Bo Diddley
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 Along
with Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley was one of the
most influential figures in the development of rock & roll. He
inspired numerous rock groups, including The
Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Manfred
Mann and The Animals.
He was born Ellas McDaniel on December 30, 1928, in McComb,
Mississippi and at the age of five, moved with his family to Chicago. At
seven he started to play the violin, and later taught himself to play
guitar.
As a teenager in high school, Bo formed his first group, The Langley
Avenue Jive Cats, and after he graduated he created another band who
began playing the blues in Chicago night clubs, supplementing his meagre
guitarist income with jobs as a construction worker and a
light-heavyweight boxer. It was as a boxer that he first began to use
the name Bo Diddley.
In 1955 he auditioned for Checker Records (a subsidiary of Chess) and
had his first single - also called Bo Diddley - released the same
year. Bo brought an exciting new sound to records - a pulsating jungle
beat, heavy bass and the incessant shuffling of maracas. The sound
became the Bo Diddley trademark, and was immortalised much later by The
Rolling Stones on Not Fade Away.
Diddley also pioneered the use of a totally electric sound on
records. He was noted for his array of weird and wonderful guitars,
which were self-designed and often self-made. His favourites were a
bright red oblong-shaped axe, one covered entirely in fur, and another
covered in bright purple carpet.
 Although he only amassed three minor hit records - Say Man, Pretty
Thing and Hey, Good Looking, Bo Diddley was responsible for
writing many R&B classics including Roadrunner, I'm A Man,
Who Do You Love? and You Can't Judge A Book By Looking At The
Cover. They were all covered by major recording artists during the
1960's and 1970's.
Bo
Diddley's performing career was given a tremendous boost in 1972 when he
appeared in Richard Nader's rock & roll revival show and was later
featured in the movie Let The Good Times Roll.
In 1976 he recorded a new album, Twentieth Anniversary of Rock
for RCA, featuring such celebrated colleagues as Joe
Cocker, Billy Joel and Keith Moon of The
Who. Two years later he undertook a successful British tour with
another legendary rock & roller from the 1950s, Carl
Perkins.
Bo Diddley was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987
and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998. In 2005, Bo celebrated his 50th anniversary in music with successful
tours of Australia, Europe and North America, followed by a number of
shows around the US in 2005 and 2006.
Bo Diddley died on June 2, 2008 of heart failure at his home in
Archer, Florida.
TRIVIA NOTE
Bo Diddley served for two and a half years as Deputy Sheriff in the
Valencia County Citizens' Patrol while continuing his musical career.
During that time he personally purchased and donated three highway
patrol pursuit cars.
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