I LOVE YOU BO YOU HELPED INVENT THE WORLD I LIVE IN! ROCK ON!
― scott seward, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:20 (fifteen years ago) link
Tombstone hand and a graveyard mind, just 22 and I don't mind dyin'.
RIP
― kingkongvsgodzilla, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:20 (fifteen years ago) link
another great one gone, RIP
― sleeve, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:24 (fifteen years ago) link
― StanM, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:26 (fifteen years ago) link
http://static.flickr.com/74/215461909_8ce154256a_t.jpg
oh man, the best.
Mona is an all-time fave.
― dan selzer, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:27 (fifteen years ago) link
http://www.altmanphoto.com/diddley_guitar.jpg
― scott seward, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:27 (fifteen years ago) link
What a bummer to read this. RIP.
― Pashmina, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:29 (fifteen years ago) link
So much that is awesome wouldn't have existed if it wasn't for this guy. RIP.
― Colonel Poo, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:29 (fifteen years ago) link
Scott that photo is terrific!
― DJ Mencap, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:30 (fifteen years ago) link
Bo, you don't know Diddley.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:31 (fifteen years ago) link
http://www.torontobluessociety.com/images/0705bo_diddley.jpg
― kingkongvsgodzilla, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:31 (fifteen years ago) link
more awesomeness:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F1Mk6U5zVY
― scott seward, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:32 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:40 (fifteen years ago) link
RIP Bo. "Pills" going on the stereo is in 1, 2....
― ian, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:40 (fifteen years ago) link
AW NO
― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:42 (fifteen years ago) link
Oh, that blows.
― Billy Pilgrim, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:43 (fifteen years ago) link
yes, let's have more youtube goodness
I'm a Man, 1989:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM_h7gh74cc
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:44 (fifteen years ago) link
wait, he JUST died?
oh...nevermind...was somehow under the impression that he was two decades older than he is...
― RabiesAngentleman, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:45 (fifteen years ago) link
Terrible news. RIP.
― Daniel, Esq., Monday, 2 June 2008 16:48 (fifteen years ago) link
― snoball, Monday, 2 June 2008 16:59 (fifteen years ago) link
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
― Ward Fowler, Monday, 2 June 2008 17:04 (fifteen 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!
― Pashmina, Monday, 2 June 2008 17:08 (fifteen years ago) link
― 2for25, Monday, 2 June 2008 17:21 (fifteen years ago) link
Damn. Now one of the immortals for real. Hope he arrived at the gates in his cobra-snake necktie.
― Terrible Cold, Monday, 2 June 2008 17:27 (fifteen years ago) link
RIP. So long, gunslinger.
― Rock Hardy, Monday, 2 June 2008 17:30 (fifteen years ago) link
Oh I forgot. RIP.
Is Honeyboy Edwards still alive?
― RabiesAngentleman, Monday, 2 June 2008 17:32 (fifteen years ago) link
A genuine shame. RIP Bo
― Display Name, Monday, 2 June 2008 17:41 (fifteen years ago) link
http://www.jameshyman.com/blog/archives/Uncut100MarkESmithBoDiddley.jpg
― stroker ace, Monday, 2 June 2008 17:42 (fifteen years ago) link
Yes, he played the UK this week I think.
(xpost re Honeyboy)
― Raw Patrick, Monday, 2 June 2008 17:43 (fifteen years ago) link
GOD I've got to see him before he knocks off.
― RabiesAngentleman, Monday, 2 June 2008 17:46 (fifteen years ago) link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgzn7VyoqEw
― unperson, Monday, 2 June 2008 18:01 (fifteen years ago) link
My thoughts, such as they are.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 2 June 2008 18:11 (fifteen years ago) link
Fuck Monday mornings. :( :( :( :( :( :(
Playing Bo Diddley's Beach Party right now...
― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 2 June 2008 18:13 (fifteen years ago) link
Going home after work to blast "Another Sugar Daddy."
― Pete Scholtes, Monday, 2 June 2008 18:16 (fifteen years ago) link
I always liked that story about how on the Clash tour, Bo put his guitar in the bunk while he slept in a chair.
― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 2 June 2008 18:21 (fifteen years ago) link
Bo had his own take on that story.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 2 June 2008 18:22 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― chicago kevin, Monday, 2 June 2008 18:23 (fifteen years ago) link
Ain't no town, ain't no city Lord how they love in Diddy Wah Diddy.
