Music Blogs

Just got the sad news that Bo Diddley has left the building. I just saw him lose a game of pool to George Thorogood in the "Bad To The Bone" video this weekend. And while marveling at how young Thorogood looked, I also marveled at how young Bo Diddley looked, knowing full well he'd been popular in the 1950s, which was half a century ago.

Yet his influence was overwhelming. He invented and perfected the "Bo Diddley" beat, which roughly translates into "Shave-and-a-haircut-two-bits." He even got other people to write to his rhythm as Willie Dixon and his maracas player Jerome Green bear out.

In memory, let's list the 10 essentials.

"Bo Diddley": It's actually "Hey Bo Diddley" where Bo really works himself into the song. Here, he works himself in, but it isn't with the same insistence. It's almost like he's sneaking it in there. I guess he figured Ellas McDaniels wasn't as catchy a stage name. I have to agree.

"I'm A Man": Blues tunes are a confusing road. "I'm A Man" sounds an awful lot like Muddy Warters' "Mannish Boy." And it turns out it's because "Mannish Boy" was written to "answer" "I'm A Man." As if it needed answering! And it was credited to Diddley, Waters and Mel London, who is credited as being an R&B entrepreneur, which makes you wonder how much "input" he had on the tune. He probably just knew publishing and the money it leads to.

"Who Do You Love?": You can thank the Doors among other for keeping this one alive. And every bar band from the past few decades.

"Bring It To Jerome" (Jerome Green): Diddley's maracas' player noticed how his boss was really good at slipping his own name into the title of songs, so Jerome decided it was time that maybe someone notice the maracas player. Bob Newhart would do something similar by naming all his sitcoms after himself. And of course these days we have Donald Trump and Oprah...

"You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover" (Willie Dixon): Willie Dixon wrote this one and Diddley knew he heard a good one. It's got tons of wisdom sandwiched in its three minutes. At least for those of us who are visually challenged. We're really not as hideous as we appear.

"Hush Your Mouth": Back in the early days of rock ‘n' roll, it was considered impolite to tell people to shut up. People still had manners back then. "Please Be Quiet" seemed kind of lame, so a compromise was struck and "Hush Your Mouth" was born. If only rappers would follow such decorum. I'm a regular William Safire today.

"Diddy Wah Diddy" (with Willie Dixon): Credited to Willie Dixon and Ellas McDaniels, you'd think they'd write more together if things came out like this. Then again, professional songwriters came along with "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" for Manfred Mann. And this is all long before a young man named himself P. Diddy and changed culture forever. Nothing like blatantly ripping off an idea.

"Before You Accuse Me": Creedence Clearwater Revival, Eric Clapton...lots of people covered this one. Because who doesn't like the idea of telling someone to shut up and look at themselves before criticizing others? Where would I be if I followed that advice? Uh, jeez.

"Mona (I Need You Baby)": The Rolling Stones covered this one and opened up a whole new market for Diddley in the process. Though, unlike the Beatles' "Michelle," parents the world over did not start a wave of naming their female children "Mona."

"Diddley Daddy": I'm not sure what possessed Bo Diddley to keep writing songs with his stage name in the title, but it must've been working for him. But more importantly, Diddley understood the importance of singing too close to the mic and letting it distort to the point of weirdness. These days they would "correct" this mistake. And "they" would be "wrong."