Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates, December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), k… Read Full Bio ↴Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates, December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known as Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm & blues and rock & roll singer, guitarist, songwriter and music producer. He is cited as a key figure in the transition of blues into rock and roll, by introducing more insistent, driving rhythms and a harder-edged guitar sound. His use of African rhythms and the signature "Bo Diddley beat", a simple five-accent hambone rhythm, is a cornerstone of r&b, rock, pop and hip hop. In recognition of his achievements, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and a Grammy Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He is also recognized for his technical innovations, including his distinctive rectangular guitar.
Born in McComb, Mississippi, as Ellas Otha Bates, he was adopted and raised by his mother's cousin, Gussie McDaniel, whose surname he assumed. In 1934, the McDaniel family moved to the South Side of Chicago, where he dropped the Otha and became Ellas McDaniel. He was an active member of Chicago's Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he studied the trombone and the violin, becoming so proficient on the violin that the musical director invited him to join the orchestra. He performed until he was 18. However, he was more interested in the pulsating, rhythmic music he heard at a local Pentecostal church and took up the guitar.
Inspired by a performance by John Lee Hooker, he supplemented his income as a carpenter and mechanic by playing on street corners with friends, including Jerome Green (c. 1934–1973), in the Hipsters band, later renamed the Langley Avenue Jive Cats. Green became a near-constant member of McDaniel's backing band, the two often trading joking insults with each other during live shows. During the summer of 1943–1944, he played at the Maxwell Street market in a band with Earl Hooker. By 1951 he was playing on the street with backing from Roosevelt Jackson on washtub bass and Jody Williams, whom he had taught to play the guitar. Williams later played lead guitar on "Who Do You Love?" (1956).
In 1951 he landed a regular spot at the 708 Club, on Chicago's South Side, with a repertoire influenced by Louis Jordan, John Lee Hooker, and Muddy Waters. In late 1954, he teamed up with harmonica player Billy Boy Arnold, drummer Clifton James and bass player Roosevelt Jackson and recorded demos of "I'm a Man" and "Bo Diddley". They re-recorded the songs at Chess Studios, with a backing ensemble comprising Otis Spann (piano), Lester Davenport (harmonica), Frank Kirkland (drums), and Jerome Green (maracas). The record was released in March 1955, and the A-side, "Bo Diddley", became a number one R&B hit.
The origin of the stage name Bo Diddley is unclear. McDaniel claimed that his peers gave him the name, which he suspected was an insult. He also said that the name first belonged to a singer his adoptive mother knew. Harmonicist Billy Boy Arnold said that it was a local comedian's name, which Leonard Chess adopted as McDaniel's stage name and the title of his first single. Guitar craftsman Ed Roman stated that it was McDaniel's nickname as a Golden Gloves boxer.
A diddley bow is a homemade single-string instrument played mainly by farm workers in the South. It probably has influences from the West African coast. In the American slang term bo diddly, bo is an intensifier and diddly is a truncation of diddly squat, which means "absolutely nothing".
On November 20, 1955, Bo Diddley appeared on the popular television program The Ed Sullivan Show. When someone on the show's staff overheard him casually singing "Sixteen Tons" in the dressing room, he was asked to perform the song on the show. Because he could not read, when he saw "Bo Diddley" on the cue card, he thought he was to perform both his hit single and "Sixteen Tons". Sullivan was furious and banned Bo Diddley from his show, reputedly saying that he wouldn't last six months. Chess Records included Bo Diddley's "Sixteen Tons" on the 1960 album Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger.
Bo Diddley's hit singles continued in the 1950s and 1960s: "Pretty Thing" (1956), "Say Man" (1959), and "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" (1962). He also released numerous albums, including Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger and Have Guitar, Will Travel. These bolstered his self-invented legend. Between 1958 and 1963, Checker Records released eleven full-length Bo Diddley albums. In the 1960s he broke through as a crossover artist with white audiences (appearing at the Alan Freed concerts, for example), but he rarely aimed his compositions at teenagers. The album title Surfing with Bo Diddley derived from his influence on surf guitarists rather than surfing per se.
In 1963, Bo Diddley starred in a UK concert tour with the Everly Brothers and Little Richard. The up-and-coming Rolling Stones were billed as a supporting act.
He wrote many songs for himself and also for others. In 1956 he and guitarist Jody Williams co-wrote the pop song "Love Is Strange", a hit for Mickey & Sylvia in 1957. He also wrote "Mama (Can I Go Out)", which was a minor hit for the pioneering rockabilly singer Jo Ann Campbell, who performed the song in the 1959 rock and roll film Go Johnny Go.
Bo Diddley included women in his band: Norma-Jean Wofford, also known as The Duchess; Gloria Jolivet; Peggy Jones, also known as Lady Bo, a lead guitarist (rare for a woman at that time); Cornelia Redmond, also known as Cookie V; Debby Hastings, who led his band for the final 25 years. After moving from Chicago to Washington, D.C., he set up one of the first home recording studios, where he not only recorded the album Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger but produced and recorded his valet, Marvin Gaye. Bo Diddley co-wrote the Marquees' record "Wyatt Earp", the first single to feature Gaye. It was released on Okeh Records, after the Chess brothers turned it down. During this time, Moonglows' founder Harvey Fuqua sang backing vocals on many of Bo Diddley's home recordings. Gaye later joined the Moonglows and followed them to Motown.
Over the decades, Bo Diddley's performing venues ranged from intimate clubs to stadiums. On March 25, 1972, he played with the Grateful Dead at the Academy of Music in New York City. The Grateful Dead released part of this concert as Volume 30 of the band's concert album series, Dick's Picks. Also in the early 1970s, the soundtrack of the ground-breaking animated film Fritz the Cat contained his song "Bo Diddley", in which a crow idly finger-pops to the track.
Bo Diddley spent some years in New Mexico, living in Los Lunas from 1971 to 1978, while continuing his musical career. He served for two and a half years as a deputy sheriff in the Valencia County Citizens' Patrol; during that time he purchased and donated three highway-patrol pursuit cars. In the late 1970s, he left Los Lunas and moved to Hawthorne, Florida, where he lived on a large estate in a custom-made log cabin, which he helped to build. For the remainder of his life he divided his time between Albuquerque and Florida, living the last 13 years of his life in Archer, Florida, a small farming town near Gainesville.
In 1979, he appeared as an opening act for the Clash on their US tour and in Legends of Guitar (filmed live in Spain, 1991), with B.B. King, Les Paul, Albert Collins, and George Benson, among others. He joined the Rolling Stones on their 1994 concert broadcast of Voodoo Lounge, performing "Who Do You Love?" with the band. Sheryl Crow and Robert Cray also appeared on the pay-per-view special.
From 1985 until he died, his touring band consisted of Jim Satten (guitarist, band leader, musical director); Scott "Skyntyte" Free, Nunzio Signore or Frank Daley (guitar); Tom Major, Dave Johnson, Yoshi Shimada, Mike Fink or Sandy Gennaro (drums); John Margolis, Dave Keys or personal manager Margo Lewis (keyboards); and Debby Hastings (bassist and musical director).
Bo Diddley performed a number of shows around the country in 2005 and 2006 with fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Johnnie Johnson and his band, consisting of Johnson on keyboards, Richard Hunt on drums and Gus Thornton on bass. In 2006, he participated as the headliner of a grassroots-organized fundraiser concert to benefit the town of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, which had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The "Florida Keys for Katrina Relief" had originally been set for October 23, 2005, when Hurricane Wilma barreled through the Florida Keys on October 24, causing flooding and economic mayhem. In January 2006, the Florida Keys had recovered enough to host the fundraising concert to benefit the more hard-hit community of Ocean Springs. When asked about the fundraiser, Bo Diddley stated, "This is the United States of America. We believe in helping one another". In an interview with Holger Petersen, on Saturday Night Blues on CBC Radio in the fall of 2006, he commented on racism in the music industry establishment during his early career, which deprived him of royalties from the most successful part of his career.
His final guitar performance on a studio album was with the New York Dolls on their 2006 album One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This. He contributed guitar work to the song "Seventeen", which was included as a bonus track on the limited-edition version of the disc.
Bo Diddley fought the sportswear brand Nike in his later years over alleged copyright infringement, specifically over the use of his likeness and the slogan "You don't know diddley." In 1989, he had worked with Nike on a commercial in the "Bo Knows" campaign and had entered into a licensing agreement with the company. The agreement ended in 1991.[29] When Nike began selling the apparel again in 1999, he felt that Nike should not continue to use the slogan or his likeness. Despite the fact that lawyers for both parties could not come to a renewed legal arrangement, Nike allegedly continued marketing the apparel and ignored cease-and-desist orders.[30] The lawsuit was filed by attorney John Rosenberg in Manhattan Federal Court.
