Chicago rock pioneer Bo Diddley dead at 79
Fictional rock DJ Dr. Johnny Fever, on acclaimed ’80s sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati,” once asked, “Who will teach the children about Bo Diddley?”
The question implies what cannot be overstated: Diddley’s monumental legacy as one of the principal architects of rock ’n’ roll — a legacy born in Chicago.
(File)
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Remembering Bo Diddley
Services for Bo Diddley will take place this weekend in Florida, including a private wake on Friday followed by a funeral service at 2 p.m. Saturday at Showers of Blessing Harvest Center in Gainesville, Fla. The funeral is open to the public.
A nonreligious memorial service will start at 6 p.m. Saturday, "a celebration of Bo Diddley’s life featuring members of his touring band and guest musicians," at the Martin Luther King Jr. Multi-Purpose Center in Gainesville.
Arrangements are entrusted to Duncan Bros. Funeral Home, 428 N.W. 8th St. in Gainesville.
Mr. Diddley died today after months of ill health. He was 79.
He died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla., spokeswoman Susan Clary said. Mr. Diddley had suffered a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation.
The legendary singer and performer, known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat, was an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, had a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, and received a lifetime achievement award in 1999 at the Grammy Awards. In recent years he also played for the elder President Bush and President Clinton.
Mr. Diddley appreciated the honors he received, ‘‘but it didn’t put no figures in my checkbook.’’
In 2004, Mr. Diddley was ranked 20th in the Rolling Stone Immortals (50 Greatest Artists of All Time) issue. He was behind the Velvet Underground and Marvin Gaye, but ahead of Bruce Springsteen and Jerry Lee Lewis. While in Chicago that year on a protracted tour built around his 75th birthday, Mr. Diddley told the Sun-Times he wanted to be placed higher on the list. "I don't understand it," he said. "I'm glad to be there, but they still don't have it right. Me and Chuck Berry were first. These people don't know what they're researching. Elvis didn't start rock 'n' roll. He was three years behind me."
Mr. Diddley’s rat-a-tat-tat guitar licks went on to define rock chestnuts such as Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away," the Who's "Magic Bus" and Bruce Springsteen's "She's the One." "I got my beat when I heard Gene Autry's '(I Got Spurs That) Jingle Jangle Jingle,' " Diddley told the Sun-Times. "I heard that on the radio on the South Side of Chicago. I was 7 years old."
About that time is when he got the name Bo Diddley. He claims it came from other youngsters when he was growing up in Chicago, he said in a 1999 Associated Press interview.
‘‘I don’t know where the kids got it, but the kids in grammar school gave me that name,’’ he said, adding that he liked it so it became his stage name. Other times, he gave somewhat differing stories on where he got the name. Some experts believe a possible source for the name is a one-string instrument used in traditional blues music called a diddley bow.
Mr. Diddley was born Ellas Bates McDaniel in McComb, Miss., just north of the Louisiana border. His family moved to 4746 S. Langley when he was 7. Mr. Diddley learned to play classical violin and trombone at Ebenezer Baptist Church. He also made his own box-shaped guitars while attending Foster Vocational School, 720 W. O'Brien, where his classmate was future blues legend Earl Hooker.
"I was also in Earl's little juke band for a while, but I didn't like what they were doing," Mr. Diddley told the Sun-Times in 1992. "So I created my own little group. It was hard for me to infiltrate the [traditional Chicago] blues scene. That's why I'm still different today, with some of those Latin [hambone] beats and things I did."
Mr. Diddley landed at Chess Records in 1955 at the same time as Chuck Berry, but few people realize he was already rejected by Vee-Jay Records, which was located at 1449 S. Michigan. Mr. Diddley was packing a demo with the jingle-jangle beat he titled "Uncle John."
