Life Bo_Diddley

1 life

1.1 life , career
1.2 origins of stage name
1.3 success in 1950s , 1960s
1.4 later years
1.5 death

life
early life , career

born in mccomb, mississippi, ellas otha bates, adopted , raised mother s cousin, gussie mcdaniel, surname assumed. in 1934, mcdaniel family moved south side of chicago, dropped otha , became ellas mcdaniel. active member of chicago s ebenezer baptist church, studied trombone , violin, becoming proficient on violin musical director invited him join orchestra. performed until 18. however, more interested in pulsating, rhythmic music heard @ local pentecostal church , took guitar.

inspired performance john lee hooker, supplemented income carpenter , mechanic playing on street corners friends, including jerome green (c. 1934–1973), in hipsters band, later renamed langley avenue jive cats. green became near-constant member of mcdaniel s backing band, 2 trading joking insults each other during live shows. during summers of 1943 , 1944, played @ maxwell street market in band earl hooker. 1951 playing on street backing roosevelt jackson on washtub bass , jody williams, whom had taught play guitar. williams later played lead guitar on love? (1956).

in 1951, landed regular spot @ 708 club, on chicago s south side, repertoire influenced louis jordan, john lee hooker, , muddy waters. in late 1954, teamed harmonica player billy boy arnold, drummer clifton james , bass player roosevelt jackson , recorded demos of m man , bo diddley . re-recorded songs @ chess studios, backing ensemble comprising otis spann (piano), lester davenport (harmonica), frank kirkland (drums), , jerome green (maracas). record released in march 1955, , a-side, bo diddley , became number 1 r&b hit.

origins of stage name

the origin of stage name bo diddley unclear. mcdaniel claimed peers gave him name, suspected insult. said name first belonged singer adoptive mother knew. harmonicist billy boy arnold said local comedian s name, leonard chess adopted mcdaniel s stage name , title of first single. mcdaniel stated nickname golden gloves boxer.

a diddley bow homemade single-string instrument played farm workers in south. has influences west african coast. in american slang term bo diddly, bo intensifier , diddly truncation of diddly squat, means absolutely nothing .

success in 1950s , 1960s

on november 20, 1955, diddley appeared on popular television program ed sullivan show. when on show s staff overheard him casually singing sixteen tons in dressing room, asked perform song on show. seeing bo diddley on cue card, thought perform both self-titled hit single , sixteen tons . sullivan furious , banned diddley show, reputedly saying wouldn t last 6 months. chess records included diddley s cover of sixteen tons on 1960 album bo diddley gunslinger.

diddley s hit singles continued in 1950s , 1960s: pretty thing (1956), man (1959), , can t judge book cover (1962). released numerous albums, including bo diddley gunslinger , have guitar, travel. these bolstered self-invented legend. between 1958 , 1963, checker records released eleven full-length bo diddley albums. in 1960s broke through crossover artist white audiences (appearing @ alan freed concerts, example), aimed compositions @ teenagers. album title surfing bo diddley derived influence on surf guitarists rather surfing per se.

in 1963, diddley starred in uk concert tour everly brothers , little richard along rolling stones ( unknown band @ time).

he wrote many songs himself , others. in 1956 , guitarist jody williams co-wrote pop song love strange , hit mickey & sylvia in 1957. wrote mama (can go out) , minor hit pioneering rockabilly singer jo ann campbell, performed song in 1959 rock , roll film go johnny go.

after moving chicago washington, d.c., basement of home @ 2614 rhode island avenue ne, housed first home recording studio. diddley s home studio frequented several of washington, d.c. s musical luminaries , site recorded commercially released album bo diddley gunslinger. diddley produced , recorded marvin gaye (his valet), member of local doo wop group, marquees. diddley co-wrote marquees first single featuring gaye titled wyatt earp . released on okeh records, after chess brothers turned down. during time, moonglows founder harvey fuqua sang backing vocals on many of diddley s home recordings. gaye later joined moonglows , followed them motown.

diddley included women in band: norma-jean wofford, known duchess; gloria jolivet; peggy jones, known lady bo, lead guitarist (rare woman @ time); cornelia redmond, known cookie v; debby hastings, led band after guitarist jim satten resigned.

later years


diddley on tour in japan japanese band bo gumbos

over decades, diddley s performing venues ranged intimate clubs stadiums. on march 25, 1972, played grateful dead @ academy of music in new york city. grateful dead released part of concert volume 30 of band s concert album series, dick s picks. in 1970s, soundtrack of ground-breaking animated film fritz cat contained song bo diddley , in crow idly finger-pops track.

diddley spent years in new mexico, living in los lunas 1971 1978, while continuing musical career. served 2 , half years deputy sheriff in valencia county citizens patrol; during time purchased , donated 3 highway-patrol pursuit cars. in late 1970s, left los lunas , moved hawthorne, florida, lived on large estate in custom-made log cabin, helped build. remainder of life divided time between albuquerque , florida, living last 13 years of life in archer, florida, small farming town near gainesville.

in 1979, appeared opening act clash on tour , in legends of guitar (filmed live in spain in 1991), b.b. king, les paul, albert collins, , george benson, among others. joined rolling stones on 1994 concert broadcast of voodoo lounge, performing love? .

