Diddley beat," a rumba-like beat (see clave), similar to "hambone," a style used by street performers who play out the beat by slapping and patting their arms, legs, chest, and cheeks while chanting rhymes. Diddley came across the beat while trying to play Gene Autry's "(I've Got Spurs That) Jingle, Jangle, Jingle". Three years before Bo's "Bo Diddley," a song that closely resembles it, "Hambone," was cut by Red Saunders' Orchestra with The Hambone Kids.
In its simplest form, the Bo Diddley beat can be counted out as a two-bar phrase:
- "One and two and three and four and one and two and three and four and..." The bolded counts are the clave rhythm.
His songs (for example, "Hey Bo Diddley" and "Who Do You Love?") often have no chord changes; that is, the musicians play the same chord throughout the piece, so that excitement is created by the rhythm, rather than by harmonic tension and release. In his own recordings, Bo Diddley used a variety of rhythms, from straight back beat to pop ballad style, frequently with maracas by Jerome Green.
He is also an influential guitar player, with many special effects and other innovations in tone and attack. Bo Diddley's trademark instrument is the rectangular-bodied Gretsch, nicknamed "The Twang Machine" (although he has had other similar-shaped guitars custom-made for him by other manufacturers), a guitar that he developed himself around 1958 and wielded in thousands of concerts over the years. In a 2005 interview on JJJ radio in Australia, Bo implied that the design was born from embarrassment. In an early gig, while jumping around on stage with a Gibson L5 guitar, he landed awkwardly hurting his groin. He then went about designing a smaller, less restrictive guitar so he could keep jumping around. He also plays the violin, which is featured on his mournful instrumental "The Clock Strikes Twelve," a 12-bar blues.
His lyrics are often witty and humorous adaptations of folk music themes. The song "Bo Diddley" was based on the lullaby "Hush Little Baby." Likewise, "Hey Bo Diddley" is based on the folk song "Old Macdonald." The rap-style boasting of "Who Do You Love," a wordplay on hoodoo, used many striking lyrics from the African-American tradition of toasts and boasts. His "Say Man" and "Say Man, Back Again" both share a strong connection to the insult game known as the dozens. For example: "You got the nerve to call somebody ugly, why you so ugly the stork that brought you into the world ought to be arrested".
Success in the 1950s and 1960s
On November 20, 1955, Diddley appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show only to infuriate the host. "I did two songs and he got mad," Bo Diddley later recalled. "Ed Sullivan said that I was one of the first colored boys to ever double-cross him. Said that I wouldn't last six months." Bo Diddley was asked to sing Tennessee Ernie Ford's hit "Sixteen Tons," but when he appeared on stage, he sang "Bo Diddley." He was banned from further appearances.
He continued to have hits through the late 1950s and the 1960s, including "Pretty Thing" (1956), "Say Man" (1959), and "You Can't Judge a Book By the Cover" (1962). He released a string of albums whose titles — including Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger and Have Guitar, Will Travel — bolstered his self-invented legend. Between 1958 and 1963, Checker Records released 11 full-length albums by Bo Diddley. Although Bo Diddley was a breakthrough crossover artist with white audiences, appearing on the Alan Freed concerts, for example, he rarely tailored his compositions to teenage concerns.
The Bo Diddley beat was used by many other artists in the 1950s and 1960s, notably Elvis Presley ("His Latest Flame"); Jefferson Airplane ("She Has Funny Cars"); Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders ("The Game of Love"); Dee Clark ("Hey Little Girl"); The Byrds ("Don't Doubt Yourself, Babe"); and Johnny Otis ("Willie and the Hand Jive"). The early The Rolling Stones sound was strongly associated with their versions of "Not Fade Away" and "I Need You Baby (Mona)." Buddy Holly's version of "Bo Diddley" provided him with a top-ten posthumous hit in the UK in 1963, peaking at No. 7 in the summer of that year.
In 1963, he starred in a UK concert tour with the Everly Brothers and Little Richard. The Rolling Stones, still unknown, were much lower on the same bill. Over the decades, his performances have ranged from sweaty Chicago clubs to rock-and-roll oldies tours. He appeared as an opening act for The Clash and as a guest of the Rolling Stones. On March 28, 1972, he played with The Grateful Dead at the Academy of Music in New York City. This concert was released for the Grateful Dead's Dick's Picks live album series as Volume 30.
