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Bo Diddley

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Bo Diddley was born in 1928 in McComb, Mississippi, as Ellas Otha Bates. A cousin of his mother raised him, and he took her surname, McDaniel. When he was five the family moved to the South Side of Chicago. At church he learned trombone and violin, but he was drawn even more to the rousing, rhythmic music of a Pentecostal church in the neighbourhood. He took up the guitar, inspired by John Lee Hooker, and performed on street corners and at the Maxwell Street market.

Music and breakthrough

In 1955 Chess Records released his first single, with I'm a Man and Bo Diddley. The latter became a number 1 hit on the R&B chart. At his shows Jerome Green sat next to him with the maracas, and the two liked to trade funny insults. Songs such as Who Do You Love? (1956) followed. That same year he was allowed to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show, but because he played a different song from the one agreed, he was never asked back.

Influence

Bo Diddley played striking rectangular guitars and used tremolo and reverb effects. His trademark was a simple, stuttering five-beat rhythm, with roots in African and Latin American music. That rhythm, the Bo Diddley beat, became a building block of rock, pop and later hip hop. He influenced Buddy Holly, The Rolling Stones, The Animals and The Clash, and so helped make the transition from blues to rock 'n' roll.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Bo Diddley from 1955. Notice the chopping five-beat rhythm on the guitar, the shaking maracas and the trembling, reverberating guitar sound. There is almost no chord change: the rhythm is everything.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

See also

Categories: Artists