The Originator

Background:

Rock 'n roll pioneer and blues icon, nicknamed “The Originator,” Bo Diddley (born Elias Bates) has inspired countless acts that have followed in his musical footsteps, including Buddy Holly, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, the Who, and the Doors. He is famous for such hits as "I'm a Man," "Who Do You Love," "Pretty Thing," "Mona," "Say Man," "Before You Accuse Me," and "Road Runner."

One of the founding fathers of rock 'n' roll, who is known for his characteristic rectangular guitar and often cited as a key figure in the transition from blues to rock 'n roll, Diddley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and in the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame in 2000. He also received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Rhythm 'n' Blues Foundation in 1996 and at the annual Grammy Awards Ceremony in 1998.

“I thank you in advance for the great round of applause I'm about to get.” Bo Diddley

The 5' 7" brown-eyed legendary guitarist and vocalist was married four times and was the father of four. He died of heart failure on June 2, 2008, at his home in Archer, Florida.

Ellas Bates

Childhood and Family:

Born Ellas Bates on Sunday December 30, 1928, on a small farm near the town of McComb, Mississippi, Bo Diddley moved to Chicago, Illinois, when he was 7 years old. He would later move to Washington, D.C., Granada Hills, C.A., Los Lunas, N.M., and Hawthorne, Archer and Gainesville, FL.

The only child of Ethel Wilson and Eugene Bates, Bo had three half-brothers and a half-sister. He was adopted by his mother's cousin, Mrs. Gussie McDaniel, along with his cousins Willis, Lucille and Freddie, and adopted the name Ellas McDaniel.

While studying at the Foster Vocational High School in Chicago, he acquired the nickname "Bo Diddley" from his peers. He divorced his first wife, Louise Woolingham, in 1945. The following year, he married his second wife, Ethel Mae Smith, who gave him two children. Their marriage lasted for one decade (1946 - 1956) and Bo went on to marry his third wife, Kay Reynolds, with whom he had two more children. Their marriage lasted for two decades (1960 – 1980), and on September 26, 1992, Bo married his fourth and last wife, Sylvia Paiz.

Bo Diddley died of heart failure on June 2, 2008, at his home in Archer, Florida.

I'm A Man

Career:

As a child, Bo Diddley was taught to play the violin by Professor O.W. Frederick, the music director of his church, the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church. One of his fellow students at the time was jazz violinist Leroy Jenkins.

Young Diddley studied the violin for 12 years. However, he shifted gears after hearing blues singer/guitarist John Lee Hooker and after getting his first guitar from his sister Lucille in 1940, he began to duplicate what he did with his violin bow by rapidly flicking his pick across his guitar strings.

"I play the guitar as if I'm playing the drums. I play drum licks on the guitar." Bo Diddley

Through his early teens, Diddley continued to practice the guitar. Shortly before leaving school, he formed his first group, a trio named “The Hipsters,” which was later known as “The Langley Avenue Jive Cats.” Upon graduation, he worked a variety of low-paying odd jobs.

While working, Diddley continued playing on street corners with his group and in 1951, he adopted his current stage name when he landed a regular gig at the 708 Club on Chicago's South Side.

After more than a decade of playing on street corners and in clubs around Chicago, he eventually cut a demo of two songs he had written, "Uncle John" and "I'm A Man." After various rejections from local record labels, he scored a recording contract with Checker, a subsidiary of the well-known blues label Chess Records. The two songs were re-recorded at Bill Putnam's Universal Recording Studio on March 2, 1955, and released as a double A-side disc on the Chess Records subsidiary label Checker Records. It went straight to the top of the R&B charts.

Diddley subsequently rose to the top 40 charts with “Pretty Thing” in 1956 and released other famous songs, including “Who Do You Love” and “Before You Accuse Me.” After releasing a self-titled debut album in 1958, Diddley issued the follow-up albums "Go Bo Diddley" (1959), "Have Guitar Will Travel" (1960), "Bo Diddley in the Spotlight" (1960), "Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger" (1960), "Bo Diddley Is a Lover" (1961), "Bo Diddley's a Twister" (1962), "Bo Diddley" (1962), "Bo Diddley & Company" (1962), "Surfin' with Bo Diddley" (1963), "Bo Diddley's Beach Party" (1963), "Bo Diddley's 16 All-Time Greatest Hits" (1964), "Two Great Guitars" (with Chuck Berry, 1964), "Hey Good Lookin'" (1965), and "500% More Man" (1965). He regularly appeared on television, toured, and remained popular thanks to the hit songs "You Don't Love Me (You Don't Care)," "Mona (I Need You Baby)," "Hey Bo Diddley," "Road Runner," "Say Man," and "You Can't Judge a Book By the Cover."

“I'm a rhythm fanatic; I create rhythms that'd drive you nuts.” Bo Diddley

Diddley continued to record new material with the release of his next albums, "The Originator" (1966), "Super Blues" (with Muddy Waters & Little Walter, 1967), "Super Super Blues Band" (with Muddy Waters & Howlin' Wolf, 1967), "The Black Gladiator" (1970), "Another Dimension" (1971), "Where It All Began" (1972), "Got My Own Bag of Tricks" (1972), "The London Bo Diddley Sessions" (1973), "Big Bad Bo" (1974), "20th Anniversary of Rock & Roll" (1976), and "I'm a Man" (1977). He was then introduced to new audiences during a 1979 tour with the punk rock group “The Clash.”

“I opened the door for a lot of people and they just ran through and left me holding the knob.” Bo Diddley

In the '80s, Diddley had a cameo role in John Landis' Academy Award-nominated 1983 comedy film starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd, “Trading Places,” and starred in a 1989 television commercial for sports shoes with star athlete Bo Jackson.

Meanwhile, although he was in his late 60s and early 70s, Diddley was still very much active in the recording studio and in clubs and the concert halls around the world. He performed a rousing version of his classic song "Who Do You Love" with George Thorogood & The Destroyers in front of a TV audience of millions at the Live Aid Concert in Philadelphia in 1985 and embarked on a late '80s tour with The Rolling Stones guitarist and bassist Ronnie Wood. During this time, he also released the albums "Ain't It Good To Be Free" (1983), "Bo Diddley & Co - Live" (1985), "Hey...Bo Diddley in Concert" (1986), "Breakin' Through the BS" (1989), and "Living Legend" (1989). In 1987, he was recognized for his role as a pioneering force in music by being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The '90s saw the release of Diddley's albums "Rare & Well Done" (1991), "Live at the Ritz" (with Ronnie Wood, 1992), "This Should Not Be" (1993), "Promises" (1994), and "A Man Amongst Men" (1996). He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm 'n' Blues Foundation in 1996 and received another Lifetime Achievement Award, this time from The Recording Academy, at the Grammy Awards Ceremony in 1998.

Entering the new millennium, Diddley was awarded another honor when he was inducted into The Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame and in recognition of his enormous contribution to the development of the blues in Mississippi, Bo was honored by the Mississippi Blues Commission with a Mississippi Blues Trail historic marker placed in his birthplace, McComb. During this time, he recorded "Moochas Gracias" (with Anna Moo, 2002) and "Dick's Picks #30" (1972 5-song Live Session with The Grateful Dead, 2003).

Awards:

• The Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame: 2000

• Grammy: Lifetime Achievement Award, 1998

• Rhythm 'n' Blues Foundation: Lifetime Achievement Award, 1996

• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: 1987