Bo Diddley
Ellas Bates McDaniel arrived in the world on the 30th of December 1928, inside a small town called McComb, Mississippi. He was the only child of Ethel Wilson, who was just sixteen years old when she gave birth to him. Her family could not support another mouth to feed, so they placed the boy with her cousin Gussie McDaniel for adoption. The child took his adoptive father's surname and grew up as Ellas McDaniel. His biological father Eugene Bates remained an unknown figure throughout his life.
The young boy moved from the rural South to the urban North after his adoptive father Robert died in 1934. Gussie McDaniel brought him to the South Side of Chicago where he would spend most of his formative years. He became an active member of the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church at age five. There he studied the trombone and the violin until he was proficient enough to join the church orchestra. He played that instrument until he turned eighteen years old.
Despite his classical training, Diddley found himself drawn to the frenetic energy of Pentecostal churches nearby. He picked up a guitar and began playing the rhythmic music he heard there. Those early recordings were based directly on the trance-like rhythms of the Sanctified churches he attended as a youth. This transition from formal orchestral work to street performance laid the groundwork for his future sound.
A simple five-accent hambone rhythm became the cornerstone of hip hop, rock, and pop music history through Bo Diddley's work. Scholars trace this pattern back to sub-Saharan African music traditions known as clave rhythms. One scholar identified this specific beat in thirteen rhythm and blues recordings made between 1944 and 1955. The rhythm appears in two tracks by Johnny Otis from 1948 alone.
Diddley gave different accounts of how he discovered this musical structure during his career. Ned Sublette noted that the record must be understood as Latin-tinged given the maracas heard on the track. A rejected cut recorded at the same session was titled only Rhumba on the official track sheets. The beat resembles a style used by street performers who play out the rhythm by slapping their arms, legs, chest, and cheeks while chanting rhymes.
This syncopated groove appeared three years before his famous hit song with similar timing in a track called Hambone. That recording came from the Red Saunders Orchestra with the Hambone Kids. In 1944, Rum and Coca Cola contained the same beat when recorded by the Andrews Sisters. Many songs after Diddley's success used the beat including Buddy Holly's Not Fade Away from 1957.
His trademark instrument was a self-designed one-of-a-kind rectangular-bodied Twang Machine built by Gretsch. Music promoter Dick Clark referred to it as cigar-box shaped throughout the decades. He had other uniquely shaped guitars custom-made for him by various manufacturers over the years. These included the Cadillac and the rectangular Turbo 5-speed designs made by Tom Holmes.
Diddley implied during a 2005 interview on JJJ radio in Australia that the rectangular design sprang from an embarrassing moment. During an early gig he jumped around on stage with a Gibson L5 guitar and landed awkwardly. This caused him to hurt his groin badly enough to change his approach to performance. He then went about designing a smaller less-restrictive guitar that allowed him to keep jumping around while playing.
He developed many special effects and innovations in tone and attack particularly the shimmering tremolo sound. His use of amp reverb enhanced the distinctive sound of these instruments. The violin also featured prominently on his mournful instrumental track called The Clock Strikes Twelve. That piece remains a twelve-bar blues featuring his classical training background.
After moving from Chicago to Washington D.C., Diddley built his first home recording studio in the basement of his house at 2614 Rhode Island Avenue NE. Several musical luminaries from the area frequented this space regularly. One of the first groups he recorded was local doo-wop group the Marquees. They featured Marvin Gaye and baritone-bass Chester Simmons who moonlighted as Diddley's chauffeur.
Diddley let them rehearse in his studio after being impressed by their smooth vocal delivery during talent shows at the Lincoln Theatre. He got the Marquees signed to Columbia subsidiary label OKeh Records after unsuccessfully attempting to get them a contract with his own label Chess. The OKeh label rivaled Chess in the promotion of rhythm and blues music throughout the region.
On the 25th of September 1957, Diddley drove the group to New York City to record Wyatt Earp. This novelty song was written by Reese Palmer lead singer of the Marquees. Diddley produced the session with the group backed by his own band. They cut their first record but it failed to become a hit. He later persuaded Moonglows founder Harvey Fuqua to hire Gaye directly.
In recognition of his achievements he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. The Blues Hall of Fame followed in 2003 while the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame honored him in 2017. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation plus the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His influence extended to many artists including Buddy Holly the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
Mick Jagger stated that he was a wonderful original musician who was an enormous force in music. Jagger added that they learned a lot from him during their early years as a band. Eric Burdon of the Animals flew to Gainesville to attend his funeral service in June 2008. Many family members were present when he died at one forty-five am EDT on June second 2008.
A number of notable musicians sent flowers including Little Richard George Thorogood Tom Petty and Jerry Lee Lewis. In November 2009, the guitar used by Bo Diddley in his final stage performance sold for sixty thousand dollars at auction. U.S. Representative John Conyers paid tribute to him in the United States House of Representatives describing him as one of the true pioneers of rock and roll.
In 1989, Diddley and his management company Talent Source entered into a licensing agreement with Nike. The Wieden & Kennedy-produced commercial in the Bo Knows campaign teamed him with dual sportsman Bo Jackson. The agreement ended in 1991 but a T-shirt of his image appeared again in 1999. It featured the You don't know diddley slogan inside a Gainesville Florida sports apparel store.
Diddley felt that Nike should not continue to use the slogan or his likeness so he fought them over copyright infringement. Lawyers for both parties could not come to a renewed legal arrangement despite cease-and-desist orders. A lawsuit was filed on Diddley's behalf in Manhattan Federal Court regarding these disputes. He also made cameo appearances in films like Trading Places from 1983 and Rockula from 1990.
On May thirteenth 2007, Diddley was admitted to intensive care in Creighton University Medical Center following a stroke. This occurred after a concert the previous day in Council Bluffs Iowa. Starting the show he had complained that he did not feel well due to smoke from large wildfires clouding the air in Archer Florida. He suffered a heart attack on August twenty-eighth 2007 while recovering in Gainesville.
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Common questions
When and where was Bo Diddley born?
Ellas Bates McDaniel arrived in the world on the 30th of December 1928 inside a small town called McComb Mississippi. He was the only child of Ethel Wilson who was just sixteen years old when she gave birth to him.
What is the origin of the Bo Diddley rhythm used in rock music?
Scholars trace this pattern back to sub-Saharan African music traditions known as clave rhythms. One scholar identified this specific beat in thirteen rhythm and blues recordings made between 1944 and 1955.
Why did Bo Diddley design his own rectangular Twang Machine guitar?
Diddley implied during a 2005 interview that the rectangular design sprang from an embarrassing moment during an early gig. He jumped around on stage with a Gibson L5 guitar and landed awkwardly which caused him to hurt his groin badly enough to change his approach to performance.
Who recorded the song Hambone before Bo Diddley released his famous hit?
That syncopated groove appeared three years before his famous hit song with similar timing in a track called Hambone. That recording came from the Red Saunders Orchestra with the Hambone Kids.
When did Bo Diddley die and what were the circumstances surrounding his death?
Many family members were present when he died at one forty-five am EDT on June second 2008. He suffered a heart attack on August twenty-eighth 2007 while recovering in Gainesville after being admitted to intensive care following a stroke.