Post by Scott Lakefield on Jun 4, 2008 6:42:23 GMT -5
By ROB DURKEE
Bo Diddley, who ranked with the likes of Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Big Joe Turner and Fats Domino as rock and roll music's African- American pioneers, died Monday (June 2, 2008) at his Archer, Florida, home. He was 79. Since last year, he'd been suffering from a number of health ailments, including a stroke, a heart attack, hypertension and diabetes. According to Chris Lee of the Los Angeles Times, Bo Diddley was born Otha Ellas Bates on December 30, 1928 in McComb, Mississippi. His mother was only 16 years old the day he was born and wasn't able to support him. His mom's first cousin, Gussie McDaniel, adopted him as a baby and legally renamed him Ellas McDaniel. The McDaniel family would eventually move to Chicago's south side. That's where Bo would learn how to play guitar while in his early teens. Bo Diddley exploded on the music scene with his signature song, "Bo Diddley." The guitar licks and the beat were like nothing heard before by people in the mid-1950's. On the November 20, 1955 edition of the Ed Sullivan "Toast Of The Town" TV show, Bo was asked to perform a big pop hit of the time, "Sixteen Tons" (which would be a #1 hit for Tennessee Ernie Ford). Bo opted instead to do his own "Bo Diddley" and would be banned from appearing on future Sullivan TV shows. It didn't matter. The two-sided single release, "Bo Diddley/I'm A Man." would reach the top of the R&B charts. That song along would help Bo Diddley enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and also earned a major Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. A number of acts have recorded the song "Bo Diddley" over the years, including Bill Black's Combo, Bobby Vee with the Crickets, Buddy Holly, the Royal Guardsmen, Bob Seger and Warren Zevon. In one interview while still alive, Bo Diddley steadfastly stated that Elvis Presley "ripped me off," insinuating that Elvis copied Bo's on-stage moves in his rise to becoming the King of Rock And Roll. In Chris Lee's L.A. Times story, Eric Burdon of the Animals labeled Bo Diddley as "One of the guys who invented rock and roll. He took two cultures that existed in several forms--country western and the kind of blues that used to be known as 'race music'--and he put them all together. His beat was a jungle beat. That's what he called it." Meanwhile, in the same article, another British Invasion rocker, Mick Jagger, called Bo Diddley, "A wonderful original musician who was an enormous force in music and a big influence on the Rolling Stones. He was very generous to us in our early years and we learned a lot from him. We will never see his likes again." Although "Bo Diddley/I'm A Man" failed to cross to make the Cash Box pop chart, five other releases did. His biggest pop hit was the "Say Man," a novelty recording that reached #21 in 1959. You could call that recording early rap as Bo and maracus player Jerome Green "rap" with each other throughout the recording. Bo had two more pop chart hits in 1959 with "Crackin' Up" (#71) and "Say Man, Back Again" (#87). He barely made the Cash Box chart in 1960 with the #100- peaking "Road Runner." Finally, he reached #68 in 1962 with "You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover."
Bo Diddley, who ranked with the likes of Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Big Joe Turner and Fats Domino as rock and roll music's African- American pioneers, died Monday (June 2, 2008) at his Archer, Florida, home. He was 79. Since last year, he'd been suffering from a number of health ailments, including a stroke, a heart attack, hypertension and diabetes. According to Chris Lee of the Los Angeles Times, Bo Diddley was born Otha Ellas Bates on December 30, 1928 in McComb, Mississippi. His mother was only 16 years old the day he was born and wasn't able to support him. His mom's first cousin, Gussie McDaniel, adopted him as a baby and legally renamed him Ellas McDaniel. The McDaniel family would eventually move to Chicago's south side. That's where Bo would learn how to play guitar while in his early teens. Bo Diddley exploded on the music scene with his signature song, "Bo Diddley." The guitar licks and the beat were like nothing heard before by people in the mid-1950's. On the November 20, 1955 edition of the Ed Sullivan "Toast Of The Town" TV show, Bo was asked to perform a big pop hit of the time, "Sixteen Tons" (which would be a #1 hit for Tennessee Ernie Ford). Bo opted instead to do his own "Bo Diddley" and would be banned from appearing on future Sullivan TV shows. It didn't matter. The two-sided single release, "Bo Diddley/I'm A Man." would reach the top of the R&B charts. That song along would help Bo Diddley enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and also earned a major Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. A number of acts have recorded the song "Bo Diddley" over the years, including Bill Black's Combo, Bobby Vee with the Crickets, Buddy Holly, the Royal Guardsmen, Bob Seger and Warren Zevon. In one interview while still alive, Bo Diddley steadfastly stated that Elvis Presley "ripped me off," insinuating that Elvis copied Bo's on-stage moves in his rise to becoming the King of Rock And Roll. In Chris Lee's L.A. Times story, Eric Burdon of the Animals labeled Bo Diddley as "One of the guys who invented rock and roll. He took two cultures that existed in several forms--country western and the kind of blues that used to be known as 'race music'--and he put them all together. His beat was a jungle beat. That's what he called it." Meanwhile, in the same article, another British Invasion rocker, Mick Jagger, called Bo Diddley, "A wonderful original musician who was an enormous force in music and a big influence on the Rolling Stones. He was very generous to us in our early years and we learned a lot from him. We will never see his likes again." Although "Bo Diddley/I'm A Man" failed to cross to make the Cash Box pop chart, five other releases did. His biggest pop hit was the "Say Man," a novelty recording that reached #21 in 1959. You could call that recording early rap as Bo and maracus player Jerome Green "rap" with each other throughout the recording. Bo had two more pop chart hits in 1959 with "Crackin' Up" (#71) and "Say Man, Back Again" (#87). He barely made the Cash Box chart in 1960 with the #100- peaking "Road Runner." Finally, he reached #68 in 1962 with "You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover."