diddley performed number of shows around country in 2005 , 2006 fellow rock , roll hall of famer johnnie johnson , band, consisting of johnson on keyboards, richard hunt on drums , gus thornton on bass. in 2006, participated headliner of grassroots-organized fundraiser concert benefit town of ocean springs, mississippi, had been devastated hurricane katrina. florida keys katrina relief had been set october 23, 2005, when hurricane wilma barreled through florida keys on october 24, causing flooding , economic mayhem.

in january 2006, florida keys had recovered enough host fundraising concert benefit more hard-hit community of ocean springs. when asked fundraiser, diddley stated, united states of america. believe in helping 1 . band used bo during concert put bo s long-time close personal friend , fellow musician, charlie tona. all-star band included famed artists clarence clemons of east street band, joey covington of jefferson airplane, alfonso carey of village people, , carl spagnuolo of jay & techniques. in interview holger petersen, on saturday night blues on cbc radio in fall of 2006, commented on racism in music industry establishment during career, deprived him of royalties successful part of career.

his final guitar performance on studio album new york dolls on 2006 album 1 day please remember this. contributed guitar work song seventeen , included bonus track on limited-edition version of disc.

in 1989, diddley entered licensing agreement sportswear brand nike. wieden & kennedy produced commercial in bo knows campaign, teamed diddley dual sportsman bo jackson, , resulted in 1 of iconic advertisements in advertising history. agreement ended in 1991, in 1999, t-shirt of diddley s image , don t know diddley slogan purchased in gainesville, florida sports apparel store. diddley felt nike should not continue use slogan or likeness , fought nike on copyright infringement. despite fact lawyers both parties not come renewed legal arrangement, nike allegedly continued marketing apparel , ignored cease-and-desist orders, , lawsuit filed on diddley s behalf, in manhattan federal court.

in 1996, released man amongst men, first major label album guest artists keith richards, ron wood , shirelles. album earned grammy award nomination in 1997 best contemporary blues album category.

on may 13, 2007, diddley admitted intensive care in creighton university medical center in omaha, nebraska, following stroke after concert previous day in council bluffs, iowa. starting show, had complained did not feel well. referred smoke wildfires ravaging south georgia , blowing south area near home in archer, florida. nonetheless, delivered energetic performance enthusiastic crowd. next day, heading home, seemed dazed , confused @ airport; 911 , airport security called, , taken ambulance creighton university medical center , admitted intensive care unit, stayed several days. after tests, confirmed had suffered stroke. diddley had history of hypertension , diabetes, , stroke affected left side of brain, causing receptive , expressive aphasia (speech impairment). stroke followed heart attack, suffered in gainesville, florida, on august 28, 2007.

while recovering stroke , heart attack, diddley came hometown of mccomb, mississippi, in november 2007, unveiling of plaque devoted him on mississippi blues trail. marked achievements , noted acclaimed founder of rock-and-roll. not supposed perform, listened music of local musician jesse robinson, sang song written occasion, robinson sensed diddley wanted perform , handed him microphone, time performed publicly after stroke.

death

bo diddley died on june 2, 2008, of heart failure @ home in archer, florida. garry mitchell, grandson , 1 of more 35 family members @ musician s home when died @ 1:45 a.m. edt (05:45 gmt), said death not unexpected. there gospel song sung (at bedside) , (when done) said wow thumbs up, mitchell told reuters, when asked describe scene @ deathbed. song walk around heaven , in last words said m going heaven.

his funeral, four-hour homegoing service, took place on june 7, 2008, @ showers of blessings church in gainesville, florida, , kept in tune vibrant spirit of bo diddley s life , career. many in attendance chanted hey bo diddley gospel band played legend s music. number of notable musicians sent flowers, including george thorogood, tom petty , jerry lee lewis. little richard, had been asking audiences pray bo diddley throughout illness, had fulfil concert commitments in westbury , new york city weekend of funeral. took time @ both concerts remember friend of half-century, performing bo s namesake tune in honor.

after funeral service, tribute concert held @ martin luther king center in gainesville, florida , featured guest performances son , daughter, ellas mcdaniel jr. , evelyn tan cooper; long-time background vocalist gloria jolivet; former offspring guitarist , long-time friend , coproducer of bo diddley put rock in rock n roll, scott skyntyte free , eric burdon. in days following death, tributes paid then-president george w. bush, united states house of representatives, , many musicians , performers, including b. b. king, ronnie hawkins, mick jagger, ronnie wood, george thorogood, eric clapton, tom petty, robert plant, elvis costello, bonnie raitt, robert randolph , family band , eric burdon. burdon used video footage of mcdaniel family , friends in mourning video promoting abkco records release bo diddley special .

he posthumously awarded doctor of fine arts degree university of florida influence on american popular music. in people in america radio series, influential people in american history, voice of america radio service paid tribute him, describing how influence widespread hard imagine rock , roll have sounded without him. mick jagger stated wonderful, original musician enormous force in music , big influence on rolling stones. generous in our years , learned lot him . jagger praised late star one-of-a-kind musician, adding, never see again . documentary film cheat fair: story of maxwell street director phil ranstrom features bo diddley s last on-camera interview.

in november 2009, guitar used bo diddley in final stage performance sold $60,000 @ auction.

all twenty-two beneficiaries of estate sought forensic accounting of estate, denied without explanation. current value unknown heirs.