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Rock 'n' Roll Icon Bo Diddley Dies at 79

By RON WORD, AP

Posted: 2008-06-02 15:00:59

Filed Under: Star Obituaries, Music News

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (June 2) - Bo Diddley, a founding father of rock 'n' roll whose distinctive "shave and a haircut, two bits" rhythm and innovative guitar effects inspired legions of musicians, died Monday after months of ill health. He was 79.

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Rock Architect
Dead at 79

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Bo Diddley was laid to rest Saturday, five days after his death on June 2, after a year of debilitating heart ailments at the age of 79. As a gospel band played his namesake song, several hundred mourners began clapping in time and shouting, "Hey, Bo Diddley!"

Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla., spokeswoman Susan Clary said. He had suffered a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation.

"One of the founding fathers of rock 'n' roll has left the building he helped construct," the statement said.

The legendary singer and performer, known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat, was an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, had a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, and received a lifetime achievement award in 1999 at the Grammy Awards. In recent years he also played for the elder President Bush and President Clinton.

Diddley appreciated the honors he received, "but it didn't put no figures in my checkbook."

"If you ain't got no money, ain't nobody calls you honey," he quipped.

'Bo Diddley'

'Road Runner'

The name Bo Diddley came from other youngsters when he was growing up in Chicago, he said in a 1999 interview.

"I don't know where the kids got it, but the kids in grammar school gave me that name," he said, adding that he liked it so it became his stage name. Other times, he gave somewhat differing stories on where he got the name. Some experts believe a possible source for the name is a one-string instrument used in traditional blues music called a diddley bow.

His first single, "Bo Diddley," introduced record buyers in 1955 to his signature rhythm: bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp, often summarized as "shave and a haircut, two bits." The B side, "I'm a Man," with its slightly humorous take on macho pride, also became a rock standard.

The company that issued his early songs was Chess-Checkers records, the storied Chicago-based labels that also recorded Chuck Berry and other stars.

Howard Kramer, assistant curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, said in 2006 that Diddley's Chess recordings "stand among the best singular recordings of the 20th century."

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Fabrice Coffrini, Keystone / AP

Gone But Not Forgotten
Stars of Music

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Esbjorn Svensson, June 14: The visionary Swedish pianist, beloved by fans worldwide for his efforts to marry rock-inspired electronics with traditional jazz, died while scuba diving near Stockholm. He was 44. His trio, E.S.T., had just completed their 12th album.

Diddley's other major songs included, "Say Man," ''You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover," ''Shave and a Haircut," ''Uncle John," ''Who Do You Love?" and "The Mule."

Diddley's influence was felt on both sides of the Atlantic. Buddy Holly borrowed the bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp rhythm for his song "Not Fade Away."

The Rolling Stones' bluesy remake of that Holly song gave them their first chart single in the United States, in 1964. The following year, another British band, the Yardbirds, had a Top 20 hit in the U.S. with their version of "I'm a Man."

Diddley was also one of the pioneers of the electric guitar, adding reverb and tremelo effects. He even rigged some of his guitars himself.

"He treats it like it was a drum, very rhythmic," E. Michael Harrington, professor of music theory and composition at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., said in 2006.

Many other artists, including the Who, Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello copied aspects of Diddley's style.

'Hey Mona'

Bo Knows How to Jam

Growing up, Diddley said he had no musical idols, and he wasn't entirely pleased that others drew on his innovations.

"I don't like to copy anybody. Everybody tries to do what I do, update it," he said. "I don't have any idols I copied after."

"They copied everything I did, upgraded it, messed it up. It seems to me that nobody can come up with their own thing, they have to put a little bit of Bo Diddley there," he said.

Despite his success, Diddley claimed he only received a small portion of the money he made during his career. Partly as a result, he continued to tour and record music until his stroke. Between tours, he made his home near Gainesville in north Florida.

"Seventy ain't nothing but a damn number," he told The Associated Press in 1999. "I'm writing and creating new stuff and putting together new different things. Trying to stay out there and roll with the punches. I ain't quit yet."

Diddley, like other artists of his generations, was paid a flat fee for his recordings and said he received no royalty payments on record sales. He also said he was never paid for many of his performances.

"I am owed. I've never got paid," he said. "A dude with a pencil is worse than a cat with a machine gun."

In the early 1950s, Diddley said, disc jockeys called his type of music, "Jungle Music." It was Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed who is credited with inventing the term "rock 'n' roll."

Diddley said Freed was talking about him, when he introduced him, saying, "Here is a man with an original sound, who is going to rock and roll you right out of your seat."

Diddley won attention from a new generation in 1989 when he took part in the "Bo Knows" ad campaign for Nike, built around football and baseball star Bo Jackson. Commenting on Jackson's guitar skills, Diddley turned to the camera and said, "He don't know Diddley."

"I never could figure out what it had to do with shoes, but it worked," Diddley said. "I got into a lot of new front rooms on the tube."

