Bo Diddley

Biography

Bo Diddley, born Ellas Otha Bates on December 30, 1928, in McComb, Mississippi, emerged as one of rock and roll's principal architects and is generally credited as the man who gave rock its beat. After his father died shortly after his birth and his teenage mother was unable to care for him, he was adopted by his mother's cousin, Gussie McDaniel, whose surname he adopted. When his adoptive father Robert died in 1934, Gussie moved the family to Chicago's South Side when Bo was around six or seven years old. He became an active member of Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, where he studied trombone and violin under music director O. W. Frederick, becoming so proficient on the violin that he played in the church orchestra until age 18.

Inspired by the pulsating rhythms of the Pentecostal churches in his Chicago neighborhood and after seeing John Lee Hooker perform, Diddley picked up the guitar around 1940 and began revolutionizing popular music. He supplemented his income as a carpenter and mechanic by playing on street corners with friends in a band called the Hipsters, later renamed the Langley Avenue Jive Cats. By 1951, he had landed a regular spot at the 708 Club on Chicago's South Side, developing a repertoire influenced by Louis Jordan, John Lee Hooker, and Muddy Waters. Always curious and eager to experiment, Diddley not only learned to construct guitars, upright basses, and violins at Foster Vocational School, but also built his own rectangular guitar and created distorted sounds through specially modified amplifiers.

In late 1954, Diddley teamed up with harmonica player Billy Boy Arnold, drummer Clifton James, and bass player Roosevelt Jackson to record demos that led to his breakthrough. In March 1955, Chess Records released his single with "Bo Diddley" as the A-side, which became a number one R&B hit and stayed on the rhythm and blues charts for 18 weeks. The record is thought to be the first to introduce African rhythms into rock and roll music. His innovative rhythmic style, known as the "Bo Diddley beat," influenced generations of musicians for more than five decades until his death on June 2, 2008.

Fun Facts

• Bo Diddley built his own rectangular guitar and specially modified amplifiers to create his signature distorted sound, having learned instrument construction at Foster Vocational School where he figured out how to build guitars, upright basses, and even violins.
• He was so proficient on the violin that he played in the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church orchestra until age 18, having studied the instrument for twelve years and even composing two concertos.
• There is no consensus on how he got the stage name 'Bo Diddley,' though it's linked to several southern slang expressions, including the diddley bow, a primitive one- or two-stringed fretless instrument used by black musicians in the South. Diddley himself denied ever having 'Otha' as part of his name in a 2001 interview, saying 'My name is not Otha... I don't know where they got that Otha from.'
• As a child who moved from rural Mississippi to Chicago, he was regularly harassed by neighborhood children, so he learned how to box to defend himself.

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

• O. W. Frederick - Music director at Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church who taught Diddley violin and trombone (Church orchestra performances) [1930s-1940s]
• John Lee Hooker - Major influence whose performance inspired Diddley to become a guitarist; influenced his repertoire at the 708 Club (Performance style and guitar approach) [1940s-1950s]
• Louis Jordan - Band leader whose music influenced Diddley's repertoire and performance style (Rhythmic and performance approach) [1940s-1950s]
• Muddy Waters - Blues musician who influenced Diddley's repertoire at the 708 Club (Blues style and approach) [1950s]

Key Collaborators

• Jerome Green - Near-constant member of Diddley's backing band who played maracas; played with him in the Hipsters/Langley Avenue Jive Cats ("Bo Diddley" and "I'm a Man" recordings, live performances) [1940s-1950s]
• Billy Boy Arnold - Harmonica player who teamed up with Diddley to record the breakthrough demos ("Bo Diddley" and "I'm a Man" demo and final recordings) [1954-1955]
• Roosevelt Jackson - Bass player in Diddley's band, played washtub bass on street performances ("Bo Diddley" and "I'm a Man" recordings, street performances) [1951-1955]
• Clifton James - Drummer who recorded the breakthrough demos and sessions with Diddley ("Bo Diddley" and "I'm a Man" recordings) [1954-1955]
• Jody Williams - Guitarist who played with Diddley on street performances; Diddley taught him guitar including bass line technique (Lead guitar on "Who Do You Love?") [1951-1956]
• Otis Spann - Pianist on Diddley's Chess Records sessions ("Bo Diddley" and "I'm a Man" final recordings) [1955]
• Earl Hooker - Played together at the Maxwell Street market (Maxwell Street performances) [1943-1944]

Discography

Albums

Top Tracks

1. I'm A Man (Bo Diddley)
2. Bo Diddley (Bo Diddley)
3. Pretty Thing (Bo Diddley)
4. Road Runner (In The Spotlight)
5. Who Do You Love (Bo Diddley)
6. You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover
7. Our Love Will Never Go (I'm A Man: The Chess Masters, 1955-1958)
8. Hit Or Miss (Big Bad Bo)
9. Ooh Baby
10. Goin' Down Slow

External Links

• Spotify
• Wikipedia
• MusicBrainz

Tags: #2008-universal-fire-victim, #blues, #blues-rock