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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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