In addition to the many songs identified with him, he wrote the pioneering pop song "Love Is Strange" for Mickey and Sylvia under a pseudonym.
Bo Diddley was one of the first American musicians to have women in his band, including Peggy Jones (aka Lady Bo, b.1940), Norma-Jean Wofford (aka The Duchess, c.1942-2005), and Cornelia Redmond (aka Cookie). He also set up one of the first home recording studios.
The later years
In his later years, Bo Diddley received numerous accolades in recognition of his role as one of the founding fathers of rock and roll. In 1986, he was inducted into the Washington Area Music Association's Hall of Fame. The following year saw his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His pioneering contribution to rockabilly has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. In 1996, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. The following year saw his 1955 recording of his song "Bo Diddley" inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as a recording of lasting qualitative or historical significance. He received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998.
The start of the new millennium saw Bo Diddley inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame and into the North Florida Music Association's Hall of Fame. In 2002, he received a Pioneer in Entertainment Award from the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters and a Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) Icon Award.
In 2003, U.S. Representative John Conyers paid tribute to Bo Diddley in the United States House of Representatives who described him as "one of the true pioneers of rock and roll, who has influenced generations".
In 2004, Mickey and Sylvia's 1956 recording of his song, "Love Is Strange," was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as a recording of qualitative or historical significance, and he was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Blues Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him #20 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
In 2005, Bo Diddley celebrated his fiftieth anniversary in music with successful tours of Australia and Europe, and with coast-to-coast shows across North America. He performed his song "Bo Diddley" with Eric Clapton and Robbie Robertson at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's twentieth annual induction ceremony and in the UK, Uncut magazine included his 1958 debut album "Bo Diddley" in its listing of the "100 Music, Movie & TV Moments That Have Changed The World."
In 2006, Bo Diddley participated as the headliner of a grass-roots organized fundraiser concert, to benefit the town of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The "Florida Keys for Katrina Relief" was originally set for October 23, 2005, but Hurricane Wilma barreled through the Florida Keys on October 24, causing flooding and economic mayhem. In January of 2006, the Florida Keys had recovered enough to host the fundraising concert to benefit the more hard-hit community of Ocean Springs. When asked about the fundraiser Bo Diddley stated, "This is the United States of America. We believe in helping one another." [2]
He spent many years in New Mexico, not only as a musician, but as a law officer. He lived in Los Lunas from 1971 to 1978 while continuing his musical career. Bo Diddley served for two and a half years as Deputy Sheriff in the Valencia County Citizens' Patrol; during that time he personally purchased and donated three highway-patrol pursuit cars.
Later, he resided in Archer, Florida, a small farming town near Gainesville, Florida, where he attended a born-again Christian church with some of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Diddley performed a number of shows around the country in 2005 and 2006 with the Johnnie Johnson Band, featuring Johnson on keyboards, Richard Hunt on drums and Gus Thornton on bass. He continued to tour around the world, and in the summer of 2006, he worked on some faith-based songs, some of which utilized his own original music.
2007 illness and death
On May 17, 2007, Bo Diddley was reported to be in intensive care in Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, following a stroke during a concert at Council Bluffs, Iowa on May 13. He has a history of hypertension and diabetes, and tests indicated that the stroke affected the left side of his brain, impairing his speech and speech recognition. A spokeswoman said there were no further details on his condition, or how long he would be in hospital. A later report indicated that Diddley was in "guarded" condition.
While recovering from the massive stroke and heart attack, he came back to his home town of (McComb) for the unveiling of a plaque, on the National Blues Trail devoted to him. The plaque stated he was "acclaimed as a founder of rock and roll." He was not supposed to perform but as he listened to the music of local musician Jesse Robinson, who sang a song written for this occasion, Robinson sensed Bo Diddley wanted to perform and handed him a microphone. This was the first time Bo Diddley performed publicly since his stroke and heart attack.