On May 13, 2007, Bo Diddley was admitted to intensive care in Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, following a stroke after a concert the previous day in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Starting the show, he had complained that he did not feel well. He referred to smoke from the wildfires that were ravaging south Georgia and blowing south to the area near his home in Archer, Florida. Nonetheless, he delivered an energetic performance to an enthusiastic crowd. The next day, as he was heading back home, he seemed dazed and confused at the airport. His manager, Margo Lewis, called 911 and airport security, and the musician was immediately taken by ambulance to Creighton University Medical Center and admitted to the Intensive-care unit, where he stayed for several days. After tests, it was confirmed that he had suffered a stroke. Bo Diddley had a history of hypertension and diabetes, and the stroke affected the left side of his brain, causing receptive and expressive aphasia (speech impairment). The stroke was followed by a heart attack, which he suffered in Gainesville, Florida, on August 28, 2007.
While recovering from the stroke and heart attack, Bo Diddley came back to his home town of McComb, Mississippi, in early November 2007, for the unveiling of a plaque devoted to him on the Mississippi Blues Trail. This marked his achievements and noted that he was "acclaimed as a founder of rock-and-roll." He was not supposed to perform, but as he listened to the music of local musician Jesse Robinson, who sang a song written for this occasion, Robinson sensed that Bo Diddley wanted to perform and handed him a microphone, the only time that he performed publicly after his stroke.
Bo Diddley died on June 2, 2008, of heart failure at his home in Archer, Florida. Garry Mitchell, his grandson and one of more than 35 family members at the musician's home when he died at 1:45 a.m. EDT (05:45 GMT), said his death was not unexpected. "There was a gospel song that was sung (at his bedside) and (when it was done) he said 'wow' with a thumbs up," Mitchell told Reuters, when asked to describe the scene at the deathbed. "The song was 'Walk Around Heaven' and in his last words he said 'I'm going to heaven.'"
His funeral, a four-hour "homegoing" service, took place on June 7, 2008, at Showers of Blessings Church in Gainesville, Florida, and kept in tune with the vibrant spirit of Bo Diddley's life and career. The many in attendance chanted "Hey Bo Diddley" as a gospel band played the legend's music. A number of notable musicians sent flowers, including George Thorogood, Tom Petty and Jerry Lee Lewis. Little Richard, who had been asking his audiences to pray for Bo Diddley throughout his illness, had to fulfil concert commitments in Westbury and New York City the weekend of the funeral. He took time at both concerts to remember his friend of a half-century, performing Bo's namesake tune in his honor.
After the funeral service, a tribute concert was held at the Martin Luther King Center in Gainesville, Florida and featured guest performances by his son and daughter, Ellas McDaniel Jr. and Evelyn "Tan" Cooper; long-time background vocalist Gloria Jolivet; and Eric Burdon. In the days following his death, tributes were paid by then-President George W. Bush, the United States House of Representatives, and many musicians and performers, including B. B. King, Ronnie Hawkins, Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood, George Thorogood, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Robert Plant, Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Randolph and the Family Band and Eric Burdon.
He was posthumously awarded a Doctor of Fine Arts degree by the University of Florida for his influence on American popular music. In its People in America radio series, about influential people in American history, the Voice of America radio service paid tribute to him, describing how "his influence was so widespread that it is hard to imagine what rock and roll would have sounded like without him." Mick Jagger stated that "he was a wonderful, original musician who was an enormous force in music and was a big influence on the Rolling Stones. He was very generous to us in our early years and we learned a lot from him". Jagger also praised the late star as a one-of-a-kind musician, adding, "We will never see his like again". The documentary film Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street by director Phil Ranstrom features Bo Diddley's last on-camera interview.
In November 2009, the guitar used by Bo Diddley in his final stage performance sold for $60,000 at auction.
The beneficiaries of his estate have been fighting in court for a forensic accounting of his assets, currently valued around $900,000, with as much as $6,000,000 unaccounted for.
Bo Diddley achieved numerous accolades in recognition of his significant role as one of the founding fathers of rock and roll:
1986: Inducted into the Washington Area Music Association's Hall of Fame.
1987: Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
1990: Lifetime Achievement Award from Guitar Player magazine.
1998: Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
1999: His 1955 recording of his song "Bo Diddley" inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as a recording of lasting qualitative or historical significance.
2000: Inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame and the North Florida Music Association's Hall of Fame.
2002: Pioneer in Entertainment Award from the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters
2002: Honored as one of the first BMI Icons at the 50th annual BMI Pop Awards, along with BMI affiliates Chuck Berry and Little Richard.
2008: Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree posthumously conferred on Diddley by the University of Florida in August (the award had been confirmed before his death in June).
2009: Announcement of his induction into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame (induction to occur during Florida Heritage Month, March 2010).
2010: Induction into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.[citation needed]
In 2003, U.S. Representative John Conyers paid tribute to Bo Diddley in the United States House of Representatives. describing him as "one of the true pioneers of rock and roll, who has influenced generations".
In 2004, Mickey and Sylvia's 1956 recording of "Love Is Strange" (a song first recorded by Bo Diddley but not released until a year before his death) was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as a recording of qualitative or historical significance. Also in 2004, Bo Diddley was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Blues Hall of Fame and was ranked number 20 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
In 2005, Bo Diddley celebrated his 50th anniversary in music with successful tours of Australia and Europe and with coast-to-coast shows across North America. He performed his song "Bo Diddley" with Eric Clapton and Robbie Robertson at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 20th annual induction ceremony. In the UK, Uncut magazine included his 1957 debut album, Bo Diddley, in its listing of the '100 Music, Movie & TV Moments That Have Changed the World'.
Bo Diddley was honored by the Mississippi Blues Commission with a Mississippi Blues Trail historic marker placed in McComb, his birthplace, in recognition of his enormous contribution to the development of the blues in Mississippi. On June 5, 2009, the city of Gainesville, Florida, officially renamed and dedicated its downtown plaza the Bo Diddley Community Plaza. The plaza was the site of a benefit concert at which Bo Diddley performed to raise awareness about the plight of the homeless in Alachua County and to raise money for local charities, including the Red Cross.
The 1988 video game Super Mario Bros. 3 featured a ghost-like enemy named Boo Diddley in homage to the legendary singer. In later games, the name was changed to Boo.
The "Bo Diddley beat" is essentially the clave rhythm, one of the most common bell patterns found in sub-Saharan African music traditions. One scholar found this rhythm in 13 rhythm and blues recordings made in the years 1944–55, including two by Johnny Otis from 1948.
Bo Diddley gave different accounts of how he began to use this rhythm. Sublette asserts, "In the context of the time, and especially those maracas (heard on the record), 'Bo Diddley' has to be understood as a Latin-tinged record. A rejected cut recorded at the same session was titled only 'Rhumba' on the track sheets." The Bo Diddley beat is similar to "hambone", a style used by street performers who play out the beat by slapping and patting their arms, legs, chest, and cheeks while chanting rhymes. Somewhat resembling the "shave and a haircut, two bits" rhythm, Diddley came across it while trying to play Gene Autry's "(I've Got Spurs That) Jingle, Jangle, Jingle". Three years before his "Bo Diddley", a song with similar syncopation "Hambone", was cut by the Red Saunders Orchestra with the Hambone Kids. In 1944, "Rum and Coca Cola", containing the Bo Diddley beat, was recorded by the Andrews Sisters. Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" (1957) and Them's "Mystic Eyes" (1965) used the beat.
In its simplest form, the Bo Diddley beat can be counted out as either a one-bar or a two-bar phrase. Here is the count as a one-bar phrase: One e and ah, two e and ah, three e and ah, four e and ah (the boldface counts are the clave rhythm).
Many songs (for example, "Hey Bo Diddley" and "Who Do You Love?") often have no chord changes; that is, the musicians play the same chord throughout the piece, so that the rhythms create the excitement, rather than having the excitement generated by harmonic tension and release. In his other recordings, Bo Diddley used various rhythms, from straight back beat to pop ballad style to doo-wop, frequently with maracas by Jerome Green.
