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Post by franklinmarsh on Jun 2, 2008 19:53:35 GMT
Sad to hear of Bo's death, a mere 79. Not as well known as some of the 50's rock 'n' roll greats, Bo Diddley could churn some great songs on his square geetar.
I first came across the name Elias McDaniel as author of a fantastic song called Pills - a Lurkers b-side.
A couple of skinheads we knew wanted to see The Meteors, but were a little concerned at possible Psychobilly animosity. My brother and I (punks) went with them to the Lyceum Ballroom in the Strand.
A rockin' band called the BMTs were on stage when we arrived, and the hall was filling up with Teds (this was in the 80s and probably the last time I saw a Teddy Boy.)
The BMTs returned to the stage and backed Bo Diddley. He was brilliant. I've never actually owned any of the man's records, but this performance shone. He was wearing red trousers and waistcoat, a white shirt and his trademark black stetson and hornrims. Unforgettable - especially as every other song contained the words 'Bo Diddley.'
After he'd finished, the Teds made way for the Psychobillies, and the skins got to see The Meteors with no trouble.
I did attend another Bo gig, but unfortunately didn't see him. We'd gone for the support bands - The Guana Batz, The Pirates and King Kurt. KK had the outrageous sauce to come on stage blacked up and wearing enormous foam rubber cowboy hats. Their guitarist had painted checks on his jacket and stuck a square of cardboard on his guitar as a tribute. They did a song called 'Bo Diddley Goes East' (The New York Dolls' Bad Detective with different lyrics).
I did get to see Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard much later, but Diddley always had the edge.
Apparently he supported The Clash too!
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Post by phantomrider on Jun 2, 2008 20:52:50 GMT
...Between the Chairman and the Buddha overlooking the sea, stands the statue of a big man with a square guitar, with an inscription in stone that can be read from afar...... RIP Bo Diddley. www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwdDomMm0o4Skinheads concerned about psychobilly animosity? Thats the big city for you. Worked the other way around here! There are still a few Teds around if you know where to look, quite a few still propping up the bar at the Roundhouse by all accounts, and Rockers at the Ace of course. Look out for a band called Furious, teen Teds tipped to usher in a new era apparently. Remember the King Kurt/Bo Diddley gig. Didn't get down to London much at all in my youth but they were featured on the Tube just after. Don't remember them actually playing anything, just stalking the presenter, all dressed as Bo Diddley. Bo definitely had the edge, and having seen Little Richard, most of his marbles to! |
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Post by jkdunham on Jun 2, 2008 23:42:41 GMT
Loved that Bo Diddley beat! And I've always had a soft spot for songs with only one chord in (a sure sign of genius, if you can pull it off). Considering how rhythmic and simple sounding his music could be, he did some truly classic songs. Like many of the old rock 'n' roll/R 'n' B masters, he seemed to somehow be both a household name and be largely overlooked at the same time. I first started listening to him seriously in the early '80s. I was listening to a lot of old psychedelic/garage stuff at the time and Cherry Red records brought out a compilation by an all but forgotten combo called The Misunderstood. There was a song on there with lyrics that fascinated me;
I walk 47 miles of barbed wire,
I use a cobra-snake for a necktie,
I got a brand new house on the roadside,
Made from rattlesnake hide,
I got a brand new chimney on top,
Made out of a human skull,
Now come on take a walk with me,
And tell me, who do you love?
I loved that odd juxtaposition of all the weird voodoo stuff and that line, "who do you love?". Where did that come from? I subsequently learned that The Misunderstood had lifted the whole thing (uncredited I think, at least on the album I had) from a song of the same name by Bo Diddley. I picked up one of his albums shortly afterwards and his original 'Who Do you Love?' became one of my all-time favourites. I was amazed, listening to his records, how much of the music I'd always gravitated towards seemed to either come directly from him or have its roots in his music. The man was amazing. An original, an innovator, and he really knew how to groove. |
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Post by carolinec on Jun 3, 2008 10:41:37 GMT
I didn't know "Who Do You Love?" was a Bo Diddley! I have the single of that from either late 60s or early 70s by a band called Juicy Lucy. Great song!
