Say Man

Greatly Appreciated

SAY MAN
 
 
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)
 
Last edited: March 22, 2021