"Ewart Abner Jr., label executive told me, 'We don't know what the hell that is you are doing,' " Mr. Diddley said. "So I went across the street to Chess Records. Phil Chess said, 'This is different. Let's give it a try.' "
Mr. Diddley reworked the "Uncle John" lyrics and retitled the song "Bo Diddley." Chess added maracas to underscore the hypnotic beat, and after 35 takes Mr. Diddley walked out of Chess with a double-sided smash: "Bo Diddley"/ "I'm a Man," which introduced record buyers to his signature rhythm: bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp, often summarized as ‘‘shave and a haircut, two bits.’’
Mr. Diddley’s other major songs included, ‘‘Say Man,’’ ‘‘You Can’t Judge a Book by Its Cover,’’ ‘‘Shave and a Haircut,’’ ‘‘Uncle John,’’ ‘‘Who Do You Love?’’ and ‘‘The Mule.’’
Mr. Diddley hadn't made a record since 1996's "The Man Amongst Men" (Code Blue/Atlantic), which featured guests Keith Richards and Billy Boy Arnold. He’d planned to write new material that might appear on an upcoming Web site. "I don't want any more record companies," he said. "They haven't treated me right. I've never seen a royalty check."
Actually, Mr. Diddley received his first Chess Records royalty check in 1990 when "Bo Diddley: The Chess Box" was released on MCA Records, featuring Mr. Diddley's tracks from 1955 to 1968. MCA bought the Chess catalog in 1987.
Also in 1990, Nike built a high-profile adverstising campaign around Bo Diddley and sports star Bo Jackson, with Jackson's catch phrase "Bo knows..." and a stern-looking Diddley responding, "Bo, you don't know Diddley."
But Mr. Diddley attributed his longevity to the absence of pills and drugs.
"I don't even drink Grand Marnier anymore," Diddley told the Sun-Times in 2004. "I got sugar. I used to take a sip to help my throat when I was singing. But you never saw me drunk. Now I eat sweets I ain't got no business eating. But I never got involved in drugs. I used to be a policeman in Los Lunas, N.M., and I still have that mindset. I don't want to be around people who do drugs. They can test me all they want, and all they'e gonna find is some buttermilk, orange juice and Coca-Cola."
Mr. Diddley has 22 grandchildren. He was recently divorced from Sylvia Diddley.
Gloria Haynes Stampley, Mr. Diddley’s niece, said the family was particularly close-knit. Her father, the Rev. Dr. Kenneth Haynes Sr. of Beloxi, Miss., was Mr. Diddley’s only brother, and she said Mr. Diddley had visited her frequently since she moved to Chicago from Macomb, Miss., in 1986.
“He’s an icon, and we love him dearly. He was and still is a legend; his music still lives on. Whenever you hear the chord ‘duh-du-duh-da-dah,’ ” she said, sounding out the opening notes to “I’m a Man,” “you know that’s Bo Diddley. We’re very proud of his contribution.
“He always came here for the homeless program. He always gave, even in Archer, Fla., which was his home and where he passed. He did some major work with Katrina relief in Beloxi that was not publicized. He was a public person and a giving person.”
Mr. Diddley was not only an annual participant in the Hopefest benefit for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, but he was credited by organizers as being the driving force for recruiting many of the big names who helped make the event a financial and musical success.
Ellyn Harris said she worked with Mr. Diddley on at least 16 benefits, for the homeless coalition, Lawrence Hall Youth Services and Koko Taylor’s Celebrity Foundation, which staged a benefit in Mr. Diddley’s honor featuring Styx in April.
She said she visited Mr. Diddley twice in the past year in Archer. Last month she traveled there with Styx’s James Young and Taylor’s daughter Cookie. People in the Gainesville, Fla., area, she said, spoke of Mr. Diddley’s charity works there.
“They told me, ‘He’s so beloved here. He raises money for Christmas presents for poor children.’ He was the most giving, kind-hearted person I ever met. Any time I ever asked him to help anyone, he did.”
Harris recalled Mr. Diddley had another motive for his visits to Chicago. “He always made me take him to the Vienna factory to pack up boxes of Polish [sausage] to take back to Archer. In fact, I’m taking a box with me to the funeral this weekend.”
Sun-Times reporters Jeff Johnson and Dave Hoekstra, and the Associated Press, contributed to this report.