Bo diddley – one rhythm ? No way, as this set proves – but a one-off, certainly ! Bluesman? Well, it took a while but the modern blues finally caught up with him. But he did play and sing the blues, and he used people like Billy Boy Arnold, Willie Dixon, Otis Spann and many others of that ilk.’Look At Me Baby’ owes a debt to Elmore James too. Pioneer and innovator? He’d build and modify his own equipment to get the effects he wanted. Proto-rap? Well, urban themes and slang abound, and although there is nothing here to offend, no doubt some of his original audience would at least have been conscious of the less than salubrious origins of some of his dozens inspired lyrics. I’m less than convinced by arguments that posit Bo as some kind of African musical survival – though maybe some generalised calypso inspiration is more promising, but ‘Limbo’ and ‘Limber’ are more likely attemps to vary Bo’s sound a little and a response to Harry Belafonte. I am more amenable to Bo as comedian; what about ‘Say Man’ and ‘Say Man Back Again’? And if The Coasters had done ‘Cops And Robbers’, they would probably have developed it a bit more, but it wouldn’t have sounded too much different. A ‘folk-blues’singer, as Dr. Jive introduces him? The terminology may have changed, but I guess if we look at the Chess ‘Real Folk Blues’ series of albums, Bo does fit in – and he does do ‘Craw-Dad’! So how about rock’n roller? Well, he sold records back then, appeared on rock’n roll packages, and his driving music often does rock – and he did sometimes use groups of the rock’n roll era, such as The Moonglows. Then again, ‘She’s alright’ is close to contemporary Ray Charles, so maybe we should be talking about a rhythm & bluesman, which does fit him better than some. An inspiration for others? Undoubtedly, just ask The Rolling Stones, Buddy Holly, The Beatles, The Yardbirds, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jimi Hendrix, The Clash, and many, many others, including Johnny Otis maybe?
Bo really did not like being categorised, So how about indispensable then? Well, maybe I would have also included ‘The Clock Strikes Twelve’ just as an example of something different, but for this collection, it depends on how much of the man’s music you already have. If you’re sadly lacking in the Bo Diddley department, then yes, this intelligent and thoroughly entertaining triple CD set is indeed indispensable – or at least a collection containing much of this material, as any blues collection worthy of the name should have at least a significant proportion of the music on offer here.
Par Norman DARWEN – BLUES & RHYTHM
Bo really did not like being categorised, So how about indispensable then? Well, maybe I would have also included ‘The Clock Strikes Twelve’ just as an example of something different, but for this collection, it depends on how much of the man’s music you already have. If you’re sadly lacking in the Bo Diddley department, then yes, this intelligent and thoroughly entertaining triple CD set is indeed indispensable – or at least a collection containing much of this material, as any blues collection worthy of the name should have at least a significant proportion of the music on offer here.
Par Norman DARWEN – BLUES & RHYTHM
