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Born Ellas Otha Bates McDaniel on Dec 30, 1928 in McComb, MS. Died Jun 2, 2008 in Archer, FL
He only had a few hits in the 1950s and early '60s, but as Bo Diddley sang, "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover." You can't judge an artist by his chart success, either, and Diddley produced greater and more influential music than all but a handful of the best early rockers. The Bo Diddley beat � bomp, ba-bomp-bomp, bomp-bomp � is one of rock & roll's bedrock rhythms, showing up in the work of Buddy Holly, the Rolling Stones, and even pop-garage knock-offs like the Strangeloves' 1965 hit "I Want Candy." Diddley's hypnotic rhythmic attack and declamatory, boasting vocals stretched back as far as Africa for their roots, and looked as far into the future as rap. His trademark otherworldly vibrating, fuzzy guitar style did much to expand the instrument's power and range. But even more important, Bo's bounce was fun and irresistibly rocking, with a wisecracking, jiving tone that epitomized rock & roll at its most humorously outlandish and freewheeling.
Before taking up blues and R&B, Diddley had actually studied classical violin, but shifted gears after hearing John Lee Hooker. In the early '50s, he began playing with his longtime partner, maraca player Jerome Green, to get what Bo's called "that freight train sound." Billy Boy Arnold, a fine blues harmonica player and singer in his own right, was also playing with Diddley when the guitarist got a deal with Chess in the mid-'50s (after being turned down by rival Chicago label Vee-Jay). His very first single, "Bo Diddley"/"I'm a Man" (1955), was a double-sided monster. The A-side was soaked with futuristic waves of tremolo guitar, set to an ageless nursery rhyme; the flip was a bump-and-grind, harmonica-driven shuffle, based around a devastating blues riff. But the result was not exactly blues, or even straight R&B, but a new kind of guitar-based rock & roll, soaked in the blues and R&B, but owing allegiance to neither.
Diddley was never a top seller on the order of his Chess rival Chuck Berry, but over the next half-dozen or so years, he'd produce a catalog of classics that rival Berry's in quality. "You Don't Love Me," "Diddley Daddy," "Pretty Thing," "Diddy Wah Diddy," "Who Do You Love?," "Mona," "Road Runner," "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover" � all are stone-cold standards of early, riff-driven rock & roll at its funkiest. Oddly enough, his only Top 20 pop hit was an atypical, absurd back-and-forth rap between him and Jerome Green, "Say Man," that came about almost by accident as the pair were fooling around in the studio.
As a live performer, Diddley was galvanizing, using his trademark square guitars and distorted amplification to produce new sounds that anticipated the innovations of '60s guitarists like Jimi Hendrix. In Great Britain, he was revered as a giant on the order of Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters. The Rolling Stones in particular borrowed a lot from Bo's rhythms and attitude in their early days, although they only officially covered a couple of his tunes, "Mona" and "I'm Alright." Other British R&B groups like the Yardbirds, Animals, and Pretty Things also covered Diddley standards in their early days. Buddy Holly covered "Bo Diddley" and used a modified Bo Diddley beat on "Not Fade Away"; when the Stones gave the song the full-on Bo treatment (complete with shaking maracas), the result was their first big British hit.
The British Invasion helped increase the public's awareness of Diddley's importance, and ever since then he's been a popular live act. Sadly, though, his career as a recording artist � in commercial and artistic terms � was over by the time the Beatles and Stones hit America. He'd record with ongoing and declining frequency, but after 1963, he'd never write or record any original material on par with his early classics. Whether he'd spent his muse, or just felt he could coast on his laurels, is hard to say. But he remains a vital part of the collective rock & roll consciousness, occasionally reaching wider visibility via a 1979 tour with the Clash, a cameo role in the film Trading Places, a late-'80s tour with Ronnie Wood, and a 1989 television commercial for sports shoes with star athlete Bo Jackson.
-- Richie Unterberger of All Music Guide.
