Bo Diddley (1928-2008)

Updated:

June 29, 2009 1:12 pm

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Bo Diddley only had one Top 40 hit (“Say Man”) in his magnificent career, yet he ranks just as prominently among the creators of rock and roll as his more celebrated peers like Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Elvis Presley.

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Diddley, who died of heart failure on June 2 at age 79 at his home in Archer, Fla., made his mark as much with his beat and magnificent guitar playing as his writing and singing-although those attributes are sorely underrated.

Still, it was his slithering, jutting “Bo Diddley rhythm” – which melded aspects of the hambone and rumba, coupled with an assertive personality and flashy guitar approach – that made him a legend. When he shouted “Who Do You Love,” cried “Hey Bo Diddley,” or declared “I’m A Man,” he became the voice of the impending generational change raging in America. Despite seldom embracing teen culture lyrically, young people understood that Diddley’s music represented a fresh, revolutionary sound, and his peers immediately recognized the appeal of that propulsive backdrop.

Muddy Waters’ “Mannish Boy” was an answer to Diddley’s “I’m A Man,” while Buddy Holly liberally tapped the Diddley formula for “Not Fade Away;” the Rolling Stones subsequently covered the latter and scored their first American chart hit. The lengthy list of artists who either utilized Diddley’s sacred rhythm or cut one of his songs is extensive, covering every decade from the ‘50s to the present, and including rock, r&b, pop, reggae and punk acts.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (alongside many other honors) and received the Grammy and Rhythm and Blues Foundation Lifetime Achievement Awards. Both “Bo Diddley” and “Love Is Strange” (the Mickey and Sylvia version) are also in the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Still, my lasting image of Bo Diddley remains seeing him rollicking on stage, flailing away on his rectangular-shaped guitar and asking, “Who Do You Love?”