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Rock pioneer Bo Diddley dies at age 79

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By RON WORD
Associated Press Writer


    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) b& Bo Diddley, a founding father of rock 'n'
roll whose
distinctive ""shave and a haircut, two bits'' rhythm and innovative
guitar effects
inspired legions of other musicians, died Monday after months of ill
health. He was 79.

    Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla.,
spokeswoman Susan Clary
said. He 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.

    Diddley appreciated the honors he received, ""but it didn't put no
figures in my
checkbook.''

    ""If you ain't got no money, ain't nobody calls you honey,'' he
quipped.

    The name Bo Diddley came from other youngsters when he was growing
up in Chicago, he
said in a 1999 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.

    His first single, ""Bo Diddley,'' introduced record buyers in 1955
to his signature
rhythm: bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp, often summarized as ""shave and a
haircut, two
bits.'' The B side, ""I'm a Man,'' with its slightly humorous take on
macho pride, also
became a rock standard.

    The company that issued his early songs was Chess-Checkers records,
the storied
Chicago-based labels that also recorded Chuck Berry and other stars.

    Howard Kramer, assistant curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in Cleveland, said
in 2006 that Diddley's Chess recordings ""stand among the best singular
recordings of
the 20th century.''

    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.''

    Diddley's influence was felt on both sides of the Atlantic. Buddy
Holly borrowed the
bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp rhythm for his song ""Not Fade Away.''

    The Rolling Stones' bluesy remake of that Holly song gave them their
first chart
single in the United States, in 1964. The following year, another
British band, the
Yardbirds, had a Top 20 hit in the U.S. with their version of ""I'm a
Man.''

    Diddley was also one of the pioneers of the electric guitar, adding
reverb and
tremelo effects. He even rigged some of his guitars himself.

    ""He treats it like it was a drum, very rhythmic,'' E. Michael
Harrington, professor
of music theory and composition at Belmont University in Nashville,
Tenn., said in 2006.

    Many other artists, including the Who, Bruce Springsteen and Elvis
Costello copied
aspects of Diddley's style.

    Growing up, Diddley said he had no musical idols, and he wasn't
entirely pleased that
others drew on his innovations.

    ""I don't like to copy anybody. Everybody tries to do what I do,
update it,'' he
said. ""I don't have any idols I copied after.''

    ""They copied everything I did, upgraded it, messed it up. It seems
to me that nobody
can come up with their own thing, they have to put a little bit of Bo
Diddley there,''
he said.

    Despite his success, Diddley claimed he only received a small
portion of the money he
made during his career. Partly as a result, he continued to tour and
record music until
his stroke. Between tours, he made his home near Gainesville in north
Florida.

    ""Seventy ain't nothing but a damn number,'' he told The Associated
Press in 1999.
""I'm writing and creating new stuff and putting together new different
things. Trying
to stay out there and roll with the punches. I ain't quit yet.''

    Diddley, like other artists of his generations, was paid a flat fee
for his
recordings and said he received no royalty payments on record sales. He
also said he was
never paid for many of his performances.

    ""I am owed. I've never got paid,'' he said. ""A dude with a pencil
is worse than a
cat with a machine gun.''

    In the early 1950s, Diddley said, disc jockeys called his type of
music, ""Jungle
Music.'' It was Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed who is credited with
inventing the term
""rock 'n' roll.''

    Diddley said Freed was talking about him, when he introduced him,
saying, ""Here is a
man with an original sound, who is going to rock and roll you right out
of your seat.''

    Diddley won attention from a new generation in 1989 when he took
part in the ""Bo
Knows'' ad campaign for Nike, built around football and baseball star
Bo Jackson.
Commenting on Jackson's guitar skills, Diddley turned to the camera and
said, ""He don't
know Diddley.''

    ""I never could figure out what it had to do with shoes, but it
worked,'' Diddley
said. ""I got into a lot of new front rooms on the tube.''

    Born as Ellas Bates on Dec. 30, 1928, in McComb, Miss., Diddley was
later adopted by
his mother's cousin and took on the name Ellis McDaniel, which his wife
always called
him.

    When he was 5, his family moved to Chicago, where he learned the
violin at the
Ebenezer Baptist Church. He learned guitar at 10 and entertained
passers-by on street
corners.

   By his early teens, Diddley was playing Chicago's Maxwell Street.

    ""I came out of school and made something out of myself. I am known
all over the
globe, all over the world. There are guys who have done a lot of things
that don't have
the same impact that I had,'' he said.

   AP-ES-06-02-08 1236EDT


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