Rock ’n’ roll pioneer Otha Elias Bates McDaniel – better known as Bo Diddley – turns 79 today.This has been a rough year for Bo Diddley. He suffered a stroke during a concert in May.
But last month, while being honored in his hometown of McComb, Mississippi, Bo Diddley managed to do some impromptu singing.
Here’s wishing him well in his recovery.
As influential as he was, Bo Diddley had only one hit song on the pop charts (“Say Man,” 1959). And he only topped the R&B singles chart once... with the two-sided hit “Bo Diddley”/“I’m a Man” in 1955.
I’m streaming an 11-minute live version of “I’m a Man” from the early 1980s; Diddley is backed by a British band called Mainsqueeze. To hear it, click here.
The concert album is downloadable from eMusic, Amazon and iTunes.
Thanks for this, Dave. Bo Diddley has almost become a footnote in the history of popular dance music.
ReplyDeleteThe Elvis Presleys, Beatles,
Rolling Stones, ad naseum, owe a debt to him, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry.
Black Rock Coalition like a muthafucka!