An influential guitar player, Bo Diddley developed many special effects and other innovations in tone and attack. His trademark instrument was his self-designed, one-of-a-kind, rectangular-bodied "Twang Machine" (referred to as "cigar-box shaped" by music promoter Dick Clark) built by Gretsch. He had other uniquely shaped guitars custom-made for him by other manufacturers throughout the years, most notably the "Cadillac" and the rectangular "Turbo 5-speed" (with built-in envelope filter, flanger and delay) designs made by Tom Holmes (who also made guitars for ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, among others). In a 2005 interview on JJJ radio in Australia, he implied that the rectangular design sprang from an embarrassing moment. During an early gig, while jumping around on stage with a Gibson L5 guitar, he landed awkwardly, hurting his groin. He then went about designing a smaller, less restrictive guitar that allowed him to keep jumping around on stage while still playing his guitar. He also played the violin, which is featured on his mournful instrumental "The Clock Strikes Twelve", a twelve-bar blues.
He often created lyrics as witty and humorous adaptations of folk music themes. The song "Bo Diddley" was based on the African-American clapping rhyme "Hambone" (which in turn was based on the lullaby "Hush Little Baby"). Likewise, "Hey Bo Diddley" is based on the song "Old MacDonald". The song "Who Do You Love?" with its rap-style boasting, and his use of the African-American game known as "the dozens" on the songs "Say Man" and "Say Man, Back Again," are cited as progenitors of hip-hop music (for example, "You got the nerve to call somebody ugly. Why, you so ugly, the stork that brought you into the world ought to be arrested").
The Bo Diddley Beat is a kind of syncopated five-accent clave rhythm. The Bo Diddley beat is named after Bo Diddley, who introduced and popularised the beat with his self-titled debut single. Although Bo Diddley was a rhythm and blues musician essentially, the beat is widely used in rock and roll and pop music.
The "Bo Diddley Beat" (1955) is perhaps the first true fusion of 3-2 clave and R&B/rock 'n' roll.
The Bo Diddley beat is essentially a 3-2 clave rhythm, one of the most common bell patterns found in Afro-Cuban music, and its origin goes back to the sub-Saharan African music traditions. But there is no documentation of a direct Cuban connection to Bo Diddley's adaptation of the clave rhythm. The Latin connection was so strong that Bo Diddley used maracas as a basic component of his sound. Bo Diddley has given different accounts regarding how he began to use this rhythm. In an interview with Rolling Stones magazine, Diddley said he came up with the beat after listening to Gospel music in church when he was 12 years old.
Sublette asserts: "In the context of the time, and especially those maracas (heard on the record), 'Bo Diddley' has to be understood as a Latin-tinged record. A rejected cut recorded at the same session was titled only 'Rhumba' on the track sheets." Somewhat resembling the Shave and a Haircut rhythm, Diddley came across it while trying to play Gene Autry's version of "Jingle, Jangle, Jingle".
According to ethnomusicologists, the Bo Diddley beat is similar to a folk tradition called "hambone", a style used by street performers who play out the beat by slapping and patting their arms, legs, chest, and cheeks while chanting rhymes. "Handboning" can also be described as a form of corpophone - using your body for percussion. This is something that's inherent in African-American culture. You don't have a drum? Your body is the next best thing. You clap, slap and stomp. Corpophone excludes the voice and the introduction of the neologism as a classificatory category was added to the conventional scheme of idiophone, membranophone, chordophone, aerophone, and electrophone by the American ethnomusicologist Dale A. Olsen. The Bo Diddley beat is also akin to the age-old rhythmic pattern best known as "shave and a haircut, two bits." And it's been linked to Yoruba drumming from West Africa.
In its simplest form, the Bo Diddley beat can be counted out as either a one-bar, or a two-bar phrase. Here is the count as a one-bar phrase: One e and ah, two e and ah, three e and ah, four e and ah. The bolded counts are the clave rhythm.
Three years before Bo's "Bo Diddley" (1955), a song similar syncopation "Hambone", was cut by Red Saunders' Orchestra with The Hambone Kids. In 1944, "Rum and Coca Cola", containing the Bo Diddley beat, was recorded by The Andrews Sisters and later Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" (1957) and Them's "Mystic Eyes" (1965) used the beat. This rhythm occurs in 13 rhythm and blues recordings made in the years 1944–55, including two by Johnny Otis from 1948.
Unfortunately, while Bo's sound was his trademark, he couldn’t copyright it, which may explain why Diddley has been overlooked and undervalued, even though his sound snakes through a hit list spanning two generations. Cover bands play the Bo Diddley beat formulaically but in Bo Diddley's hands, the beat was alive. He did something different with it every time he recorded it. It's the difference between copying and creating.
Other songs employing the Bo Diddley beat include "I Wish You Would" by Billy Boy Arnold (1955), "Willie and the Hand Jive" by Johnny Otis (1958), "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" (1961) by Elvis Presley, "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" by The Supremes (1963), "I Want Candy" by The Strangeloves (1965), "Please Go Home" by The Rolling Stones (1966), "Magic Bus" (1968) by The Who, "1969" (1969) by The Stooges, "She Has Funny Cars" (1969) by Jefferson Airplane, Suzanne (1968/9) by Fairport Convention, "Panic in Detroit" (1973) by David Bowie, "Shame, Shame, Shame" by Shirley & Company (1974), "She's the One" (1975) by Bruce Springsteen, "American Girl" (1977) by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "Rudie Can't Fail" (1979) by The Clash, "Deathwish" by The Police (1979), "Cuban Slide" by The Pretenders (1980),[6] "I Want Candy" (cover) by Bow Wow Wow (1982), "Freeze to Me" (1983) by David Wilcox, "Mr. Brownstone" (1987) by Guns N' Roses, "Faith" (1987) by George Michael, "Desire" (1988) by U2, "Movin' on Up" (1991) by Primal Scream, "Woodcutter's Son" (1995) by Paul Weller, "Doctor Looney's Remedy" by Parachute Express (1995), "Caress Me Down" by Sublime (1996), "Cannon Ball" by Duane Eddy (1996), "Screwdriver" (1999) by The White Stripes, "I'm Sorry I Love You" by The Magnetic Fields, and "The Big 5-0" (2004) by Stan Ridgway. "Party at the Leper Colony" (2003) by "Weird Al" Yankovic is a comedy song featuring the Bo Diddley beat.
More subtle uses of the Diddley beat include "Hateful" (1979) by The Clash and "How Soon Is Now?" (1985) by The Smiths.
Born in McComb, Mississippi, as Ellas Otha Bates, he was adopted and raised by his mother's cousin, Gussie McDaniel, whose surname he assumed. In 1934, the McDaniel family moved to the South Side of Chicago, where he dropped the Otha and became Ellas McDaniel. He was an active member of Chicago's Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he studied the trombone and the violin, becoming so proficient on the violin that the musical director invited him to join the orchestra. He performed until he was 18. However, he was more interested in the pulsating, rhythmic music he heard at a local Pentecostal church and took up the guitar.
Inspired by a performance by John Lee Hooker, he supplemented his income as a carpenter and mechanic by playing on street corners with friends, including Jerome Green (c. 1934–1973), in the Hipsters band, later renamed the Langley Avenue Jive Cats. Green became a near-constant member of McDaniel's backing band, the two often trading joking insults with each other during live shows. During the summer of 1943–1944, he played at the Maxwell Street market in a band with Earl Hooker. By 1951 he was playing on the street with backing from Roosevelt Jackson on washtub bass and Jody Williams, whom he had taught to play the guitar. Williams later played lead guitar on "Who Do You Love?" (1956).
In 1951 he landed a regular spot at the 708 Club, on Chicago's South Side, with a repertoire influenced by Louis Jordan, John Lee Hooker, and Muddy Waters. In late 1954, he teamed up with harmonica player Billy Boy Arnold, drummer Clifton James and bass player Roosevelt Jackson and recorded demos of "I'm a Man" and "Bo Diddley". They re-recorded the songs at Chess Studios, with a backing ensemble comprising Otis Spann (piano), Lester Davenport (harmonica), Frank Kirkland (drums), and Jerome Green (maracas). The record was released in March 1955, and the A-side, "Bo Diddley", became a number one R&B hit.
The origin of the stage name Bo Diddley is unclear. McDaniel claimed that his peers gave him the name, which he suspected was an insult. He also said that the name first belonged to a singer his adoptive mother knew. Harmonicist Billy Boy Arnold said that it was a local comedian's name, which Leonard Chess adopted as McDaniel's stage name and the title of his first single. Guitar craftsman Ed Roman stated that it was McDaniel's nickname as a Golden Gloves boxer.
A diddley bow is a homemade single-string instrument played mainly by farm workers in the South. It probably has influences from the West African coast. In the American slang term bo diddly, bo is an intensifier and diddly is a truncation of diddly squat, which means "absolutely nothing".
