Blues

Bo Diddley, RIP

Ellas Otha Bates -- better-known as Bo Diddley -- passed away today at age 79. His publicist passed along the following obituary, penned by Gene Sculatti, for general release: One of the founding fathers of rock 'n' roll has left the building he helped construct. Bo Diddley, aged 79, died of heart failure today at his home in Archer, Fl where he resided for over 20 years. With Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis, Diddley (born Ellas Otha Bates) was one of music's principal architects in the mid-1950s. The guitarist-singer-songwriter scored major pop hits with "Bo Diddley" and "I'm a Man" in 1955 and "Say Man" (1959) and made an almost incalculable impact on rock from the Fifties onward. His music influenced artists working in such disparate styles as rockabilly, British Invasion pop, surf, psychedelic, hip-hop and punk rock. Diddley is most often cited for his signature "Bo Diddley beat," a syncopated 5/4 pattern similar to the West African-derived "hambone" rhythm or "Shave and a haircut two-bits" couplet. Over the years, Diddley variously claimed to have adapted the beat from music he heard in church, from trying to play the Gene Autry song "Jingle Jangle" and from attempting to play his guitar like a drum. Whatever its origins, the taut, rumba-like beat has powered literally hundreds of rock and pop records, everything from Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" and the Who's "Magic Bus" to Tom Petty's "American Girl," George Michael's "Faith" and Bruce Springsteen's "She's the One." A half dozen key Diddley compositions have held down prized spots in the repertoire of thousands of performing artists for decades. One of Diddley's first hits was the rock ballad "Love Is Strange," recorded by New York duo Mickey & Sylvia in 1957 and immortalized in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing. Equally as durable are the classics "I'm a Man" and "Who Do You Love." The former, a boasting blues in the mode of Willie Dixon's "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie...

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