[lbo-talk] Bo Diddley, RIP

Jenny Brown jbrown72073 at cs.com
Tue Jun 3 13:49:29 PDT 2008


Dennis Claxton wrote:


>Bo Diddley, a rhythm-and-blues pioneer who was one of the major
>architects of rock 'n' roll, died Monday from heart failure at his
>home in Archer, Fla., where he had lived for the past 20 years. He was 79.

That's a few miles from me. The other thing that should be remembered is his generosity, he never turned down a benefit concert around here. He'd play for efforts against homelessness and for youth, drug rehab, pretty much whenever he was asked. And he'd play for fun for elementary school kids, they loved it.


>Under a nickname he always claimed childhood pals gave him, Ellas
>Bates became an instant legend with his 1955 debut recording, "Bo
>Diddley," a song he performed on TV's "Ed Sullivan Show" - a year
>before Elvis Presley brought rock 'n' roll to American living rooms
>on the same program.

Here's another story about that:
>Also in 1955, Diddley made an appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" that
caused a sensation, predating and foreshadowing those of a swivel-hipped young singer from Memphis (Elvis Presley) in 1956, and a mop-topped foursome from England (The Beatles) in 1964.


>Sullivan had wanted Diddley to sing a version of "Sixteen Tons," a big
hit for Tennessee Ernie Ford at the time. But Diddley was determined to perform his own, namesake hit - even after telling Sullivan's staff he didn't know the words to "Sixteen Tons" and they were written on cue cards for him.


>"Man, maybe that was 'Sixteen Tons' on those cards, but all I saw was
'Bo Diddley,' " Diddley later told The New York Times.

Some more from the local paper:
>Though he became famous for his mark in rock 'n' roll, Diddley was
interested in and performed a variety of musical styles - from gospel and hip-hop to folk and country - his friends and family members recalled.


>"He didn't only hear what he was into, he heard other stuff," said Mike
Boulware, a well-known Gainesville guitarist who backed Diddley in a famous 1990s performance at the Florida Folk Festival and who played guitar on one of Diddley's albums. "One of the (things) that we did on the record we played with him, I would characterize as country-rap." ...


>In 2003, Diddley told The New York Times he "never saw a dime" of
royalties in his heyday, something that had become so well known that by 1989, it inspired an obscure group to rework one of his songs - his namesake hit itself, "Bo Diddley" - into a fitting tribute and commentary on his regrettable travails.


>In "Pay Bo Diddley," The Snakes sang:
"Bo Diddley had him a rockin' good time . . . but he never made a solitary dime. "Ya'll might laugh but it just ain't funny . . . What ever happened to Bo Diddley's money?"


>A public funeral will be held next Saturday in Gainesville.

Yeah, that is going to be quite a scene.

Jenny Brown



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