"Bo Diddley, Bo Diddley have you heard?"
Bo Diddley, born Ellas Otha Bates, in 1928 in the Mississippi Delta, was an American singer/songwriter, guitarist and inventor. Adopted as a baby, his surname was changed to McDaniel in 1934. When his adopted family moved to Chicago in search of a better life, Diddley studied the trombone and violin at his local church.
His friends soon nicknamed him Bo Diddley. In the South, people who were too poor to buy instruments would play music by plucking wires that were hammered into wood. This type of homemade instrument was named a diddley bow.
It's very likely that this practice had something to do with Diddley's future stage name. Diddley himself, however, once said it was inspired by a performer his adoptive mother knew while yet another perfomer associated with Diddley said the name was borrowed from a comedian. Regardless of how the name came about, Diddley himself was a very inventive young man.
In fact, as a teenager, Diddley not only learned how to play several instruments he also learned how to build guitars and violins. After seeing John Lee Hooker perform, Diddley took to the streets where he began his musical career busking with other street musicians for several years.
In 1951, Diddley began performing in clubs. It would not be until 3 years later that Diddley would record demos. But the following year, 1955, he would have his first R&B hit, "Bo Diddley", a song that would bring him his first taste of fame. From 1955 through 1962, other hits would soon follow including "I'm a Man", "Pretty Thing', "Say Man" and "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover".
These songs all had one common element. They all included the Bo Diddley beat. Earlier in his career Diddley had invented a guitar riff that remains important to rock 'n' roll music to this day.
The syncopated beat goes like this: THUMP-a-THUMP-a-THUMP-a-THUMP-THUMP. They also were all played on his rectangular guitar which soon became his trademark. In truth, he was known for many innovations in the newly-born world of rock 'n ' roll.
He was the first person to include a woman in his band. His half-sister, nicknamed "the Duchess" backed him on guitar along with Diddley's old friend Jerome green on maracas and bass. Diddley was also known as "the Originator" because he played a key part in the transition of blues to rock 'n ' roll.
His music was a big influence on many later musical acts. His songs were covered by such performers as the Rolling Stones, the Doors, Aerosmith, The Who, Eric Clapton, the Yardbirds, CCR, Velvet Underground, Tom Petty, the New York Dolls and Buddy Holly. Thousands of bands have utilized the Bo Diddley beat.
Although his last known, completed studio recording work was with the Grateful Dead in 2003, he continued to play live gigs until 2007 when he suffered a stroke. He died in the summer of 2008 but his legacy lives on cover his tunes and play his Bo Diddley beat.
My name is Phoenix . . . and that's the bottom line.
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