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Post by franklinmarsh on Jun 3, 2008 11:55:53 GMT
You didn't have JL's album with the (ahem) fruity cover, Caroline? Talk about five a day!
I had a gloriously shambolic rendition of Who Do You Love by The Milkshakes, and a much slower, more professional and intense reading by George Thorogood & The Destroyers.
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Post by dem on Jun 3, 2008 16:11:50 GMT
“A dude with a pencil is worse than a cat with a machine gun.”
The Jesus & Mary Chain do a mean version of Who Do You Love on Barbed Wire Kisses, too. Not for the first time, Steve sums up my own feelings far better than i ever could:
"I was amazed, listening to his records, how much of the music I'd always gravitated towards seemed to either come directly from him or have its roots in his music."
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Post by carolinec on Jun 3, 2008 20:06:12 GMT
You didn't have JL's album with the (ahem) fruity cover, Caroline? Talk about five a day! No, I don't have the album. You've got me curious now to find out what the cover looks like! I've just got the single on the Vertigo label with the psychadelic black and white centre that gives you vertigo if you watch it spinning!  |
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Post by franklinmarsh on Jun 4, 2008 15:25:37 GMT
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Post by phantomrider on Jun 4, 2008 15:36:09 GMT
These days its only 5 a day.....
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Post by franklinmarsh on Jun 4, 2008 16:59:47 GMT
 Those Bo Diddley gigs in full (plus a bit of Goth). How could I have forgotten Roddy Radiation & The Tearjerkers? No wonder the skin'eads wanted to go. Incidentally Dem, on the back of the Meteors gig is an ad for The Fall supported by The Birthday Party at the Hammersmith Palais - I assume that's where you were? |
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Post by carolinec on Jun 4, 2008 18:37:32 GMT
Oh yes, I remember - I have seen that cover. But I think the cover probably put me off buying the album. It's clearly one for the boys!  |
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Post by dem on Jun 4, 2008 21:28:25 GMT
Those Bo Diddley gigs in full (plus a bit of Goth). How could I have forgotten Roddy Radiation & The Tearjerkers? No wonder the skin'eads wanted to go. Incidentally Dem, on the back of the Meteors gig is an ad for The Fall supported by The Birthday Party at the Hammersmith Palais - I assume that's where you were? ... and you'd assume wrongly, FM. My dream/ nightmare double bill and I bleedin' missed it. I'm going to cry now. Love your new av, by the way, and I'm sure Mark 'Mr. Highgate Cemetery' Samuels will appreciate it too ...... |
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Post by franklinmarsh on Jun 5, 2008 9:57:10 GMT
Darn! Unlucky! I've just discovered my old gig scrapbooks in the loft so any mention of a band I saw may well produce more tiny ads. I mentioned the Goth gig on the Goth thread - that must be the first time I saw the Sisters. Didn't stay for the Gun Club tho' (street credibility plunges to zero). Nice to see Joolz - I haven't tracked down Billie Morgan yet, but I have read her first novel Stone Baby. Strong stuff. And featuring a tall Northern comedienne with pink hair.
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Post by pulphack on Jun 7, 2008 18:02:13 GMT
Bo was unique, and sadly missed - was it his sister or his wife who was his rhythm guitarist for years? Not many musicians have invented and had named after them a whole style of playing and rhythm.
Regarding Juicy Lucy - the fruit cover is gross (like the Hendrix Electric Ladyland cover, the lighting makes the flesh seem completely unerotic), so much so that Sequel used it for 'Who Do You Love', a very fine best-of that featured everything except the last album (cos it was on Polydor and therefore not owned by Castle like the rest), with cracking sleeve notes. But then I would say that, just like I said thank you to Gentleman Bob Fisher for the cheque...
The JL playing now are a bit of a joke, really. Sorry guys, but you know you are. You're NOT JL and never will be. It was never really JL after yer man Glen Fernando Campbell left. Isn't it funny, too, how JL formed because the Misunderstood couldn't get anywhere, yet now JL are almost forgotten while the Misunderstood are revered by psych collectors.
Sorry, got a bit sidetracked there...
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