Born as Ellas Bates on Dec. 30, 1928, in McComb, Miss., Diddley was later adopted by his mother's cousin and took on the name Ellis McDaniel, which his wife always called him.

When he was 5, his family moved to Chicago, where he learned the violin at the Ebenezer Baptist Church. He learned guitar at 10 and entertained passers-by on street corners.

By his early teens, Diddley was playing Chicago's Maxwell Street.

"I came out of school and made something out of myself. I am known all over the globe, all over the world. There are guys who have done a lot of things that don't have the same impact that I had," he said.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

2008-06-02 12:28:47

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shattered22370 01:14:43 AM Jun 05 2008

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Time may have taken you, Bo..but it can never take away the music you gave to us all. In that regard you'll always be timeless and larger than life and in my eyes, the "Diddley Daddy" of them all!

Thank you, Bo. you have helped create the music that I enjoy like nothing else in life. R.I.P.

lancelnc9 11:55:22 PM Jun 04 2008

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Sorry I got the name wrong on my blog , The name is Arthur Alexander, a mostlly forgotten guy who deserves recognition.

lancelnc9 11:52:02 PM Jun 04 2008

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Bo was a true rock originator and founder, try out his greatest hits record. Want to know another early black rocker who deserves more recognition? Try Arthur Andersons' greatest hits. He was covered by the Beatles and the Stones and other bands, has some great songs, and is still aliive, the last I heard. Remember "Anna" and You Better Move On? Excellent songs. Another black original.

GunsightFlat38 09:38:19 PM Jun 04 2008

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Bo is the man - the man who laid 'em out there for us to enjoy. In the golden days of yore, when a man walked into a bar with a guitar and an amp, and plugged it in; and went to town. Bo, can't belief you gone bro, missin' you!

jilldess 02:44:16 PM Jun 04 2008

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rip bo
thanks for the music and for influencing todays rock n roll

hectorhmt 09:59:30 PM Jun 03 2008

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I was born in 1964 and know that one of the names that pop in my mind from that ERA is (Bo Diddley). RIP...Who do you love, who do you love.

onlyway2goisup 01:30:53 PM Jun 03 2008

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HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL YES ! Without the weapons of war !

flarnick 01:14:17 PM Jun 03 2008

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Always sad when a founding father passes on.
RIP BO
HAVE GUITAR, WILL TRAVEL

onlyway2goisup 12:58:08 PM Jun 03 2008

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Bo Diddley not only a guitar great but what a name, always loved the name. Boy, I know we are living in a time where this generation must pass off it still hurts! I feel like the teenage girl in Jurassic Park when she exclaimed...HE LEFT ME, HE LEFT ME! ''THE THRILL IS GONE!'
I was thinking of other 'Bo's' ...Bo Deedle, a lawyer.... Beaus Brummel.... Bo...a soap stars name or a stage name whose complete moniker I don't know as well as these others I'm not completely familiar with.But I like this as a man's first name...Bo...seems liike they would be very artistic or strong in some way.

Madame Demanding 11:57:56 AM Jun 03 2008

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I wonder who will they copy now? Can't believe this wasn't a major headline. Oh, only the Pitt's baby. Who cares. This guy was more of a cultural icon than those two.

vegan2grrl2 11:53:52 AM Jun 03 2008

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Bo RIP-I played on my Gibson SG this morning, the riff, "Who Do You Love":)I'm also diggin the square guitars he played.Man,rap or that wanna be emo music has nothing on good old rock and roll and guitar driven blues music....

sgarey34 11:20:15 AM Jun 03 2008

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Goodbye, Bo. Your influence was great and, thank God we have films of your performances. Some of them are so kick-a-- good, they bring tears to your eyes.

theellardplace 10:40:53 AM Jun 03 2008

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Every time we lose someone like this we lose a part of our heritage. It is sad to see so many who have entertained the masses and brought so muchpleasure with their talent to pass on. Many a young person has gotten a start of the music bug planted in their head and I often wonder if they will remember to pass it on to others. He was a talented man, who loved what he did, he loved the crowd and the music . God's Blues Band is getting better all the time.

zippertheslipper 10:40:15 AM Jun 03 2008

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If I remember right, didn't he sing, I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill, maybe it was Fats Domino. Oh well, all the oldies music masters have left their mark on rock/soul history and may they rest in peace.

bijolddena 10:35:52 AM Jun 03 2008

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A piece of my childhood gone.... I remeber seeing Bo play at Cal Expo in Sacramento, California when I was about 7 or 8 years old... Fabian was there, Paul Revere and the Raiders.... Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley!!! I remeber my big brother putting me on his shoulders to watch Chuck and Bo play... no offense, but they were the ones we were there to see.... I rember like it was yesterday...after the concert, I was standing next to the car, when Chuck and Bo drove out... it was the coolest thing ever! I was just telling a patient about it... I said "it was so cool, I was so impressed! "... and he said, from the look on your face you still are! Thanks ************* memory Bo Diddley, I'll always remember you...

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