The legendary Bo Diddley died yesterday. He will be missed.
I was having a Bo Diddley YouTube marathon after hearing the sad news and stumbled across this next video. Couldn’t help but smile at the awesome retro cheesiness of this Hollywood a Go Go appearance. I especially love the goofy intro by Sam Riddle and the girls dancing in the background. So classic!
Anyhow, this man was truly a legend. He helped usher in the rock’n’roll era from its blues roots, pioneered new beats like “a shave and a haircut”, and was one of the first American artists to use female musicians in his band. Not to mention his crazy rectangle guitars.
After playing with him at the Fillmore in 1999, Tom Petty summed it up pretty well when he said “Elvis is King, but Diddley is Daddy”.
