RIP Bo Diddley

A true giant. RIP.

BO DIDDLEY IS JESUS

A full life, a hell of a life, and goddamn, that guitar and what he did with it. RIP.

RIP

no reaction from Keith Richards?

that guitar and THAT BEAT.

listening to "Who Do You Love" on the La Bamba soundtrack, a real highlight of one of the greats

"watch the technique of bo diddley!"

I LOVE YOU BO YOU HELPED INVENT THE WORLD I LIVE IN! ROCK ON!

Tombstone hand and a graveyard mind, just 22 and I don't mind dyin'.

RIP

another great one gone, RIP

RIP

http://static.flickr.com/74/215461909_8ce154256a_t.jpg

oh man, the best.

Mona is an all-time fave.

http://www.altmanphoto.com/diddley_guitar.jpg

What a bummer to read this. RIP.

So much that is awesome wouldn't have existed if it wasn't for this guy. RIP.

RIP

Scott that photo is terrific!

Bo, you don't know Diddley.

RIP

http://www.torontobluessociety.com/images/0705bo_diddley.jpg

more awesomeness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F1Mk6U5zVY

Quote I just found from Michael Lydon's book Boogie Lightning:

'The humor is not just the jokes; it's Bo's whole stance. He obviously enjoys making records, and that enjoyment comes through in the music.'

Damn straight.

RIP Bo.
"Pills" going on the stereo is in 1, 2....

AW NO

RIP

Oh, that blows.

yes, let's have more youtube goodness

I'm a Man, 1989:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM_h7gh74cc

wait, he JUST died?

oh...nevermind...was somehow under the impression that he was two decades older than he is...

Terrible news. RIP.

RIP

There once was a thread on ILM called "Eponymous Songs": my flatmate at the time owned a massive Chess/Bo box set and so I dutifully copied the following list from that:

'Bo Diddley'. 'Diddley Daddy'. 'Hey Bo Diddley'. 'Bo's Guitar'. 'Bo Meets the Monster'. 'Story of Bo Diddley'. 'Run Diddley Daddy'. 'Bo Diddley's A Gunslinger'. 'Bo Diddley is a Lover'. 'Bo Diddley is Loose'. 'Bo's Bounce'. 'Bo's Twist'. 'Bo's A Lumberjack'. 'Cookie Headed Diddley'. 'Bo Diddley's Dog'. 'Bo's Waltz'. 'Monkey Diddley'. 'Bo Diddley's Hoot'Nanny'. 'You Bo Diddley'. 'Bo Diddley-Itis'. 'Bo-Jam'.
-- Andrew L, Saturday, 19 May 2001 00:00 (7 years ago) Link

"Road Runner" in 1960, great chunky guitar tone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs8FJergjas

He kept on rocking till he was nearly 80!

RIP

Damn. Now one of the immortals for real. Hope he arrived at the gates in his cobra-snake necktie.

RIP. So long, gunslinger.

Oh I forgot. RIP.

Is Honeyboy Edwards still alive?

A genuine shame. RIP Bo

http://www.jameshyman.com/blog/archives/Uncut100MarkESmithBoDiddley.jpg

Yes, he played the UK this week I think.

(xpost re Honeyboy)

GOD I've got to see him before he knocks off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgzn7VyoqEw

My thoughts, such as they are.

Fuck Monday mornings. :( :( :( :( :( :(

Playing Bo Diddley's Beach Party right now...

Going home after work to blast "Another Sugar Daddy."

I always liked that story about how on the Clash tour, Bo put his guitar in the bunk while he slept in a chair.

Bo had his own take on that story.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8f/Go_Bo_Diddley_1959.jpg

^^this is going on the turntable as soon as i get home.

Ain't no town, ain't no city
Lord how they love in Diddy Wah Diddy.

ah diddy wah *plink plink plank, plink plank plank*

:(

Always thought it was a 'tombstone hat and a graveyard mind' - obviously not; though I had a clear picture of what a 'tombstone hat' looked like.

