Bo Diddley (Bo Diddley song)
The song is rhythmically similar to hambone, a technique of dancing and slapping various parts of the body to create a rhythm and song. It is lyrically similar to the traditional lullaby "Hush Little Baby". When Diddley started playing with it, his electric guitar amplified the patted juba with his backup musicians on maracas and drums unifying the rhythm. This combination of rock and roll, African rhythms and sanctified guitar chord shouts was a true innovation and is often called a Bo Diddley Beat. He first titled his version "Uncle John" but before he recorded it, he changed the title to his own nickname Bo Diddly, with an "e" added to the song's title and his professional name by one of the Chess brothers. Three weeks after "Billboard" magazine announced the release of "Bo Diddley", on April 30, 1955, the paper announced two remakes of "Bo Diddley" by the Joe Reisman Orchestra and by Jean Dinning of The Dinning Sisters. The Harmonicats released their own version, an instrumental, a few weeks later. "Bo Diddley" went on to become the 17th best selling R&B record of 1955, according to "Billboard". This first single was called a "double-sided monster" by All-Music Guide reviewer Richie Unterberger. "Bo Diddley" was infused with waves of tremolo guitar, set to a children's chant. "I'm a Man" was a bump-and-grind shuffle, with a powerful blues riff woven throughout. The outcome was a new kind of guitar-based, blues and R&B-drenched, rock and roll. The song was voted #62 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's list, "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The song is also a part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that shaped Rock and Roll" list. In 1998 "Bo Diddley" was given a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. In 2017, the single was inducted in to the Blues Hall of Fame. In 2021, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked the song at No. 277 on their updated list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. Side one # "Bo Diddley"
Side two
# "I'm a Man"
Side one # "Bo Diddley"
# "I'm a Man"
Side two
# "Diddley Daddy"
# "She's Fine, She's Mine"
Side one # "Bo Diddley"
Side two
# "Detour" Buddy Holly recorded the song in 1956, but it was not released until the LP "Reminiscing" in 1963 and later became a single release. Buddy Holly on vocals/guitar and Jerry Allison on drums recorded "Bo Diddley" at one of their earliest sessions with producer/engineer Norman Petty at his recording studio in Clovis, New Mexico, sometime in 1956. In 1962 Norman Petty overdubbed the demo of "Bo Diddley", as well as others, with the Fireballs. The single release was one of Holly's highest-charting singles on the UK Singles Chart, reaching No. 4 on the week of July 10, 1963, spending a total of 12 weeks on the chart. In the U.S., the song reached No. 116 on "Billboard" magazine's Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.
Legacy and awards
In 2017, the single was inducted in to the Blues Hall of Fame.