― briania, Monday, 2 June 2008 18:25 (fifteen years ago) link
ah diddy wah *plink plink plank, plink plank plank*
― RabiesAngentleman, Monday, 2 June 2008 18:33 (fifteen years ago) link
:(
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:18 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― sonofstan, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:41 (fifteen years ago) link
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."
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)
― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:46 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:54 (fifteen years ago) link
RIP Bo.
― dad a, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:56 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 2 June 2008 19:57 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:00 (fifteen years ago) link
NOW there are no more cheeseburgers in the world. RIP.
― Kevin John Bozelka, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:02 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:02 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:06 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Myonga Vön Bontee, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:09 (fifteen years ago) link
Rest in peace, you crazy (like a fox) cat.
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:33 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 2 June 2008 20:56 (fifteen years ago) link
http://www.dustygroove.com/images/products/d/diddle_bo~~_bodiddley_102b.jpg
― Jazzbo, Monday, 2 June 2008 21:06 (fifteen years ago) link
now let's hear the story of bo diddley and the rock and roll scene in general
― moonship journey to baja, Monday, 2 June 2008 21:20 (fifteen years ago) link
^^ someone explain to me the end of that song
― moonship journey to baja, Monday, 2 June 2008 21:21 (fifteen years ago) link
So is The Chess Box the best comp?
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 2 June 2008 22:16 (fifteen years ago) link
Good starting point, yes. Like Star Time for James Brown.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 2 June 2008 22:18 (fifteen years ago) link
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."
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 2 June 2008 22:23 (fifteen years ago) link
― M@tt He1ges0n, Monday, 2 June 2008 22:26 (fifteen years ago) link
wow......rest well, Bo
― rev, Monday, 2 June 2008 22:31 (fifteen years ago) link
This is a tough week for deaths...
― Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved, Monday, 2 June 2008 23:38 (fifteen years ago) link
http://www.transbuddha.com/images/uploads/bodidle.jpg
― C. Grisso/McCain, Monday, 2 June 2008 23:40 (fifteen years ago) link
"In Philadelphia, it's worth fifty bucks."
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 2 June 2008 23:58 (fifteen years ago) link
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?
― tipsy mothra, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 04:53 (fifteen years ago) link
ned that portishead connect is nice
Thanks -- it was just one of those sudden flashes that made perfect sense.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 04:56 (fifteen years ago) link
Somewhere, I have a (legit) live cassette. 15 minute version of "Bo Diddley". No damn slack!
― Mark G, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 06:52 (fifteen years ago) link
Now for the UK tributes, right?
― Mark G, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 08:56 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 10:25 (fifteen years ago) link
if he'd married her, she'd be Debby Diddley.
(I KNOW I KNOW!!)
― Mark G, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 10:26 (fifteen years ago) link
you the thing i throw peanuts at
― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 11:16 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Drew Daniel, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 12:35 (fifteen years ago) link
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."
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 13:08 (fifteen years ago) link
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."
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."
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 4 June 2008 03:23 (fifteen years ago) link
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
― outdoor_miner, Wednesday, 4 June 2008 04:40 (fifteen years ago) link
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?
― Tom D., Wednesday, 4 June 2008 08:35 (fifteen years ago) link
someone on another board started a thread titled "BO DEADDLEY" :-/
― jaxon, Thursday, 5 June 2008 05:05 (fifteen years ago) link
what does his music have to do with funk?
― amateurist, Sunday, 8 June 2008 12:34 (fifteen years ago) link
for starters, scratchy guitar
― bendy, Sunday, 8 June 2008 12:38 (fifteen years ago) link
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf200/f232/f2329626u1x.jpg
^^^ THIS
― Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved, Sunday, 8 June 2008 15:20 (fifteen years ago) link
making fucking insane brilliant records up there right now, I expect
― Curt1s Stephens, Sunday, 8 June 2008 16:31 (fifteen years ago) link
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
― koogs, Monday, 9 June 2008 09:30 (fifteen years ago) link
Have you ever heard any Bo Diddley? Or any funk?
― Tom D., Monday, 9 June 2008 09:33 (fifteen years ago) link
Nice one, John Moore.
― Mark G, Monday, 9 June 2008 09:46 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, that's really good.
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Monday, 9 June 2008 10:41 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― amateurist, Monday, 9 June 2008 11:51 (fifteen years ago) link
I'd say he was far and away the most obvious
― Tom D., Monday, 9 June 2008 11:53 (fifteen years ago) link
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
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 16 August 2008 17:29 (fifteen years ago) link