BO DIDDLEY
Bo Diddley (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008) was an American R&B and Chicago Blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter and music producer (usually as Elias McDaniel). He was known as The Originator because of his key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll, and rock. He introduced more insistent, driving rhythms and a hard-edged electric guitar sound on a wide-ranging catalog of songs, along with African rhythms and a signature beat (a simple five-accent clave rhythm) that remains a cornerstone of hip hop, rock and pop. He was known in particular for his technical innovations, including his trademark rectangular guitar. (More from Wikipedia)
Speaking of Allmusic and maracas, let me add another great quote about blues and rock pioneer Bo Diddley that I picked up from that site. Bo Diddley had numerous R&B hits and wrote dozens of songs, like “Bo Diddley”, “Who Do You Love?”, “Oh Yea”, “Road Runner”, “Mona”, and “Bring it to Jerome”. Bo Diddley of course is a stage name; in his writing credits, his name usually appears as Elias B. McDaniel or sometimes Elias Bates. Many of his songs were hits for others, notably “I’m a Man” by the Yardbirds; there was even a completely ridiculous rumor that Bo Diddley specifically wrote “I’m a Man” for the Yardbirds, even though “I’m a Man” was actually the “B” side of his very first single back in 1955.
Bo Diddley is rightfully renowned as one of the founding fathers of rock and roll, but he actually only made the Top 40 pop charts once with a novelty number called “Say Man”. Atop a pounding, infectious beat, Bo Diddley trades hilarious comic insults with his maracas player Jerome Green (actually I have seen Green credited lately with having written “Bring it to Jerome”, though it was originally shown as written by Bo). Green’s crazy laugh and shrill drawl is a perfect counterpoint to Diddley’s baritone, and it is amazing how well “Say Man” holds up to multiple plays. The insults are inventive and offbeat: “You so ugly, the stork that brought you into the world oughta be arrested!”, “You that thing I throw peanuts at!”, “[Your girlfriend] was so ugly she had to sneak up on a glass to get her a drink of water”, etc.
Anyway, in the article on “Say Man”, Mark Deming writing for Allmusic has this parenthetical note of praise for Bo Diddley: “let’s pause to mention no other artist would be so obsessed with rhythm and such a visionary that they would hire a guy just to play maracas”.
(December 2012)
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Items: Bo Diddley