01. Bo Diddley 02. I'm A Man 03. Bring It To Jerome 04. Before You Accuse Me 05. Hey! Bo Diddley 06. Dearest Darling |
07. Hush Your Mouth 08. Say Boss Man 09. Diddley Daddy 10. Diddy Wah Diddy 11. Who Do You Love? 12. Pretty Thing |
01. Crackin' Up 02. I'm Sorry 03. Bo's Guitar 04. Willie And Lillie 05. You Don't Love Me (you don't care) 06. Say Man |
07. The Great Grandfather 08. Oh Yeah 09. Don't Let It Go 10. Little Girl 11. Dearest Darling 12. Clock Strikes Twelve |
01. She's Alright 02. Cops And Robbers 03. Run Diddley Daddy 04. Mumbling Guitar 05. I Need You Baby (Mona) 06. Say Man |
07. Nursery Rhyme 08. I Love You So 09. Spanish Guitar 10. Dancing Girl 11. Come On Baby |
01. Roadrunner 02. Story Of Bo Diddley 03. Scuttle Bug 04. Signifying Blues 05. Let Me In 06. Limber |
07. Love Me 08. Crawdad 09. Walkin' And Talkin' 10. Travelin' West 11. Deed And Deed I Do 12. Live My Life |
01. Gun Slinger 02. Ride On Josephine 03. Doing The Crawdaddy 04. Cadillac 05. Somewhere 06. Cheyenne |
07. Sixteen Tons 08. Whoa Mule (shine) 09. No More Lovin' 10. Diddling 11. Working Man 12. Do What I Say |
01. Hey, Good Looking 02. Mush Mouth Millie 03. Bo Diddley's Hootnanny 04. London Stomp 05. Let's Walk Awhile 06. Rooster Stew |
07. La-La-La 08. Yeah Yeah Yeah 09. Rainman 10. I Wonder Why 11. Brother Bear 12. Mummy Walk |
01. Memphis 02. Gun Slinger 03. Hey! Bo Diddley 04. Old Smokey 05. Bo Diddley's Dog |
06. I'm All Right 07. Mr. Custer 08. Bo's Waltz 09. What's Bugging You? 10. Roadrunner |
01. What Did I Say? 02. White Silver Sands 03. Surfboard Cha Cha 04. Surf, Sink Or Swim 05. Piggy Back Surfers 06. Surfer's Love Call |
07. Twisting Waves 08. Wishy Washy 09. The Hucklebuck 10. Ol' Man River 11. Oops He Slipped 12. Low Tide |
01. Liverpool Drive 02. Chuck's Beat 03. When The Saints Go Marching In 04. Bo's Beat |
05. Fireball 06. Stay Sharp 07. Chuckwalk 08. Stinkey |
01. Hey! Bo Diddley 02. Say Boss Man 03. Bring It To Jerome 04. Mona |
05. Before You Accuse Me 06. You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover 07. Roadrunner |
01. Bo Diddley 02. Bring It To Jerome 03. Hey! Bo Diddley 04. Dearest Darling 05. I'm A Man 06. Diddley Daddy 07. Pretty Thing 08. She's Alright |
09. You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover 10. Road Runner 11. Say Man 12. I'm Sorry 13. Bo Diddley's A Gunslinger 14. I'm Looking For A Woman 15. Who Do You Love 16. Hush Your Mouth |
01. Long Distance Call 02. Who Do You Love? 03. I'm A Man 04. Bo Diddley 05. You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover 06. I Just Want To Make Love To You |
07. My Babe 08. You Don't Love Me (you don't care) 09. Studio Chatter 10. Sad Hours 11. Juke |
01. Don't Want No Lying Woman 02. Bo Diddley 03. Going Down 04. Make A Hit Record |
05. Bo-Jam 06. Husband-In-Law 07. Do The Robot 08. Sneakers Ona Rooster |
Disc 1 01. Bo Diddley 02 I'm A Man 03. You Don't Love Me (you don't care) 04. Diddley Daddy 05. Pretty Thing 06. Bring It To Jerome (alt.) 07. Bring It To Jerome (master) 08. Diddy Wah Diddy 09. I'm Looking For A woman 10. Who Do You Love? 11. Down Home Special 12. Hey! Bo Diddley 13. Mona 14. Say Boss Man 15. Before You Accuse Me 16. Say Man 17. Hush Your Mouth (alt.) 18. The Clock Strikes Twelve 19. Dearest Darling 20. Crackin' Up 21. Don't Let It Go 22. I'm Sorry 23. Mumbling Guitar 24. The Story of Bo Diddley |
Disc 2 01. She's All Right 02. Say Man (alt) 03. Roadrummer 04. Spend My Life With You 05. Cadillac 06. Signifying Blues 07. Deed And Deed I Do 08. You Know I Love You 09. Look At My Baby 10. Aztec 11. Ride On Josephine 12. Back Home 13. Pills 14. (Untitled Instrumental) 15. I Can Tell 16. You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover 17. Who May Your Lover Be? 18. The Greatest Lover In The World 19. 500% More Man 20. Ooh Baby 21. Bo Diddley 1969 |
