波·迪德利

Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy Holly, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, George Thorogood, Syd Barrett, Tom Petty, and the Clash.

His use of African and Latin rhythms and a signature beat, a simple five-accent hambone rhythm, is a cornerstone of hip-hop, rock, and pop music. In recognition of his achievements, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, the Blues Hall of Fame in 2003, and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2017. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Diddley is also recognized for his technical innovations, including his use of tremolo and reverb effects to enhance the sound of his distinctive rectangular guitars.

Early life

Bo Diddley was born in McComb, Mississippi, as Ellas Otha Bates (also stated as Otha Ellas Bates or Elias Otha Bates). He was the only child of Ethel Wilson, a sharecropper's teenaged daughter, and Eugene Bates, whom he never knew. Wilson was only sixteen, and being unable to support a family, she gave her cousin, Gussie McDaniel, permission to raise her son. McDaniel eventually adopted him, and he assumed her surname.……

Career

Inspired by a John Lee Hooker performance, Diddley supplemented his income as a carpenter and mechanic by playing on street corners with friends, including Jerome Green, in the Hipsters band, later renamed the Langley Avenue Jive Cats. Green became a near-constant member of McDaniel's backing band, the two often trading joking insults with each other during live shows.……

Origins of stage name

The origin of the stage name Bo Diddley is unclear.……

Personal life

Marriages and children

Bo Diddley was married four times. His first marriage, at 18, to Louise Willingham, lasted a year. Diddley married his second wife Ethel Mae Smith in 1949; they had two children. He met his third wife, Kay Reynolds, when she was 15, while performing in Birmingham, Alabama. They soon moved in together and married, despite taboos against interracial marriage. They had two daughters. He married his fourth wife, Sylvia Paiz, in 1992;……

Health problems

On May 13, 2007, Diddley was admitted to intensive care in Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, following a stroke after a concert the previous day in Council Bluffs, Iowa.……

Death

Bo Diddley died on June 2, 2008, of heart failure at his home in Archer, Florida, at the age of 79. Many family members were with him when he died at 1:45 am. EDT at his home. His death was expected "There was a Gospel song that was sung, at his bedside, and when it was done, he opened his eyes, gave a thumbs up, and said, 'Wow! I'm goin' to Heaven!' The song was 'Walk Around Heaven', and those were his last words."

Accolades

Bo Diddley was posthumously awarded a Doctor of Fine Arts degree by the University of Florida for his influence on American popular music.……

Beat

The "Bo Diddley beat" is essentially the clave rhythm, one of the most common bell patterns found in sub-Saharan African music traditions. One scholar found this rhythm in 13 rhythm and blues recordings made in the years 1944–55, including two by Johnny Otis from 1948.

Bo Diddley gave different accounts of how he began to use this rhythm.……

Discography

Collaborations

Two Great Guitars, with Chuck Berry (Checker, 1964)

Super Blues, with Muddy Waters and Little Walter (Checker, 1967)

The Super Super Blues Band, with Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf (Checker, 1968)

Books

Arsicaud, Laurent (2012). Bo Diddley, Je suis un homme. Camion Blanc editions.