THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

381-Bo Diddley-Bo Diddley.

1955-It has never charted in the UK.

Best Bit-At 0.01. If the songs in this ‘1000 Best Songs’ list were evaluated on their influence on future generations, then this would be in the top 20.

Bo Diddley was born Ellas Otha Bates on December 30th, 1928, in McComb, Mississippi, United States. He was adopted and raised by his mother’s cousin Gussie McDaniel, taking her surname. Bo Diddley had a history of hypertension, and diabetes, and in May 2007 he suffered a stroke, the stroke was later followed by a heart attack, and he died on June 2nd, 2008, at the age of 79. Bo Diddley is considered to be one of the most important artists in the transition of the ‘Blues,’ to ‘Rock ‘N Roll,’ and was an influence on some of the all time greats including the Beatles, (see also best songs 599-319-238-218-141-80-51-10 and 5) The Rolling Stones, (see also best songs 933-662-452-160 and 77) and Buddy Holly (see also best songs 898 and 264.) Mick Jagger has said, ‘He was a wonderful, original musician who was an enormous force in music, and was a big influence on The Rolling Stones. He was very generous to us in our early years, and we learnt a lot from him.’ Jagger also added,’We will never see his like again.’ The origin of the stage name ‘Bo Diddley’ is unclear. McDaniel said his peers gave him the name, which he suspected was an insult, he has also said that the name first belonged to a singer his adoptive mother knew. The American ‘Blues’ harmonica player, Billy Boy Arnold who played on this song, has said that it was a local comedian’s name, which Leonard Chess (1917-1969) (see also best songs 596-548-308 and 30) adopted as McDaniel’s stage name, and the title of this his first single.

Bo Diddley has achieved numerous accolades in recognition of his significant role as one of the founding fathers of ‘Rock and Roll,’ including being inducted into the ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’ in 1987. In 1999 his song ‘Bo Diddley’ was inducted into the ‘Grammy Hall of Fame,’ and in 2003 he was inducted into the ‘Blues Hall of Fame.’ The discography of Bo Diddley includes 27 studio Albums released between 1958-1996, and 37 singles released between 1955-1996, there are also 25 official compilation Albums, and six live Albums available. In America on the Billboard Hot 100, his only top 40 charting single is ‘Say Man,’ from 1959, which reached Number 20, although 10 of his singles did make the Billboard ‘Rhythm and Blues’ chart, (now known as the ‘Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs’ chart) with this song reaching Number 1. In the UK, two of his singles have reached the top 40, with ‘Pretty Thing’ from 1955, peaking the highest at Number 34.

‘Bo Diddley’ was written by Ellas McDaniel a.k.a. Bo Diddley, with the production being by Leonard Chess, Phil Chess, (1921-2016) and Bo Diddley. The American author and journalist Richie Unterberger, who was born in 1962 has described the song as, ‘Soaked with futuristic waves of tremolo guitar, set to an ageless nursery rhyme. The result was not exactly Blues, or even straight R&B, but a new kind of guitar-based Rock ‘N’ Roll, soaked in the Blues and R&B, but owing allegiance to neither.’ Perhaps the biggest compliment you can pay to the song ‘Bo Diddley’ is that nothing else in 1955, or before that sounded anything like that track. The songs lyrics are based on the traditional Southern American Folk song ‘Hush Little Baby,’ another well known Pop hit to borrow from ‘Hush Little Bay’ is the 1963 song ‘Mockingbird’ by Charlie and Inez Foxx. Bo Diddley originally wanted to call the song ‘Uncle John’ but the owners of ‘Chess Records’ rejected the idea, and also the songs original lyrics, saying they were too dirty for the white American record buying public. In response Diddley re-wrote the lyrics, and named the song after himself.

The song ‘Bo Diddley’ was the first recording by Bo Diddley, and introduced ‘African rhythms’ in to ‘Rock ‘N Roll.’ The song is rhythmically similar to the ‘Juba dance,’ or ‘Hambone,’ originally known as ‘Pattin’ Juba,’ which is an African/American style of dancing that involves stomping, as well as slapping, and patting the arms, legs, chest, and cheeks. The ‘Juba’ dance was originally brought by Kongo slaves to Charleston, South Carolina, in the early 19th Century. This ‘new’ sound introduced by Bo Diddley was so influential that it became known as the ‘Bo Diddley Beat.’ Many songs recorded through the subsequent decades have incorporated the ‘Bo Diddley Beat,’ including ‘Willie and the Hand Jive’ by Johnny Otis, (1921-2012) from 1958, ‘Panic in Detroit’ by David Bowie,’ (1948-2016) from 1973, ‘Faith’ by George Michael, (1963-2016) from 1987, and many others. In 1963 the song ‘Bo Diddley’ was posthumously released on behalf of Buddy Holly, who had originally recorded the track back in 1956, it reached Number 4 in the UK.

‘Bo Diddley bought his babe a diamond ring. If that diamond ring don’t shine, he gonna take it to a private eye. If that private eye can’t see, he’d better not take the ring from me.’