Bo Diddley Bo Diddley - Rocks (CD)

His music had a unique beat, individuality and attitude, and it formed part of the basic structure of rock and roll during its heyday in the mid-1950s to early 1960s.

Here is an absolutely superb album with a real legend - Elias McDaniel - better known as Bo Diddley. He was born in Mississippi in 1928 and came to Chicago at an early age, where he was signed by Checker, a Chess subsidiary, in the mid-1950s. A pioneering rocker presented as only the artist himself can. His music had a unique beat, individuality and attitude, and it formed part of the basic structure of rock and roll during its heyday in the mid-1950s to early 1960s. During those years, it could be said that there was a Bo Diddley record on the American R&B charts every year, and five of them also made it onto the pop charts. The instantly recognizable Bo Diddley beat was copied by many, but I can't recall anything weaving all the pieces together like the good Bo. But there are some fine attempts here like "Not Fade Away" with Buddy Holly or Johnny Otis's recording of "Willie And The Hand Jive", even Freddy Cannon's "Buzz Buzz A-Diddle-It" can probably be counted among the best as well. His biggest hit was "Bo Diddley" which reached number one on the R&B charts in 1955, unfortunately his only one, but of his productions on this release there are a whole series of great tracks like "My Story", "Diddley Daddy", "Who Do You Love?" (Feel free to listen to Ronnie Hawkins' version as well), "Road Runner", "Ride On Josephine", "Before You Accuse Me" and "You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover" to name a few. The album is put together by Martin Hawkins with great lyrics by Bill Dahl, and the lovely photos come from Bill Millar's collection.