Bo Diddley - His Best : The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection

"Sounds nice," Bo Diddley tongue-in-cheekily observes of his music in "The Story of Bo Diddley," one of three self-named tunes on this 20-track examination of his classic '50s and '60s Checker Records sides. Not only was the former Ellas McDaniels rhythmically sharp enough to have a beat named after himself; he had a great guitar sound and a seemingly endless supply of shaggy-dog stories, lover-man boasts, silly jokes, and complaints with which to fuse them. His Best boils down the two-CD Chess Box, including signature pieces like "Bo Diddley" and "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover" alongside unjustly obscure tunes such as "Pills" (later covered by the New York Dolls) and "Dearest Darling." Great. --Rickey Wright Amazon.com

R.I.P. Bo!

Another legend was taken from us on June 2, 2008. One of the greatest and most influential bluesmen has left us at the age of 79. The breadth of his influence can hardly be described in a few words. It is best heard in the music he left behind for us to share and in the musicians who were inspired and influenced by it. The first big hit for the Rolling Stones, after all, was a Buddy Holly song revved up with that Bo Diddley beat. The song was "Not Fade Away." The Stones also covered some of Bo's originals like "Crackin' Up" and "Mona" and again, utilized that beat on their own "Please Go Home." George Thorogood has made a career out of "Who Do You Love" and what bar band in the world has not run through "Roadrunner" a half a million times? Creedence and Clapton covered "Before You Accuse Me" and The New York Dolls did "Pills." I guess my point is that Bo Diddley was a major musical giant in the world of blues and rock. These musicians as well as those I did not mention are indebted to him for life as well as the fans.

Of course, to hear these songs in all their original glory is the best and most rewarding way to go. We have lost you, Bo, but not your music. That is what you gave to the world and the world is forever grateful for it. Time may have claimed your life, but you'll always be larger than life to me. You ARE the "Diddley Daddy." June 3, 2008

Bo's the man!

Elvis had the charisma, Buddy Holly had the pop smarts, and Little Richard had the wildman persona, but Ellas Otha Bates "Bo Diddley" McDaniel had the greatest gift of all: Rhythm. Alongside Chuck Berry (who was simply in a league of his own), Bo was one of the most influential and exciting artists to make music for Chicago's Chess Records, and one of the label's premiere rock 'n' roll performers. And while Chuck excelled at combining blues with elements of pop, country, soul, and sheer genius, Bo's gift to mankind was his mesmerizing and totally unique vision of the Chicago sound. The man was a percussive genius, a musical hypnotist with an intuitive gift for blending African rhythms, lurching blues, tremolo laden guitars, and chant-along vocals into one churning, pulsating, hypnotic(not to mention totally wicked awesome) vision of rock 'n' roll. But there was more to it than just that: Diddley was also an inspired weirdo, with a knack for lyrical surrealism and offbeat humor that preempted Bob Dylan by about ten years. Even when he was singing about cheating girlfriends and sweet young things, he did it with his own unique, and absolutely delightful, gift for skewed storytelling.

This collection is one of the best places to start listening to the man. It's also fairly safe to say that if you only want one Bo Diddley CD, this is the one to get. Of course, if you only want one Bo Diddley CD, then you're a moron. Just kidding. Anyway, this is a good purchase because it gives you a lot of his absolute classics. You'll get the trance-inducing masterpiece that is "Bo Diddley," the raw churn of "Bring It To Jerome," and the wonderfully inexplicable "Say Man." "Mona" is nothing but way cool pulsations, and "Ooh Baby" is nothing but way cool. There's also the surreal, rollicking boast of "Who Do you Love," the surreal, rollicking boast of "I'm A Man," and the surreal, rollicking boast of "Hey! Bo Diddley. It's the kind of thing you might wanna invest in, especially with a price as good of this. Trust me, you'll love it. April 23, 2008

Should Have Been Among The First Hall Of Fame Inductees

Otha Ellas Bates McDaniels, born December 30, 1928 in McComb, Mississippi, took the stage name Bo Diddley from the name of a one-string African guitar. He only registered eleven R&B hit singles from 1955 to 1967, all for the Checker subsidiary of Chess Records, and just five of those crossed over to the more lucrative Billboard Pop Top/Hot 100 [one more "bubbled under"] - and yet, justifiably so, he was inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame in 1987 - the second year of its existence - and only in 2004 was he so recognized by the Blues Hall Of Fame - some 24 years after they began!