On November 20, 1955, Bo Diddley appeared on the popular television program The Ed Sullivan Show. When someone on the show's staff overheard him casually singing "Sixteen Tons" in the dressing room, he was asked to perform the song on the show. Because he could not read, when he saw "Bo Diddley" on the cue card, he thought he was to perform both his hit single and "Sixteen Tons". Sullivan was furious and banned Bo Diddley from his show, reputedly saying that he wouldn't last six months. Chess Records included Bo Diddley's "Sixteen Tons" on the 1960 album Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger.
Bo Diddley's hit singles continued in the 1950s and 1960s: "Pretty Thing" (1956), "Say Man" (1959), and "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" (1962). He also released numerous albums, including Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger and Have Guitar, Will Travel. These bolstered his self-invented legend. Between 1958 and 1963, Checker Records released eleven full-length Bo Diddley albums. In the 1960s he broke through as a crossover artist with white audiences (appearing at the Alan Freed concerts, for example), but he rarely aimed his compositions at teenagers. The album title Surfing with Bo Diddley derived from his influence on surf guitarists rather than surfing per se.
In 1963, Bo Diddley starred in a UK concert tour with the Everly Brothers and Little Richard. The up-and-coming Rolling Stones were billed as a supporting act.
He wrote many songs for himself and also for others. In 1956 he and guitarist Jody Williams co-wrote the pop song "Love Is Strange", a hit for Mickey & Sylvia in 1957. He also wrote "Mama (Can I Go Out)", which was a minor hit for the pioneering rockabilly singer Jo Ann Campbell, who performed the song in the 1959 rock and roll film Go Johnny Go.
Bo Diddley included women in his band: Norma-Jean Wofford, also known as The Duchess; Gloria Jolivet; Peggy Jones, also known as Lady Bo, a lead guitarist (rare for a woman at that time); Cornelia Redmond, also known as Cookie V; Debby Hastings, who led his band for the final 25 years. After moving from Chicago to Washington, D.C., he set up one of the first home recording studios, where he not only recorded the album Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger but produced and recorded his valet, Marvin Gaye. Bo Diddley co-wrote the Marquees' record "Wyatt Earp", the first single to feature Gaye. It was released on Okeh Records, after the Chess brothers turned it down. During this time, Moonglows' founder Harvey Fuqua sang backing vocals on many of Bo Diddley's home recordings. Gaye later joined the Moonglows and followed them to Motown.
Over the decades, Bo Diddley's performing venues ranged from intimate clubs to stadiums. On March 25, 1972, he played with the Grateful Dead at the Academy of Music in New York City. The Grateful Dead released part of this concert as Volume 30 of the band's concert album series, Dick's Picks. Also in the early 1970s, the soundtrack of the ground-breaking animated film Fritz the Cat contained his song "Bo Diddley", in which a crow idly finger-pops to the track.
Bo Diddley spent some years in New Mexico, living in Los Lunas from 1971 to 1978, while continuing his musical career. He served for two and a half years as a deputy sheriff in the Valencia County Citizens' Patrol; during that time he purchased and donated three highway-patrol pursuit cars. In the late 1970s, he left Los Lunas and moved to Hawthorne, Florida, where he lived on a large estate in a custom-made log cabin, which he helped to build. For the remainder of his life he divided his time between Albuquerque and Florida, living the last 13 years of his life in Archer, Florida, a small farming town near Gainesville.
In 1979, he appeared as an opening act for the Clash on their US tour and in Legends of Guitar (filmed live in Spain, 1991), with B.B. King, Les Paul, Albert Collins, and George Benson, among others. He joined the Rolling Stones on their 1994 concert broadcast of Voodoo Lounge, performing "Who Do You Love?" with the band. Sheryl Crow and Robert Cray also appeared on the pay-per-view special.
From 1985 until he died, his touring band consisted of Jim Satten (guitarist, band leader, musical director); Scott "Skyntyte" Free, Nunzio Signore or Frank Daley (guitar); Tom Major, Dave Johnson, Yoshi Shimada, Mike Fink or Sandy Gennaro (drums); John Margolis, Dave Keys or personal manager Margo Lewis (keyboards); and Debby Hastings (bassist and musical director).
Bo Diddley performed a number of shows around the country in 2005 and 2006 with fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Johnnie Johnson and his band, consisting of Johnson on keyboards, Richard Hunt on drums and Gus Thornton on bass. In 2006, he participated as the headliner of a grassroots-organized fundraiser concert to benefit the town of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, which had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The "Florida Keys for Katrina Relief" had originally been set for October 23, 2005, when Hurricane Wilma barreled through the Florida Keys on October 24, causing flooding and economic mayhem. In January 2006, the Florida Keys had recovered enough to host the fundraising concert to benefit the more hard-hit community of Ocean Springs. When asked about the fundraiser, Bo Diddley stated, "This is the United States of America. We believe in helping one another". In an interview with Holger Petersen, on Saturday Night Blues on CBC Radio in the fall of 2006, he commented on racism in the music industry establishment during his early career, which deprived him of royalties from the most successful part of his career.
His final guitar performance on a studio album was with the New York Dolls on their 2006 album One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This. He contributed guitar work to the song "Seventeen", which was included as a bonus track on the limited-edition version of the disc.
Bo Diddley fought the sportswear brand Nike in his later years over alleged copyright infringement, specifically over the use of his likeness and the slogan "You don't know diddley." In 1989, he had worked with Nike on a commercial in the "Bo Knows" campaign and had entered into a licensing agreement with the company. The agreement ended in 1991.[29] When Nike began selling the apparel again in 1999, he felt that Nike should not continue to use the slogan or his likeness. Despite the fact that lawyers for both parties could not come to a renewed legal arrangement, Nike allegedly continued marketing the apparel and ignored cease-and-desist orders.[30] The lawsuit was filed by attorney John Rosenberg in Manhattan Federal Court.
On May 13, 2007, Bo Diddley was admitted to intensive care in Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, following a stroke after a concert the previous day in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Starting the show, he had complained that he did not feel well. He referred to smoke from the wildfires that were ravaging south Georgia and blowing south to the area near his home in Archer, Florida. Nonetheless, he delivered an energetic performance to an enthusiastic crowd. The next day, as he was heading back home, he seemed dazed and confused at the airport. His manager, Margo Lewis, called 911 and airport security, and the musician was immediately taken by ambulance to Creighton University Medical Center and admitted to the Intensive-care unit, where he stayed for several days. After tests, it was confirmed that he had suffered a stroke. Bo Diddley had a history of hypertension and diabetes, and the stroke affected the left side of his brain, causing receptive and expressive aphasia (speech impairment). The stroke was followed by a heart attack, which he suffered in Gainesville, Florida, on August 28, 2007.
While recovering from the stroke and heart attack, Bo Diddley came back to his home town of McComb, Mississippi, in early November 2007, for the unveiling of a plaque devoted to him on the Mississippi Blues Trail. This marked his achievements and noted that he was "acclaimed as a founder of rock-and-roll." He was not supposed to perform, but as he listened to the music of local musician Jesse Robinson, who sang a song written for this occasion, Robinson sensed that Bo Diddley wanted to perform and handed him a microphone, the only time that he performed publicly after his stroke.
Bo Diddley died on June 2, 2008, of heart failure at his home in Archer, Florida. Garry Mitchell, his grandson and one of more than 35 family members at the musician's home when he died at 1:45 a.m. EDT (05:45 GMT), said his death was not unexpected. "There was a gospel song that was sung (at his bedside) and (when it was done) he said 'wow' with a thumbs up," Mitchell told Reuters, when asked to describe the scene at the deathbed. "The song was 'Walk Around Heaven' and in his last words he said 'I'm going to heaven.'"
His funeral, a four-hour "homegoing" service, took place on June 7, 2008, at Showers of Blessings Church in Gainesville, Florida, and kept in tune with the vibrant spirit of Bo Diddley's life and career. The many in attendance chanted "Hey Bo Diddley" as a gospel band played the legend's music. A number of notable musicians sent flowers, including George Thorogood, Tom Petty and Jerry Lee Lewis. Little Richard, who had been asking his audiences to pray for Bo Diddley throughout his illness, had to fulfil concert commitments in Westbury and New York City the weekend of the funeral. He took time at both concerts to remember his friend of a half-century, performing Bo's namesake tune in his honor.
