Postby WildcatOne » Mon Jun 02, 2008 9:40 pm
Bo Diddley was one of the first wave of Rock n' Roll pioneers, along with Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Fats Domino and Little Richard. His style, the originality of his personality and his awesome songs will be remembered and noted a thousand years from now as the book of Genesis for Rock n' Roll music. His influence is universal, from Buddy Holly (a second-wave rocker, along with Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, Carl Perkins, Rick Nelson, even later, Eddie Cochran, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Sam Cooke, Duane Eddy, and James Brown)...but his worldwide sound affected 60s bands like The Animals (my favorite band from the 60s...Eric Burdon talked about having Bo Diddley sit in with the Animals. He brought up Jerome Green, his percussionist, who was the maracas sound in the basic Diddley beat...they jammed with Bo. When they got finished, Bo Diddley came up to Eric Burdon, took off his glasses, leaned over and said "Man, that was the biggest load of bull$#/7 I ever heard in my life...") Even though everybody from Johnny Otis to the Strangeloves to the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Manfred Mann, Springsteen, ZZTop, and so on, pervaded that jungle boogie, Bo Diddley didn't much appreciate it at all. He was ripped off for his songs and he didn't make any money off of them other than the flat fee the record companies paid these guys back in the day. But I digress. The man went out undefeated and untied, like only a precious handful of others in his realm (Hendrix, Duane Allman, SRV) and his name and his music will live forever. I just feel fortunate that I was around when he was. There will not be a replacement for Bo Diddley. He came in, changed the way the world danced, and went out on his own. Rest in peace, Bo. WC1
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