The only mystery is why he was not among those honoured in their first first years since, to my mind anyway, he was every bit as influential as any of those who were brought in at that time, despite the comparative low hit totals. Indeed, almost all the original inductess in the R&R Hall Of Fame adapted a Bo Diddley tune in their repertoire at one time or another.

His first - the double-sided Bo Diddley [# 1 R&B for two weeks] and I'm A Man [a "follow-along" # 1] - peaked on those charts in the early summer of 1955, but it was the driving rhythm of the A-side that captured everyone's attention at a time when the film Blackboard Jungle was re-introducing the world to Bill Haley's (We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock. That had first come out a year before with little fanfare but now, coupled with Bo Diddley, the world was on notice. A new sound had arrived.

But, whereas Haley's # 1 signature tune also did very well on the R&B charts [# 3], Bo Diddley made no impression on the Billboard Pop Top 100. The same held true for his follow-up Diddley Daddy which, with The Moonglows doing backing vocals, reached # 11 R&B in late July b/w She's Fine, She's Mine [not included], as well as his next immediate hit, Pretty Thing, # 4 R&B in January 1956 b/w Bring It To Jerome.

He then experienced a 3-year gap before his fourth hit, I'm Sorry, which peaked at # 17 R&B in April 1959 with the vocal backing of The Carnations and Oh Yea on the flipside. Neither, for some reason known only to the producer, is included in this volume, but his next two from 1959 are here, beginning with Crackin' Up which became his first Pop Hot 100 crossover, reaching # 62 that August [and # 14 R&B] b/w The Great Grandfather [not here].

That was followed in October by his best crossover, Say Man, in which he trades insults with maracas player Jerome Green. That topped out at # 3 R&B/# 20 Hot 100 b/w The Clock Strikes Twelve [another omission]. Also overlooked in this volume is the sequel hit Say Man, Back Again which reached # 23 R&B and # 106 Hot 100 "bubble under" in late December, and its flipside, She's Alright.

In April 1960 one of my Diddley favourites, Road Runner, made it to # 20 R&B/# 75 Hot 100 featuring the great Otis Spann on piano, with the B-side shown as My Story [in here it's listed at track 15 as The Story Of Bo Diddley]. Another I especially liked was You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover which, in September 1962, became his second-best crossover, reaching # 48 [and # 21 R&B] b/w I Can Tell. There would then follow a 5-year gap before his eleventh and final hit single, Ooh Baby [# 17 R&B/# 88 Hot 100] b/w Back To School [not included].

The digitally re-mastered sound is flawless, there is a complete discography of the contents, and the eight pages of liner notes by the noted music writer Don Snowden (who, with Willie Dixon, also co-authored the book I Am The Blues: The Willie Dixon Story) are quite informative. But I still had to deduct one star for the omission of those two hit singles [which would have been better choices than tracks 7 and 13 which are obscure cuts] and SIX of the flipsides. A strange way to approach a 50th Year Anniversary compilation titled "His Best." August 13, 2007

Great introduction to Bo Diddley

This is a nice introduction to the work of Bo Diddley. The liner notes say: ". . .you can't judge a book by its cover, but you can sure tell something about how important a musician is by the artists who do cover versions of his songs." And a lot of musicians covered his songs or were influenced by his work.

Some of the songs on this album well exemplify his art:

"Bo Diddley": This eponymous work lays out the classic Bo. What a romp! The rhythm is infectious and his guitar work is solid. He shows off a nice blues and rock voice. This is, of course, classic Bo Diddley. And it is one of the great blues/rock songs of the ages.

"I'm a Man": The B side to "Bo Diddley" when 45s were the nature of the recording game. One of the best B sides of all time! Compare with Muddy Waters' "Mannish Boy." Tough to choose between them! There is a wonderful basic instrumental tune with great blues vocals from Bo. Classic!

"Hey Bo Diddley": A nicely done variation on "Bo Diddley." Good rhythm.

Finally, "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover": There are nice lyrics here, with Bo playing nice variations off of the title. Well done indeed. The rhythm and guitar work is wonderful. The beat is infectious.

This is a wonderful introduction to the corpus of Bo Diddley, one of the major founding figures in rock and roll as well as a nice blues contributor.
July 19, 2007

Bo Is The Real Boss!

Bo is to rock and roll, what Strauss is to the polka. Bo is to rock and roll, what Waylon is to country. Bo is to rock and roll, what BB is to the blues. Bo is without peer! The CD belongs in the library of everybody who has an ear for music. I'll bet you'll open it a second time! April 15, 2007

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