01. She's Alright 02. Heart-O-Matic Love 03. I'm A Man 04. Little Girl 05. She's Fine, She's Mine 06. Bo Meets The Monster 07. I'm Bad 08. Blues Blues |
09. Rock & Roll 10. No More Lovin' 11. Cookie-Headed Diddley 12. Moon Baby 13. I Want My Baby 14. Please Mr. Engineer 15. We're Gonna Get Married 16. I'm High Again |
01. He's A Hell Of A Man 02. Don't Handle The Merchandise 03. Get Up, Get Down 04. Bad Dad 05. Can I Put My Finger On It? |
01. He's A Hell f A Man 02. Don't Handle The Merchandise 03. Get Up, Get Down 04. Bad Dad 05. Can I Put My Finger On It? |
01. Promises 02. Kids Don't Do It 03. Hear What I'm Saying 04. I'm Gonna Get Your Girlfriend 05. She Wasn't Raped |
01. Ain't It Good To Be Free 02. Bo Diddley Put The Rock In Rock & Roll 03. Gotta Be A Change 04. I Don't Want Your Welfare 05. Mona, Where's Your Sister |
06. Stabilize Yourself 07. I Don't Know Where I've Been 08. I Ain't Gonna Force It On You 09. Evil Woman 10. Let The Fox Talk |
01. Bo Diddley Is Crazy 02. Can I Walk You Home 03. Hey Baby 04. I Can't Stand It 05. He's Got A Key |
06. A Man Amongst Men 07. Coatimundi 08. That Mule 09. Kids Don't Do It 10. Oops! Bo Diddley |
01. Hey! Bo Diddley 02. Roadrunner 03. Say Boss Man 04. Bring It To Jerome 05. Somebody Beat Me |
06. I'm Sorry 07. Little Girl 08. Mona 09. You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover 10. Tonight Is Ours |
01. Bo Diddley 02. I'm A Man 03. You Don't Love Me (you don't care) 04. Diddley Daddy 05. Pretty Thing 06. Bring It To Jerome 07. I'm Looking For A Woman 08. Who Do You Love? 09. Hey! Bo Diddley 10. Mona |
11. Before You Accuse Me 12. Say Man 13. Dearest Darling 14. Crackin' Up 15. The Story Of Bo Diddley 16. Roadrunner 17. Pills 18. I Can Tell 19. You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover 20. Ooh Baby |
01. Here Tis 02. My Babe 03. Willie And Lillie 04. Crackin' Up 05. Don't Let Go 06. Roadrunner |
07. Bo Diddley 08. You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover 09. Hush Your Mouth 10. Hey! Bo Diddley 11. Say Boss Man 12. I know |
01. Elephant Man 02. Black Soul 03. Funky Fly 04. I Don't Like You 05. Shut Up Woman 06. Bad Moon Rising 07. Pollution 08. The Shape I'm In 09. Down On The Corner 10. Bad Side Of The Moon |
11. Go For Broke 12. I've Had It Hard 13. Bad Trip 14. Hey Jerome 15. Infatuation 16. Take It All Off 17. Bo Diddley-Itis 18. Bite You 19. Hit Or Miss 20. Stop The Pusher |
01. Intro/Bo Diddley 02. Doctor Jekyll 03. Everleen 04. I Don't know Where I've Been |
05. You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover 06. Roadrunner 07. I'm A Man 08. Mona |
01. Intro/Bo Diddley Vamp 02. Doctor Jekyll 03. Everleen 04. I Don't Know Where I've Been 05. You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover 06. Roadrunner 07. I'm A Man 08. Mona 09. Bo Diddley |
10. I'm A Man 11. Diddley Daddy 12. Pretty Thing 13. I'm Looking For A Woman 14. Diddy Wah Diddy 15. Who Do You Love 16. I'm Bad 17. Cops And Robbers 18. Down Home Special |
01. Bo Diddley 02. I'm A Man 03. You Don't Love Me (you don't care) 04. Diddley Daddy 05. Pretty Thing 06. Bring It To Jerome 07. I'm Looking For A woman 08. Who Do You Love? 09. Hey! Bo Diddley 10. Mona |
11. Before You Accuse Me 12. Say Man 13. Dearest Darling 14. Crackin' Up 15. The Story Of Bo Diddley 16. Roadrunner 17. Pills 18. I Can Tell 19. You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover 20. Ooh Baby |