After the funeral service, a tribute concert was held at the Martin Luther King Center in Gainesville, Florida and featured guest performances by his son and daughter, Ellas McDaniel Jr. and Evelyn "Tan" Cooper; long-time background vocalist Gloria Jolivet; and Eric Burdon. In the days following his death, tributes were paid by then-President George W. Bush, the United States House of Representatives, and many musicians and performers, including B. B. King, Ronnie Hawkins, Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood, George Thorogood, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Robert Plant, Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Randolph and the Family Band and Eric Burdon.
He was posthumously awarded a Doctor of Fine Arts degree by the University of Florida for his influence on American popular music. In its People in America radio series, about influential people in American history, the Voice of America radio service paid tribute to him, describing how "his influence was so widespread that it is hard to imagine what rock and roll would have sounded like without him." Mick Jagger stated that "he was a wonderful, original musician who was an enormous force in music and was a big influence on the Rolling Stones. He was very generous to us in our early years and we learned a lot from him". Jagger also praised the late star as a one-of-a-kind musician, adding, "We will never see his like again". The documentary film Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street by director Phil Ranstrom features Bo Diddley's last on-camera interview.
In November 2009, the guitar used by Bo Diddley in his final stage performance sold for $60,000 at auction.
The beneficiaries of his estate have been fighting in court for a forensic accounting of his assets, currently valued around $900,000, with as much as $6,000,000 unaccounted for.
Bo Diddley achieved numerous accolades in recognition of his significant role as one of the founding fathers of rock and roll:
1986: Inducted into the Washington Area Music Association's Hall of Fame.
1987: Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
1990: Lifetime Achievement Award from Guitar Player magazine.
1998: Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
1999: His 1955 recording of his song "Bo Diddley" inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as a recording of lasting qualitative or historical significance.
2000: Inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame and the North Florida Music Association's Hall of Fame.
2002: Pioneer in Entertainment Award from the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters
2002: Honored as one of the first BMI Icons at the 50th annual BMI Pop Awards, along with BMI affiliates Chuck Berry and Little Richard.
2008: Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree posthumously conferred on Diddley by the University of Florida in August (the award had been confirmed before his death in June).
2009: Announcement of his induction into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame (induction to occur during Florida Heritage Month, March 2010).
2010: Induction into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.[citation needed]
In 2003, U.S. Representative John Conyers paid tribute to Bo Diddley in the United States House of Representatives. describing him as "one of the true pioneers of rock and roll, who has influenced generations".
In 2004, Mickey and Sylvia's 1956 recording of "Love Is Strange" (a song first recorded by Bo Diddley but not released until a year before his death) was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as a recording of qualitative or historical significance. Also in 2004, Bo Diddley was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Blues Hall of Fame and was ranked number 20 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
In 2005, Bo Diddley celebrated his 50th anniversary in music with successful tours of Australia and Europe and with coast-to-coast shows across North America. He performed his song "Bo Diddley" with Eric Clapton and Robbie Robertson at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 20th annual induction ceremony. In the UK, Uncut magazine included his 1957 debut album, Bo Diddley, in its listing of the '100 Music, Movie & TV Moments That Have Changed the World'.
Bo Diddley was honored by the Mississippi Blues Commission with a Mississippi Blues Trail historic marker placed in McComb, his birthplace, in recognition of his enormous contribution to the development of the blues in Mississippi. On June 5, 2009, the city of Gainesville, Florida, officially renamed and dedicated its downtown plaza the Bo Diddley Community Plaza. The plaza was the site of a benefit concert at which Bo Diddley performed to raise awareness about the plight of the homeless in Alachua County and to raise money for local charities, including the Red Cross.
The 1988 video game Super Mario Bros. 3 featured a ghost-like enemy named Boo Diddley in homage to the legendary singer. In later games, the name was changed to Boo.
The "Bo Diddley beat" is essentially the clave rhythm, one of the most common bell patterns found in sub-Saharan African music traditions. One scholar found this rhythm in 13 rhythm and blues recordings made in the years 1944–55, including two by Johnny Otis from 1948.
Bo Diddley gave different accounts of how he began to use this rhythm. Sublette asserts, "In the context of the time, and especially those maracas (heard on the record), 'Bo Diddley' has to be understood as a Latin-tinged record. A rejected cut recorded at the same session was titled only 'Rhumba' on the track sheets." The Bo Diddley beat is similar to "hambone", a style used by street performers who play out the beat by slapping and patting their arms, legs, chest, and cheeks while chanting rhymes. Somewhat resembling the "shave and a haircut, two bits" rhythm, Diddley came across it while trying to play Gene Autry's "(I've Got Spurs That) Jingle, Jangle, Jingle". Three years before his "Bo Diddley", a song with similar syncopation "Hambone", was cut by the Red Saunders Orchestra with the Hambone Kids. In 1944, "Rum and Coca Cola", containing the Bo Diddley beat, was recorded by the Andrews Sisters. Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" (1957) and Them's "Mystic Eyes" (1965) used the beat.
In its simplest form, the Bo Diddley beat can be counted out as either a one-bar or a two-bar phrase. Here is the count as a one-bar phrase: One e and ah, two e and ah, three e and ah, four e and ah (the boldface counts are the clave rhythm).
Many songs (for example, "Hey Bo Diddley" and "Who Do You Love?") often have no chord changes; that is, the musicians play the same chord throughout the piece, so that the rhythms create the excitement, rather than having the excitement generated by harmonic tension and release. In his other recordings, Bo Diddley used various rhythms, from straight back beat to pop ballad style to doo-wop, frequently with maracas by Jerome Green.
An influential guitar player, Bo Diddley developed many special effects and other innovations in tone and attack. His trademark instrument was his self-designed, one-of-a-kind, rectangular-bodied "Twang Machine" (referred to as "cigar-box shaped" by music promoter Dick Clark) built by Gretsch. He had other uniquely shaped guitars custom-made for him by other manufacturers throughout the years, most notably the "Cadillac" and the rectangular "Turbo 5-speed" (with built-in envelope filter, flanger and delay) designs made by Tom Holmes (who also made guitars for ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, among others). In a 2005 interview on JJJ radio in Australia, he implied that the rectangular design sprang from an embarrassing moment. During an early gig, while jumping around on stage with a Gibson L5 guitar, he landed awkwardly, hurting his groin. He then went about designing a smaller, less restrictive guitar that allowed him to keep jumping around on stage while still playing his guitar. He also played the violin, which is featured on his mournful instrumental "The Clock Strikes Twelve", a twelve-bar blues.
He often created lyrics as witty and humorous adaptations of folk music themes. The song "Bo Diddley" was based on the African-American clapping rhyme "Hambone" (which in turn was based on the lullaby "Hush Little Baby"). Likewise, "Hey Bo Diddley" is based on the song "Old MacDonald". The song "Who Do You Love?" with its rap-style boasting, and his use of the African-American game known as "the dozens" on the songs "Say Man" and "Say Man, Back Again," are cited as progenitors of hip-hop music (for example, "You got the nerve to call somebody ugly. Why, you so ugly, the stork that brought you into the world ought to be arrested").
The Bo Diddley Beat is a kind of syncopated five-accent clave rhythm. The Bo Diddley beat is named after Bo Diddley, who introduced and popularised the beat with his self-titled debut single. Although Bo Diddley was a rhythm and blues musician essentially, the beat is widely used in rock and roll and pop music.
The "Bo Diddley Beat" (1955) is perhaps the first true fusion of 3-2 clave and R&B/rock 'n' roll.
The Bo Diddley beat is essentially a 3-2 clave rhythm, one of the most common bell patterns found in Afro-Cuban music, and its origin goes back to the sub-Saharan African music traditions. But there is no documentation of a direct Cuban connection to Bo Diddley's adaptation of the clave rhythm. The Latin connection was so strong that Bo Diddley used maracas as a basic component of his sound. Bo Diddley has given different accounts regarding how he began to use this rhythm. In an interview with Rolling Stones magazine, Diddley said he came up with the beat after listening to Gospel music in church when he was 12 years old.
Sublette asserts: "In the context of the time, and especially those maracas (heard on the record), 'Bo Diddley' has to be understood as a Latin-tinged record. A rejected cut recorded at the same session was titled only 'Rhumba' on the track sheets." Somewhat resembling the Shave and a Haircut rhythm, Diddley came across it while trying to play Gene Autry's version of "Jingle, Jangle, Jingle".
According to ethnomusicologists, the Bo Diddley beat is similar to a folk tradition called "hambone", a style used by street performers who play out the beat by slapping and patting their arms, legs, chest, and cheeks while chanting rhymes. "Handboning" can also be described as a form of corpophone - using your body for percussion. This is something that's inherent in African-American culture. You don't have a drum? Your body is the next best thing. You clap, slap and stomp. Corpophone excludes the voice and the introduction of the neologism as a classificatory category was added to the conventional scheme of idiophone, membranophone, chordophone, aerophone, and electrophone by the American ethnomusicologist Dale A. Olsen. The Bo Diddley beat is also akin to the age-old rhythmic pattern best known as "shave and a haircut, two bits." And it's been linked to Yoruba drumming from West Africa.