R.I.P.

Bo had his own take on that story...

When journalists asked Diddley about the story, he said the tale and the Clash are bunk.
"What bus? You ain't read nothing about me being on no bus. Oh man you're going back... I ain't been on the tour with the Clash," he said. "I never went on the tour with the Clash. I played a job in Vancouver, Canada with the Clash, never a tour, baby. I couldn't take that more than one night. My ears are still ringing from that."

I must respectfully differ, because he definitely opened for The Clash at the Santa Monica Civic. (I was only 13 but I remember things like that)

music geek minutia question--

DC violinist Eddie Drennon who played on Latin records and disco records in NYC in the '60s and '70s supposedly worked with Bo---

His expert arranging skills coupled with his talent for the violin brought him to the ears of Bo Diddley. Diddley hired Drennon as his musical director and he toured with Bo in 1966-67.

http://www.discomuseum.com/EddieDrennon.html

Somebody (who knows alot about music) told me they were skeptical of Drennon's claims, although a local dj/record collector who later booked Drennon assured me Drennon did work with Bo. Anybody know more?

Oh, and Ned, it sounds like Bo wanted to forget that 1978 Clash tour of North America, because I recall that he was on the ads for the DC and NYC shows too, not just Vancouver.

RIP Bo.

Oh, and Ned, it sounds like Bo wanted to forget that 1978 Clash tour of North America, because I recall that he was on the ads for the DC and NYC shows too, not just Vancouver.

Bo was great, but crowd response at the SMC (as it was apparently everywhere else) was "who's this crazy old guy on stage?"

A similar thing happened a couple years later when Jerry Lee Lewis opened up for X.

x-post --The Clash's late '79 and into '79 tour of North America. Sadly I let snow keep me from the DC show with Bo. I later saw Screamin Jay Hawkins open up a show for the Clash in fall of 79.

NOW there are no more cheeseburgers in the world. RIP.

I can't find the link, but Stan Ridgway tells a brilliant story about how he and some friends managed to get Bo to play at one of their high school dances. It begins with them calling Bo up on the phone "Hello? Mr. Diddley?" and ends with a storming dance scene with the power cutting out, kids on acid, etc.

x-post late '78 to early '79 Clash tour

Bo used to play everywhere. I recall a show at a little Atlantic Ocean beach coast bar in Rehobeth or Dewey Beach Delaware near Ocean City, Maryland around 10 years ago.

Aw, shit man, that's awful. Bo was my absolute favourite of those original '50s cats, the one who still sounds weird and outside of time, the one without whom we may not have had rap or metal, the one without whom I would never have developed the annoying habit of answering "Whut's that?" anytime anyone says "Say man," etc.

I'm turning the sound down on tonight's hockey game and throwing on the Chess Box as a soundtrack.

RIP, man.

Rest in peace, you crazy (like a fox) cat.

I never begrudged he and Chuck Berry for wanting to milk their audiences for all they were worth; if there were justice, they would have been multimillionaires.

http://www.dustygroove.com/images/products/d/diddle_bo~~_bodiddley_102b.jpg

now let's hear the story of bo diddley and the rock and roll scene in general

^^ someone explain to me the end of that song

So is The Chess Box the best comp?

Good starting point, yes. Like Star Time for James Brown.

Nice blog entry from Jimmy Guterman about Bo Diddley's Beach Party as a next place to go -- but as he says, "stop reading this and buy The Chess Box immediately."

RIP

wow......rest well, Bo

This is a tough week for deaths...

RIP

http://www.transbuddha.com/images/uploads/bodidle.jpg

"In Philadelphia, it's worth fifty bucks."

RIP

ned that portishead connect is nice.

meanwhile, in facts about rock pioneer bo diddley, we get this:

The distinctive 5/4 rhythm pattern that became known as "the Bo Diddley beat" can be heard in dozens of other musicians' songs...

i know it's easy to be pedantic about this kind of thing, but still. 5/4?

ned that portishead connect is nice

Thanks -- it was just one of those sudden flashes that made perfect sense.

