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06/03/2008: "RIP Bo Diddley"

There are a lot of people who would like to take credit for creating rock and roll, but very few who deserve the honor. We lost one yesterday with the death of Bo Diddley yesterday.

The New York Times obit puts it best:

Bo Diddley, a singer and guitarist who invented his own name, his own guitars, his own beat and, with a handful of other musical pioneers, rock 'n' roll itself, died Monday at his home in Archer, Fla. He was 79.

Even if you don't know his music, you know the Bo Diddley beat: bum-bum-bum ... bum-bum. The African folk-based syncopated beat is unlike any other. My favorite example is George Thorogood's wonderful cover of Bo's "Who Do You Love", but you can hear it in dozens of other songs. Few others had the impact on the genre that Bo Diddley had, and all you had to do was see the silhouette of his square body Gibson guitar to know you were in for a treat.

Rock on, Bo Diddley ... rock on.