Diddley died on June 2 2008 at the age of 79 of heart failure at his home in Archer, Florida. Garry Mitchell, a grandson of the singer and one of more than 35 family members at the musician's home when he died at about 1:45 a.m. EDT (0545 GMT), said his death was not unexpected. "There was a gospel song that was sung and he said 'wow' with a thumbs up," Mitchell told Reuters, when asked to describe the scene at Diddley's deathbed. "The song was 'Walk Around Heaven' and in his last words he said that he was going to heaven."[3]
Legacy
Many singers and musical groups have incorporated Bo Diddley's style, including: U2 ("Desire"); The Smiths ("How Soon Is Now?"); Roxette ("Harleys And Indians (Riders In The Sky)"); George Michael ("Faith"); The Strangeloves ("I Want Candy"); Guns N' Roses ("Mr. Brownstone"); David Bowie ("Panic in Detroit"); The Pretenders ("Cuban Slide"); The Police ("Deathwish"); and The White Stripes ("Screwdriver").
Muddy Waters' "Mannish Boy" (originally "Manish Boy") was an adaptation of Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man" and also an answer song, the title being Muddy Waters' take on his younger rival.
The Finnish rock/blues band Max on the Rox also covered "Who Do You Love" in their second album, Rox II.
Diddley was also very popular by proto-punk musicians and later in the punk scene. For example both the New York Dolls and The Lurkers recorded their own version of his song "Pills," and Diddley was the opening act on The Clash's first U.S. tour.
Discography
- Bo Diddley (1958)
- Go Bo Diddley (1959)
- Have Guitar Will Travel (1960) [1]
- Bo Diddley in the Spotlight (1960)
- Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger (1960) (Checker 2977) Album Cover
- Bo Diddley Is a Lover (1961)
- Bo Diddley's a Twister (1962)
- Bo Diddley (1962)
- Bo Diddley & Company (1962)
- Surfin' with Bo Diddley (1963)
- Bo Diddley's Beach Party (1963)
- Bo Diddley's 16 All-Time Greatest Hits (1964)
- Two Great Guitars (with Chuck Berry) (1964)
- Hey Good Lookin' (1965)
- 500% More Man (1965)
- The Originator (1966)
- Super Blues (with Muddy Waters & Little Walter) (1967)
- Super Super Blues Band (with Muddy Waters & Howlin' Wolf) (1967)
- The Black Gladiator (1970)
- Another Dimension (1971)
- Where It All Began (1972)
- Got My Own Bag of Tricks (1972)
- The London Bo Diddley Sessions (1973)
- Big Bad Bo (1974)
- 20th Anniversary of Rock & Roll (1976)
- I'm a Man (1977)
- Ain't It Good To Be Free (1983)
- Bo Diddley & Co - Live (1985)
- Hey...Bo Diddley in Concert (1986)
- Breakin' Through the BS (1989)
- Living Legend (1989)
- Rare & Well Done (1991)
- Live at the Ritz (with Ronnie Wood) (1992)
- This Should Not Be (1993)
- Promises (1994)
- A Man Amongst Men (1996)
- Moochas Gracias (with Anna Moo) (2002)
- Dick's Picks #30 (1972 5-song Live Session with The Grateful Dead) (2003)
Notes
- ↑ Some sources give his name as Otha Ellas Bates
- ↑ http://www.floridakeysforkatrinarelief.com/musical_performers.htm
- ↑ http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0228500620080602
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- George-Warren, Holly, and Levine, Laura. Shake, Rattle, & Roll: The Founders of Rock and Roll. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. ISBN 978-0618055401
- Holt, Sid. The Rolling Stone Interviews: The 1980s. New York: St. Martin's Press/Rolling Stone Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0312029746
- Traum, Artie, and Funaro, Arti. The Legends of Rock Guitar. New York: Oak Publications, 1986. ISBN 978-0711910218
- White, George R. Bo Diddley, Living Legend. Chessington, Surrey, England: Castle Communications, 1995. ISBN 978-1860741302
External links
- Authorized Website Bo Diddley-The Originator
- "The Gig That Almost Didn't Happen", by Dinky Dawson, Crawdaddy!, November 7, 2007.
- Discography Albums & Singles StarPulse.com/Music/Diddley, Bo
- Who 2
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