In its simplest form, the Bo Diddley beat can be counted out as either a one-bar, or a two-bar phrase. Here is the count as a one-bar phrase: One e and ah, two e and ah, three e and ah, four e and ah. The bolded counts are the clave rhythm.
Three years before Bo's "Bo Diddley" (1955), a song similar syncopation "Hambone", was cut by Red Saunders' Orchestra with The Hambone Kids. In 1944, "Rum and Coca Cola", containing the Bo Diddley beat, was recorded by The Andrews Sisters and later Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" (1957) and Them's "Mystic Eyes" (1965) used the beat. This rhythm occurs in 13 rhythm and blues recordings made in the years 1944–55, including two by Johnny Otis from 1948.
Unfortunately, while Bo's sound was his trademark, he couldn’t copyright it, which may explain why Diddley has been overlooked and undervalued, even though his sound snakes through a hit list spanning two generations. Cover bands play the Bo Diddley beat formulaically but in Bo Diddley's hands, the beat was alive. He did something different with it every time he recorded it. It's the difference between copying and creating.
Other songs employing the Bo Diddley beat include "I Wish You Would" by Billy Boy Arnold (1955), "Willie and the Hand Jive" by Johnny Otis (1958), "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" (1961) by Elvis Presley, "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" by The Supremes (1963), "I Want Candy" by The Strangeloves (1965), "Please Go Home" by The Rolling Stones (1966), "Magic Bus" (1968) by The Who, "1969" (1969) by The Stooges, "She Has Funny Cars" (1969) by Jefferson Airplane, Suzanne (1968/9) by Fairport Convention, "Panic in Detroit" (1973) by David Bowie, "Shame, Shame, Shame" by Shirley & Company (1974), "She's the One" (1975) by Bruce Springsteen, "American Girl" (1977) by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "Rudie Can't Fail" (1979) by The Clash, "Deathwish" by The Police (1979), "Cuban Slide" by The Pretenders (1980),[6] "I Want Candy" (cover) by Bow Wow Wow (1982), "Freeze to Me" (1983) by David Wilcox, "Mr. Brownstone" (1987) by Guns N' Roses, "Faith" (1987) by George Michael, "Desire" (1988) by U2, "Movin' on Up" (1991) by Primal Scream, "Woodcutter's Son" (1995) by Paul Weller, "Doctor Looney's Remedy" by Parachute Express (1995), "Caress Me Down" by Sublime (1996), "Cannon Ball" by Duane Eddy (1996), "Screwdriver" (1999) by The White Stripes, "I'm Sorry I Love You" by The Magnetic Fields, and "The Big 5-0" (2004) by Stan Ridgway. "Party at the Leper Colony" (2003) by "Weird Al" Yankovic is a comedy song featuring the Bo Diddley beat.
More subtle uses of the Diddley beat include "Hateful" (1979) by The Clash and "How Soon Is Now?" (1985) by The Smiths.
I'm Alright
Bo Diddley Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'I'm Alright' by these artists:
2-Faced (Aye, yo Mog, you did this?) I been trying find someone…
4BackWoods Well it's been a long time, glad to see your…
Adam Kahati I feel you creeping on me Getting sneaky on me These days Ev…
Agent Ribbons Please don't give me everything I want I wanna want some…
Aim Vision Vision Look My mind's the place that I be I think I'm in…
Aldn i'm alright but she don't wanna cry anymore so i ask myself…
Alex J. Robinson Don't you worry, I'm alright, Jack We've never had it so…
Anshelle I′m alright I'm okay Calm down now And please don′t cry Thi…
Bebo Norman I've got a little hope in my pocket, I want…Bill Anderson I'm alright I'm alright I'm a little bit red in…
Blaze/ICP/Twiztid [Jamie Madrox] If you're readin' this, then I finally did it…
Bloodhounds You gave me the rain but now I can only…
Bob Dylan Darkness at the break of noon Shadows even the silver spoon …
Bob Dylan & The Band Now, when I call her by her name You know she…
Bob Dylan & The Band / Bob Dylan & The Band Calling out to the deepest reaches of interstellar space Eng…
Bob Dylan and The Band Don't you worry, I'm alright, Jack We've never had it so…
Bount Love (Love, is something I can't find) Is something I can't…
Brasstracks R.LUM.R I’m alright tho I Light one get higher The lows they make…
Breanna Barbara Well I don't know what I am now but In this life…
Brother Roscoe I got my dog and my friends Got my guitar and…
Bucky Covington I woke up this morning in my memory yea I got…
Burning Yesterday Now I'm breaking Fall apart at the seams and I'm taking All…
Cabrio Cat Birds born in the cages scared of the flying They think…
Cecimonster vs. Donka What are you buying? What are you selling? It's been a long…
childish gambino This is exactly what I wanted All my fans love me Dad…
Christian Keyes Spoken Words: Sometimes you just gotta encourage yourself no…
Cimo Frankel This ain’t where I belong to This ain’t where I belong…
Clark Terri After all was said and done There was nothing left to…
Combat 84 You're out late at night And you're on the run You're look…
D. Brown IÂ'm alright now itÂ's six oÂ'clock in the morning, And iÂ'…
Da Buzz Yes I am alright, now I'm alright And I want the…
DiYoute Life's good Damn Savion You're Good Well actually life's ama…
Dizzy & Fay I'm Alright I'm ok What's the point In you asking me that an…
Doc Walker I spent all my time chasing the good life I lived…
Dragons Well it's been a long time, glad to see your…
ECCO2k (Aye, yo Mog, you did this?) I been trying find someone…
Elaneer At first I was afraid Didn't know how to play the…
Emmy d'Arc 1 past 8, the morning news has already begun I turn…
Exstrike & Feed.It. I'm alright Like lulling traffic to sleep tips the balance b…
FFH Some say life is hard Like swimming upstream Or going agains…
Freia This Love Got affected We Know Your lies won′t fix us again …
Freia & Quba I'm Alright Lyrics : Badea Victoria Iona (FREIA) / Gajaila A…
Fuzzy Grass I was walking with a marvelous moonlight. Since three hours …
Genie the Band Calling out to the deepest reaches of interstellar space Eng…
Graham BLVD I'm alright Nobody worry 'bout me Why you got to gimme a…
Holy Moly Well you said you were livin' And I say whatcha do? I…
How Strange It Is I'm alright Like lulling traffic to sleep tips the balance b…
Jake Miller Today I met a man, sittin' on the corner He was…
jam jar Es geht mir alles viel zu langsam Zeit heilt alle Wunden…
Jan Metternich I just saw your message on my phone I just saw…
Jars of Clay It was the fear of God that led me to…
Jean Roch (feat Flo-Rida & Kat DeLuna) I'm already dead With dough I need to get away And you…
Jean Roch (feat. Flo Rida & Kat DeLuna) I'm already dead With dough I need to get away And you…
Jean Roch Ft. Flo Rida & Kat Deluna I'm already dead With dough I need to get away And you…
Jean-Roch Feat. Flo Rida & Kat DeLuna I'm already dead With dough I need to get away And you…
Jean-Roch Featuring Flo Rida Featuring Kat Deluna I'm already dead With dough I need to get away And you…
Jean-Roch ft. Flo Rida & Kat Deluna I'm already dead With dough I need to get away And you…
Jesse Harris & The Ferdinandos Faith I need you on my side When I want to…
JIMI ONO They can't put no walls around us Oh, when the ceiling…
Jimmy and the Parrots I might see you from the sidewalk, and if I…
Jo Dee Messina Well, it's been a long time, glad to see your…
jonzer jackson Find me another I can't seem to sleep tonight Still runnin' …
jun.e I Said I’m Alright, I’m okay Blowin up crazy like I’m…
Kathy Mattea After all was said and done There was nothin' left to…
Kenny Loggins I'm alright Nobody worry 'bout me Why you got to gimme a…
Kids In The Way I run away when I get scared I find a place…
Kim Richey After all was said and done There was nothing left to…
Kozy (Woah oh) I'll run up I'll shoot you at the function Caught…
Kyven we're never goin' back when the time comes back i'm sick an…
