Chords for True Kings of Rock : Bo Diddley

[A] _ [F] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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_ _ _ _ _ _ Bo Diddley is the stage name [Bb] for Ellis Otha [C] Bates, an American rock and roll [Bb] vocalist,
guitarist, songwriter, [C] and inventor.
He was known [F] as the originator because of his key
role in the transition from blues to rock and roll, _ influencing a host of legendary
acts, including Buddy Holly, [Bb] Jimi Hendrix, the [C] Rolling Stones, [Gb] and Eric Clapton.
[F] _
_ Bo
introduced a more insistent, driving rhythm and hard-edged guitar sound on a [Bb] wide-ranging
catalog of [F] songs.
_ [N] Born in Macomb, Mississippi as Ellis Otha Bates, he was adopted and raised
by his mother's cousin, Gussie McDaniel, whose surname he assumed, becoming Ellis McDaniel.
In 1934, the McDaniel family moved to the largely black [Eb] south side of Chicago, where
he soon dropped the name Otha and became known as Ellis McDaniel.
That was until his
musical ambitions demanded that he take on a more catchy identity.
In Chicago, he was
an active member of his local Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he studied the trombone and
violin, becoming proficient enough on the latter for the musical [Gm] director to invite
him to join the orchestra, with which he performed until the age of 18.
He was more impressed,
however, by [B] the pulsating [Eb] rhythmic music he heard at a local Pentecostal church, which
[A] also is where he became interested in the guitar.
And further being inspired musically
after seeing John Lee Hooker, he supplemented his work as a carpenter and [Am] mechanic [Eb] with
a developing [A] career playing on street corners with friends. _ _
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_ _ _ during the summer of 1943
[Bb] _ [E] through 1944, he played for tips on the Maxwell Street Market in a band with Earl Hooker.
By 1951, he was [G] surviving solely by [C] playing on Maxwell Street, and soon he landed a regular
[A] spot at the 708 Club in Chicago's South [Em] Side, with a repertoire [Am] influenced by Louis Jordan, _
John Lee Hooker, and Muddy Waters.
_ [G] _
[C] _ [G] In 1955, he recorded I'm a Man and [Ab] Bo Diddley [C] at
Chess Studios, [G]
with a backing ensemble [C] [G] comprising of Otis Spann on piano, Lester Davenport on
harmonica, Frank [C] Kirkland on drums, [G] and Jerome Green on maracas.
[C] The [Eb] record was released
in March of 1955, and the A-side [G] Bo Diddley became a number one R [C]&B [G] hit.
Immediately,
he adopted the [C] stage [G] name Bo Diddley.
_ [C] On [G] November 20, 1955, Bo appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show,
a [C] popular [G] television variety show.
He ended up [C] infuriating [G] Ed Sullivan because he did
two songs on [C] the show, [G] and according to Bo, Ed got very mad.
Bo later recalled that Ed
Sullivan [C] said [G] that Bo was the first colored boy to ever double cross him, and said that
Bo wouldn't last six months in entertainment.
The show's producers had requested that he
[Eb] sing the Tennessee Ernie [Bb] Ford [C] hit, [G] 16 Tons.
_ [C] [G] But when he appeared on the stage, [C] he [Eb] sang
Bo Diddley instead, _ [C] and rock and [Eb] roll [G] was born, the [C] result of [G] which found him being
[Ebm] banned from further [G] appearances. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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_ Bo was well known for the Bo Diddley beat, [F] a rumba-like
beat [G] similar to hambo, a style used by street performers who play out the beat by slapping
and patting their arms, legs, chest, and cheeks while chanting rhymes. _ _
[B] _ _ _ _ [Ab] _ _ _ _
[Abm] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ [Gbm]
Between _ _ _ _ _ [Am] 1955 _ _ _ [Ab] _ and 1963, [C] Checkers Records released 11 full [Gb]-length albums by [Ab] Bo Diddley.
Although
he broke through as [A] a crossover artist [Ab] with white audiences, he rarely tailored his compositions
to teenage concerns.
_ _ And in addition to many of the songs recorded by him, [Am] in 1956 he co-wrote
with Jody Williams for the song [C] Love is Strange, a hit by [F] Mickey and Sylvia.
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[F] _ _ [G] _ [C] _ _ _ _ _
[F] _ _ [G] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
[F] _ _ [C] Bo Diddley is
one of the first American [F] male musicians to [C] include women in his band, including Peggy
[F] Jones, [G] aka The Duchess, [C] who led his band for the [F] final 25 years of his [Abm] life. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [N] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [E] Over the decades, Bo Diddley has been performing [G] all [B] over the world, [E] with venues ranging from
intimate clubs to _ stadiums. _ _
[A] Bo never [E] stopped the spreading of rock and roll around [Abm] the
world. _
[E] _ _ [B] _ _ _ _ _ [E] _
[A] _ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [Em] _ _ [N] On June 2, 2008, Bo Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Florida.
In the days following his death, tributes were paid to him by President George Bush
and the United States House of Representatives, plus countless musicians and performers,
including Eric Burton, Elvis Costello, Mick Jagger, B.B. King, Tom Petty, Robert Plant,
Bonnie Raitt, George Thorgood, and Ronnie Wood. _
His influence was so widespread that
it's hard to imagine what rock and roll would have sounded like without him.
He was a wonderful
original musician who was an enormous force in music and was a big influence on nearly
every entertainer who came after him, the likeness of which we will [C] never see again.
So, who has [Eb] Bo [C] Diddley's crown? _
Someone should give it back and put it on the [Bb] head of [C] this
true king of rock and roll. _ _ _
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[G] _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _
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Diddley's money. _ _ _ _ _ _
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