Somewhere, I have a (legit) live cassette. 15 minute version of "Bo Diddley". No damn slack!

RIP Bo.

Now for the UK tributes, right?

i know it's easy to be pedantic about this kind of thing, but still. 5/4?
They were confusing him with Bo Bacharach.

Anyway, looking at some other youtubes, I'm reminded of one time I saw him and how nice he was to his bass player and, apparently, musical leader, Debby.

if he'd married her, she'd be Debby Diddley.

(I KNOW I KNOW!!)

you the thing i throw peanuts at

RIP

I have always loved his music and it's sad to know that he isn't on this planet. I'm going to listen to "Pills" right now.

I got the Hip-O-Select thing recently, which is very good but, like it says on the cover, is about the early years, so doesn't have stuff like "Pills" and "Ride On Josephine." Does have the original but never released version of "Love Is Strange."

Great story from Dave Alvin here about the time he and others backed up Bo in 1983. Key parts:

"Whatever you do, do not play 'the Beat!' "

That was the first thing Bo Diddley said to us before we walked onto the stage of the Music Machine club in West L.A. for two sets in 1983. We were a mix of members of the Blasters and X who had agreed, with great enthusiasm, to back up one of our greatest heroes for free at a benefit show for the Southern California Blues Society.

To say that we were upset by his announcement/warning would be an understatement. How could you play Bo Diddley songs and not play the powerful, infectious and sensual Bo Diddley Beat?

...

As the set progressed and I began to get comfortable with Bo's new beats, I started thinking that it was close-minded of me to expect him to play the old songs the same old way. Wasn't Bo Diddley as much of a musical revolutionary as Bob Dylan? Weren't his original recordings of "Mona" or "Who Do You Love?" as musically unique, pivotal and influential in their day as Dylan's?

...

Some people would argue that Bo was one of the architects of funk and, if that's the case, why shouldn't he be allowed to follow his own rhythmic path to wherever it might lead him? Why should Bo Diddley have to be stuck in the past just because that's where a part of his audience (and perhaps his backing bands) wanted him to remain?

I remember smiling on stage like a goofball as I realized all of this and came to the conclusion that if you really dig Bo Diddley, then let Bo Diddley be Bo Diddley! I was a young guy at the time who was trying his best to replicate old music -- and that's the best way to learn, believe me -- but that night Bo taught me a lesson about growing and surviving as a musician/artist: Stay true to yourself.

After the first set I approached Bo backstage and told him what I had been thinking while I played with him. "That's right," he said, laughing. "I already made all them old records years ago. Now I'm keeping myself new."

rip, one of The Greatest innovators. i hear some serious velvet underground in some of his solos and the beat in general;which makes him a bit protopunk on top of everything else.
we love you

Wasn't Bo Diddley as much of a musical revolutionary as Bob Dylan?

More

Some people would argue that Bo was one of the architects of funk

And who would argue he wasn't?

someone on another board started a thread titled "BO DEADDLEY" :-/

what does his music have to do with funk?

for starters, scratchy guitar

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf200/f232/f2329626u1x.jpg

^^^ THIS

R.I.P.

making fucking insane brilliant records up there right now, I expect

John Moore (oddly the only member of the Mary Chain with a university named after him) in the Guardian:

http://music.guardian.co.uk/rock/story/0,,2283852,00.html

what does his music have to do with funk?

Have you ever heard any Bo Diddley? Or any funk?

Nice one, John Moore.

Yeah, that's really good.

i was being a little facetious, but i do think, of all the major black musicians of the 50s and 60s, diddley is not one who seems an obvious progenitor of funk (even if he did try some funky stuff later in his career). the various diddley beats are too frantic... they just don't seem to have many of the essential rhythmic components of funk.

I'd say he was far and away the most obvious

If you're talking of 1955, for instance

Ned Sublette written tribute/profile in Smithsonian magazine

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/bo-diddley.html?c=y&page=1