latewaves that pile of laundry ain't gonna fold itself that half drank…
LEADR I hear the sound of your heartbeat All the memories live…
Lisa Ramey I gotta find a way Can't wake up every day Feeling like…
Little Anthony well im alright alright since my baby told me she loved me…
Little Anthony & the Imperials well im alright alright since my baby told me she loved me w…
Loggins Kenny I'm alright Nobody worry 'bout me Why you got to gimme a…
Loudon Wainwright III Well it's been a long time, glad to see your…
Luna Halo It's been too long, too hard, too far I know you…
Lynn Anderson I'm alright I'm alright I'm a little bit red in…
Malcolm-Jay Everything happens for a reason Lately it's been getting har…
Mammoth WVH You wanna know how? I've got the know-how That kinda thinkin…
Master P [Intro] I'm too strong to lose, I mean My hustlin skills kee…
Maxi Priest feat. Shaggy Maxi Priest Shaggy! I don′t care what they do to me, I'm…
Meanty Alright I can feel it setting in Can you feel my skin Im…
Michael Benjamin I'm good at pretending to be somebody im not I'm good…
Midnight Metro My baby girl she's twenty-two years old She's gonna die alon…
Mr. Gnome I′m alright, you're alright yeah... Hold me down. You know …
Mustasch One down, one to go 'Cause I'm tired being pushed by…
Native Go out every weekend To a city I can't sleep in Looking…
NBMusic I want out I don't like Anything around me at all I…
Noah Gundersen Lost my head again With my only friends With my only Even if…
Nolan Sotillo I can remember holding hands Walking down the beach our feet…
Nolo Flows Yo I’m alright I’ll be just fine I’m alright I’ll be fine Latel…
Norman Bebo I've got a little hope in my pocket, I want…
Noryn Aziz SOMETIMES… I WONDER HOW MY LIFE WOULD BE IF YOU STILL HERE…
NY.T.E I Said I’m Alright, I’m okay Blowin up crazy like I’m…
Overkill Oh my God in blood soaked silhouette Oh my God on…
Owsley I don't care what you say Nothing's gonna change me anyway I…
P. J. Proby [Intro] I'm too strong to lose, I mean My hustlin skills kee…
Phil Vassar Well it's been a long time, glad to see your…
Red Kross I'm alright I feel alright.....................…
Redd Kross I'm alright I feel alright.....................…
Rowlan Damn what a crazy ride they can't prep you for Nine…
Rynx They can't put no walls around us Oh, when the ceiling…
Scattered Hamlet Born to lose John said Sink or swim you been left…
Sevryn Now I'm stuck in my ways Tonight I got a feeling…
Shania Twain Let me go, you had to have her You drove in…
Shug Hzy Ghost Rider, I'ma ride all through the night time I got…
Sim Spit out the question Expose their false confession Catch an…
Simon Townshend Hold me if you dare, I am not afraid I can…
Skylar Kaylyn I laid awake, in my bed, all night long last…
Soulights 하나라 알던 하나로 믿었던 그대와 나의 그 사랑했던 마음이 두개의 맘으로 두명의…
Stereophonics I'll drink another drink for you One, two, three, four, five…
Stereophonics (Live) I'll drink another drink for you One, two, three, four, fiv…
Stereophonics - You Gotta Go There To Come Back I'll drink another drink for you One, two, three, four, five…
Stereophonics(스테레오포닉스) I'll drink another drink for you One, two, three, four, fiv…
Stryken Eeeeee-yah You think you really hurt me Your dreams were all…
Sugababes I pack my bag, take my key from off the…
Sugarcult Don't wanna be here. Repeating a new year. Don't wanna let…
Tayrn I wanna stay in the cool air of midnight It blew…
Terri Clark After all was said and done There was nothing left to…
The Bates Huh And now it's summer And the grass is high again I go…
The Bluebell Smile I'm alright I'm Boxed in, motionless, and brain-dead, The …
The Bodies Feel alright, gotta get the hell outta here I′m feeling fine…
The Dragons Well it's been a long time, glad to see your…
The Rolling Stones I wanna tell you something baby that you don't know, no…
The Scouts I am a tired and lonely wanderer Lost in a constant…
Twiztid [Jamie Madrox] If you're readin' this, then I finally did it…
UB40 Don't you give me your hard luck story I don't care…
Unicorn Modern horror games are such a big disgrace What happened to…
W.D Hold back your diamonds and pearls 'Cause the attraction's n…
Wearyland Here I stand with empty hands while rain is falling down on …
zero horizon Lost in the way broken By the way, can you find…
光引擎 Everyone's just good at hiding the true feelings In a…
ＳｉＭ Spit out the question Expose their false confession Catch an…
We have lyrics for these tracks by Bo Diddley:
11. mama don Mama don't allow no twistin' in her house Mama don't allow…
500% More Man 500% More Man Trk 19 Disc 2 2:55 (Ellas McDaniel) Bo Diddley…
Back Home Back Home Trk 12 Disc 2 2: 29 (Ellas Mcdaniel) Bo Diddley Bo…
Bad Moon Rising I see a bad moon rising - I see trouble…
Before You Accuse Me Before you accuse me Take a look at yourself Before you accu…
Blues Blues Blues, Blues Trk 24 Disc 2 2: 54 (Ellas Mcdaniel) Bo Diddley…
Bo Diddley Bo Diddley's a gunslinger, Bo Diddley'sa gunslinger, Yeh, ah…
Bo Diddley (Single Version) [Mono] Bo Diddley bought his babe a diamond ring If that diamond…
Bo Diddley 1969 Clap yo' hands and now stomp yo' feet Bo Diddley back…
Bo Diddley Put The Rock In Rock 'N' Roll Now when I was a little boy At the age of…
Bo Diddley's A Gunsliger Bo Diddley's a gunslinger, Bo Diddley'sa gunslinger, Yeh, ah…
Bo Diddley-Itis Bo Diddley bought his babe a diamond ring If that diamond…
Bo Diddley’s Dog Bo Diddley bought his baby a diamond ring If that diamond…
Bo Meets the Monster I was sittin' in my front room, I heard a…
Bo's Blues I want you to call me, baby Call me anytime that…
Bo's Vacation spoken: -Say Joe -Yeah? -I heard you're gonna take a …
Bo-Diddley Bo Diddley's a gunslinger, Bo Diddley'sa gunslinger, Yeh, ah…
Bo-Jam Bo Diddley bought his babe a diamond ring If that diamond…
Bring It to Jerome Well (bring it to Jerome) Every day I work (bring it…
Cadillac I don't want no Cadillac (C.A.D.I.L.L.A.C) One I got, I'm …
Can You Shimmy I bought a brand-new air-mobile It custom-made, 'twas a Flig…
Cheyenne Cheyenne rode all day and all through the night Getting int…
Congo Dearest darling Dearest darling Dearest darling Don't you k…
Cops As I was driving home along the boulevard late one…
Crackin You're always hollerin' bout where I've been You're always s…
Dancing Girl Runnin' for the dance hall Lightnin' speed Lookin' for my …
Dearest Darling Dearest darling Dearest darling Dearest darling Don't you k…
Deed and Deed I Do Deed And Deed I Do Trk 7 Disc 2 2:22 (Ellas…
Diddley Daddy Diddley-diddley-diddley-diddley, daddy Diddley-diddley-diddl…
Diddy Wah Diddy Before you accuse me Take a look at yourself Before you accu…
Do What I Say You can't change me, baby Try to copy my ways I'm tired…
Doctor Jekyll She'd 9 years old and sweet as she can be All…
Don't Let It Go Don't Let It Go Trk 21 Disc 2 2: 45 (Ellas…
Down Home Special I'm looking for a woman, that will work to set…
Everleen Riding along in my automobile My baby beside me at the…
Give Me A Break Oh, give me a break Now go 'head, son Oh, go 'head…
Give Me A Break/You Can't Judge A Book by It's Cover You can't judge an apple by looking at a tree You…
Goin' Down Slow Man You know I don't enjoy things that kings and queens…
Greatest Lover In The World I'm the greatest lover in the world I was born just…
Gun Slinger I can tell because it's plain to see I can tell…
Gunslinger Bo Diddley's a gunslinger, Bo Diddley'sa gunslinger, Yeh, ah…
Heart-O-Matic Love I got heart-o-matic love Stored in my heart I need a super…
Hey ! Bo Diddley Bo Diddley done had a farm (hey Bo Diddley) On that…
Hey Go Go Oh when the saints, go marching in, Oh when the saints…
Hey Hey Bo Diddley done had a farm (hey Bo Diddley) On that…
Hey! Bo-Diddley Bo Diddley done had a farm (Hey, Bo Diddley) On that farm…
