Bo Diddley, a rock ’n’ roll originator, died this morning. He had been in failing health for the past year.Tributes to Bo are flourishing across the internets... from NPR and MTV, from the BBC and Voice of America...
I blogged about Bo Diddley on the occasion of his last birthday. And I streamed a very cool 11-minute live version of “I’m a Man.”
Now let me stream something else. In 1965, Bo Diddley was interviewed by disc jockey Jim Pewter for U.S. Armed Forces Radio. Click here to hear a 1-minute excerpt of that interview on my Vox blog.
The full 9-minute track is downloadable from eMusic.
RIP, Bo Diddley.
David,
ReplyDeleteYou know it was DS from back in the day who taught me about early rock 'n' roll. After that, for years, I'd hear songs come out and recognize they were "based" on the Bo Diddley beat. The guy was a genius. Not just his music, but his lyrics were at way ahead of his time.
The shame of it is that he never received anything remotely close to the compensation he deserved.
From today's Wash. Post:
Diddley, like other artists of his generations, was paid a flat fee for his recordings and said he received no royalty payments on record sales. He also said he was never paid for many of his performances.
"I am owed. I've never got paid," he said. "A dude with a pencil is worse than a cat with a machine gun."
May the Lord rest his soul. They don't make 'em like that anymore!
ReplyDeleteLynn
R.I.P. Mr. Diddley.
ReplyDelete(Was that his real name?)
I woke yesterday and the first thing I saw was that MRBo has passed... I had followed his health lately and knew it was coming. I had my hopes raised when I heard he actually played in a town square that was honoring him, i though maybe he would hold on..
ReplyDeleteWell he was a hero to me and I will miss his music..
I don an internet radio show and will feature him this friday 4-6 pst www.praradio.org
This isn't a plug, just if you want to hear some great "Originator," you can this coming friday..
RIP MR DIDDLEY!
Clem: I had no idea being roommates with DS was such a culturally uplifting experience! ;^)
ReplyDeleteDiddley may have been cheated... but I think he prospered more than most. He was an in-demand concert performer up until his stroke a year ago.