REMEMBERING BO DIDDLEY

For those of you who have not looked into the background of legendary singer-songwriter Ellas Otha Bates better known as Bo Diddley - no doubt in my mind you will hear the music of this king of music for years to come. Just the other night I put on my Sony headset and cranked up a youtube version of WHO DO YOU LOVE, that had Ronnie Wood of the famed Rolling Stones playing beside Bo Diddley at a concert in Tokyo. That song seems to have no end with the likes of Ronnie Hawkins, George Thorogood and many others picking it up. Music being such a strong driving force for so many - saw Bo Diddley singing right up until two months before his passing, losing this wonderful man at 80. For Bo Diddley (thanks to Wikipedia) the beginning of music was learning trombone and violin in the Baptist Church but later being more impressed by the more upbeat sounds in the Pentacostal Church, slowly began his love of the guitar... His real inspiration came from Blues great, Mr. John Lee Hooker and I can share with you the incredible moments I shared with John Lee Hooker at a club in Chicago (when in my twenties I penned a music item about John Lee Hooker,) so I can fully understand the dynamics that Bo Diddley would have picked up from the music of John Lee Hooker. It is so neat to take note that Jody Williams who learnt guitar and played on the street with Bo Diddley years later would play on the special recording of WHO DO YOU LOVE. That was way back in 1956. In 1955 the number one R&B tune happened to be Bo Diddley, written by Bo Diddley. Ironic, a Diddley Bo is an African instrument but the slang meaning of Bo Diddley - is absolutely nothing. So its not clear precisely how and why the name Bo Diddley was chosen but it sure worked over the years. Perhaps Bo Diddley had a premonition because he brought the Rolling Stones on stage in England in 1963 when they were barely known. Perhaps that is why, years later Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones shared the stage with Bo Diddley more than once. And Bo Diddley lead an interesting life, being a deputy sheriff for a while, helping to build a log cabin, and living the last 13 years of his life in a small farming town. But it was a combination of a stroke, diabetes and hypertension that eventually led to his demise, yet leaving behind a legacy that is truly astounding, having worked side by side with many other music giants. And when we hear that unusual song that starts out...walked 47 miles of barbed wire, wore a necktie made of rattlesnake hide....we know it is the beginng of hit great song WHO DO YOU LOVE, and we shall always admire and love you Bo Diddley. On his passing tributes were paid by U.S. President George Bush, as well as tributes from musicians such as Eric Burdon, Elvis Costello, Ronnie Hawkins, B.B. King, Mick Jagger Tom Petty, flowers from George Thorogood, Jerry Lee Lewis and the list goes on...and it was Mick Jagger who said it all with his comment on the passing of Bo Diddley... "We will never see his like again..."