Hong Kong Dearest darling Dearest darling Dearest darling Don't you…
Hong Kong, Mississippi Dearest darling Dearest darling Dearest darling Don't you kn…
Husband In-Law Me dijo que era tranquila, q no salía de casa, No le…
Hush Your Mouth Oh (hush your mouth!) Oh (hush your mouth!) Hey little baby…
I Can Tell I can tell because it's plain to see I can tell…
I Don't Know Where I've Been Arrested on charges of unemployment, He was sitting in the …
I Got To Go All night and the night befo' (Don't let it go) Somebody kep…
I Just Want To Make Love To You I don't want you to be no slave I don't want…
I Know I'm sorry Oh, I'm sorry Oh baby, I'm sorry For the things I…
I Love You So Oh, I, I, I, baby, I love you so You know,…
I Need You Baby Bo Diddley done had a farm (hey Bo Diddley) On that…
I'm A Man Now when I was a little boy, At the age…
I'm A Man - Single Version Now when I was a little boy, At the age of…
I'm Know I'm Alright I'm sorry Oh, I'm sorry Oh baby, I'm sorry For the things I…
I'm Looking for a Woman I'm looking for a woman That will work to set me…
I'm Looking For A Woman '55 I'm looking for a woman That will work to set me…
I'm Sorry I'm sorry, Oh, I'm sorry, Oh baby, I'm sorry, For the things…
I'm Sweet On You Baby Bo Diddley done had a farm (hey Bo Diddley) On that…
I've Been Working Arrested on charges of unemployment, He was sitting in the w…
Im A Man Now when I was a little boy At the age of…
Intro / Bo Diddley Vamp You don't love me, you don't care You don't want me…
Intro/ Bo Diddley Runnin' for the dance hall, lightnin' speed Lookin' for my b…
Intro/Bo Diddley Bo Diddley bought his babe a diamond ring If that diamond…
I´m a Man Now when I was a little boy At the age of…
I´m Sorry I'm sorry, Oh, I'm sorry, Oh baby, I'm sorry, For the thi…
Little Girl Little girl, I go home with you Little girl, I go…
Little Red Rooster I'm a little red rooster, Too lazy to crow for day I'm…
Live My Life I'm gon' make it my business To be in love with…
Long Distance Call You say you love me darling, Please, call me on the…
Look At Grandma Grandma, doing her thing look at grandma with that diamond r…
Look At My Baby Look At My Baby Trk 9 Disc 2 2: 32 Bo…
Love Her Madly Don't you love her madly, woo Don't you need her badly…
Love Me You don't love me You don't care You don't want me Hangin' r…
Mama Don't Allow No Twistin Mama don't allow no twistin' in her house Mama don't allow…
Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut Hey, mama, keep your big mouth shut Keep your big mouth…
Memphis Long distance information, give me Memphis Tennessee Help me…
Mona (I Need You Baby) Mona, I need you Mona, ooo-ooo, Mona Yeah! Yeah-yeah-yeah! M…
Mr Khrushchev I think I want to go to the army (Hut…
Mr. Khrushchev (Hut 2, 3, 4, hut 2, 3, 4, hut 2,…
Mr. Kruschev (Whoa-ooh baby, I love you) Ooh baby I love you,…
Mule Train (Lead Vocal) Mule Train! A-ha! Heeyah! Clippity-cloppin' through the win…
My Babe My baby don't stand no cheatin', my babe Oh yeah she…
Not Guilty Around the world and gone again (Bo Diddley, Bo Diddley, whe…
Nursery Rhyme My sister's name is Puudin' Tame, They asked if she would…
Oh Yea Oh Yea Trk 23 Disc 2 3: 10 (Ellas Mcdaniel) Bo Diddley Bo…
Ooh Baby (Whoa-ooh baby, I love you) (Whoa-ooh baby, I love you) Wait…
OOPS! Bo Diddley Runnin' for the dance hall, lightnin' speed Lookin' for my b…
Our Love Will Never Go One kiss from your lips Set my soul on fire The touch…
Pills Say man What's that boy? I want to tell you…
Pollution (Take a look, take a look, up to the sky) (Pretty…
Pretty Thing You pretty thing Let me buy you a wedding ring Let me…
Prisoner Of Love Someone that I belong to Doesn't belong to me Someone who ca…
Ride On Josephine I got nineteen kids and all got to eat Eighteen of…
Road Runner I'm a road runner honey Beep-beep Ah, beep-beep I'm a road r…
Roadrunner I'm a road runner honey beep beep! I'm a road runner…
Rock 'n' Roll Just let me hear some of that Rock and roll music, Any…
Run Diddley Daddy Diddley diddley diddley daddy Diddley diddley diddley daddy…
Say Boss Man I got nineteen kids at home gotta eat Eighteen of 'em…
Say Bossman Well (bring it to Jerome) Every day I work (bring it…
Say Man Say man What's that boy? I want to tell you about your…
Say Man Back Again Say man, What's that boy? I want to tell you 'bout your…
Say! Boss Man I got nineteen kids at home gotta eat Eighteen of 'em…
She I wanna tell you about my little girl, Her name is…
She's Fine She's Mine She's Fine, She's Mine Trk 10 Disc 1 (Ellas Mcdaniel) Bo Did…
She's Fine, She's Mine Ooh Ooh-ooh-oh Ooh-ooh-ooh Ooh-ooh-oooh Tell you don't love…
Shes Alright I wanna tell you about my little girl, Her name is…
Signifying Blues (Well, well) ('At sho' is a old man there playin' that…
Sixteen Tons People say a man is made outta mud Poor man made…
Spend My Life With You Spend My Life With You (prev. unrel) Trk 4 Disc…
Spoonful It could be a spoonful of coffee It could be a…
Story of Bo Diddley I was born one night about twelve o'clock (Ha-ha-ha) I come …
Sweet Little Angel She'd 9 years old and sweet as she can be All…
The Great Grandfather The great grand-pappy when the land was young Barred his do…
The Greatest Lover in the World The Greatest Lover In The World Trk 17 Disc 2…
The Story of Bo Diddley I was born one night about twelve o'clock (Ha-ha-ha) I come …
Walkin' And Talkin' Bo Diddley, Bo Diddley, have you heard Mama gonna buy you…
We're Gonna Get Married We're gonna get married We're gonna get married Ha, ha, ha, …
What's Buggin' You All night and the night befo' (Don't let it go) Somebody kep…
When The Saints Go Marching In Oh when the saints, go marching in, Oh when the saints…
Who Do You Love I walk 47 miles of barbed wire, I use a cobra-snake…
Who do you love I hope I walk forty-seven miles of barbed wire I use a cobra…
Who Do You Love? I walk 47 miles of barbed wire, I use a cobra-snake…
Who Made Your Lover Be Ooh-who, woo-ooh-woo Somebody's cryin' Somebody's cryin' al…
Who May Your Lover Be Who May Your Lover Be Trk 17 Disc 2 2:56 (Ellas…
Willie and Lillie Willie And Lillie Trk 15 Disc 2 2:18 (Ellas McDaniel) Bo Did…
Woman I'm looking for a woman That will work to set me…
Working Man Well, I work on the railroad With a sledge in one…
and many more tracks by Bo Diddley.
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@deeg8849
One of the 5 rock n roll fathers. Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and James Brown. Their contribution to life itself is beyond measure. Thank you
@shineshineization
Ike Turner should be in there. James Brown was more in the Funk genre
@SIR46661
James Brown -no way ! Great in his genre. More like Eddie Cochran, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, & Elvis !
@deeg8849
@@SIR46661 Your 5 is good, but they were followers (except Chuck) James dates back to the 50s as well and did more with his craft for longer creating new genres. Just because its more funk based ultimately, doesn't make it any less rock n roll. If it has a groove, its rock n roll.
@SIR46661
@ I appreciate you but both James Brown and Johnny Cash maybe have been inspirations but did other music. Same with Howlin Wolf & Muddy Waters. But in no way was Eddie Cochran a follower. He wrote his own songs and died at only 21. He left a heck of a legacy perhaps even bigger in England.
@befajoses
This Song Just Saved My Life!
@sjhust
Yeah, this is on Beach Party. GREAT album. When I was 5, I used to sneak in and play my brother's copy when he was at school. Really happy that it's available on iTunes - it's like coming home again. Massive, huge guitar sound from Bo and the Duchess.
@fringestream990
Song gives me Goosebumps...
@raulchavezromo315
what...a. song..bro...great.bo
@gfhcgh
This is rock with soul. Nowadays it's rock AND soul