Michelle Kaplan

So, What Does Bo Know?

So you think you know Bo?

Bo Diddley, that is, the consummate performer, musician, humanitarian and even actor. As a Founding Father of rock-n-roll, he is known to many as “the Originator” for taking the Blues and infusing it with what he was influenced by-Chicago street music, hambone, the strumming of guitar mixed with the rhythm that comes from slapping the guitar, knee and chest, while soulfully singing the lyrics. Mix that with some harder edge guitar and you’ve got the signature “Bo Diddley beat”-a sound best described as “shave and a haircut, two bits.” Think U2’s “Desire” or Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away,” and you’ve got it. Bo was born Ellas Bates on a farm in Mississippi, near the Louisiana border, on December 30, 1928. His cousin, Gussie McDaniel, later adopted him. He took her last name and moved with the family to the South side of Chicago at age five. He got the name Bo Diddley when he became a Golden Gloves boxer.

Bo’s sister gave him his first guitar. He picked it up and taught himself to play. “I started training myself… if somebody else could do it, I could do it too.” What else do we know? Bo is still going, on the road, playing, performing, keeping the legacy alive.

“I’m playing old and new songs…trying to stay outta trouble,” he laughs.

That’s what everyone knows.

What many don’t know is that at 77, Bo is forging into the next chapter of his life. Bo, recently divorced after an 11 year marriage, is unpacking boxes in the place he calls home, Archer, Florida.

On his favorite wall hang his coveted Grammy, his 1987 plaque for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and many other lifetime achievement awards that aren’t even out of the boxes yet. All mark milestones in a career that has spanned 50 years. Bo’s first demo, “Uncle John,” was turned down for its racy lyrics. He cleaned it up and it became a double sided hit, “Bo Diddley”/ “I’m A Man” released in 1955.

Hearing it for the first time on the radio was a shocker as he remembers it. “Scary…I had a record out, it was great, but it was scary great, like what do I do now-what do I do after that.” Bo never figured that music would be it for him.

“I had no idea, it’s just something that came and I’m still her after 50 years.” Make no mistake about it, Bo knows no modesty, he says he’s had no true influences in music.

“Nobody influenced me. I don’t sound like nobody… they all try to sound like me. I tried to play like Muddy Waters, but it didn’t work. That’s why I’m Bo Diddley today.”

Although there were those he listened to back in the day.

“Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, cats that were before me… Blues men, you know.” Although he has no claim on any one musician who directly influenced him, he has influenced many others. Eric Clapton, Bono, Ron Wood, John Lennon, Elvis, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, all have paid homage to the man for his musical contributions which led them down the path to rockn-roll glory.

For what he’s done, Bo has earned his props and can certainly hold his own with the best rockers out there. He is still asked on a regular basis to perform with them.

When the call goes out to raise money for a charitable event, Bo shows. When it’s time to honor a peer with a star-studded jam, Bo shows.

When the White House calls for an inaugural performance, as was the case with both Bill Clinton and George Bush, Bo goes.

His music is so familiar, his signature sound so pervasive in rock & roll that it has stood the test of time. The “Bo Diddley beat” rocks on due in part to the sheer number of artists who cover One thing that you may not know, is the subject that he says sets him on fire-politics, about which he has some very definite opinions.

“One of the things I hear all the time is that everybody wants to beat up on Bush, the president. I think Bush should be left alone. He acted, as far as I’m concerned, in our best interest to save our asses, that’s why he was put in office. As far as the war goes, he acted on lies given to him by his henchmen…Looking at the overall picture as to why Bush did what he did…I believe the weapons they’re looking for are there-that shit’s buried.”

Bo defends the President by insisting on his belief that Bush got bad information. “He acted on a lie…a lie will free you or a lie will incarcerate you.”

He said that statement holds true in life, all depending upon how the lie is perceived.

Bo’s aptly reflects his feelings both personal and political in music. At a celebration for Bill Clinton, following the Democratic National Convention in

New York City in July 1992, he premiered a song he wrote concerning homelessness in America, “This Should Not Be.”

But when he’s not boning up on politics, writing music or playing the guitar, the master

musician relaxes with his hobby of choice, cars.

“I like to restore old cars…I’m fixing, doing a little cleaning up on them. I have a Lincoln, few Cadillac’s, Mercury…a bunch, all running and looking good.”

The same could be said for him.

So you think you know Bo?

You don’t know Diddley.

- March 1, 2006