Hoodoo You Love? An Introduction to Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley was a fist-fighting rolling stone and walking mojo charm. Cliché or not, the man
had to be larger than life to have made this music; and was possibly a demi-God hewn from the rock of myth, legend and Being F
ucking Cool. Years before Cassius Clay's affecting rants, Bo Diddley was claiming to have
walked 47 miles of barbed wire,
used a cobra snake for a neck tie and indeed have built a house with a chimney
made of human skulls through radios and record players across the world.
His musical diversity is still underestimated, having mastered everything from downtempo blues to doo-wop, rockabilly, boogie and through to the one-chord rockers that he was famed for. Without a shadow of a doubt, your favourite 60's rock band owned his records, and probably covered them to great financial gain.
Now
these songs were like unstoppable freight trains - the gargantuan drums, tumbling African rhythms and effects-laden shimmering guitar are still unmatched today in terms of sheer blood and sweat power. Christ knows how they must have sounded to fresh ears back in the late-50's/60's, and they certainly set the scene for raw garage rock.
Bo died only last year, he never stopped touring, blowing audiences away with his vital stage presence that prefigured rock's later histrionics. This introduction package covers his definitive period on Chess records. Others would have you believe this was the only stuff worth hearing - this is because they haven't heard anything else. And they smell.
Link:
I got a tombstone hand and a graveyard mind
1. Bo Diddley
2. I'm A Man
3. Cadillac
4. Pretty Thing
5. Bring It To Jerome (Alternate Take)
6. Deed and Deed I Do
7. Who Do You Love?
8. Down Home Special
9. Hey! Bo Diddley
10. Say Boss Man
11. Hush Your Mouth (Alternate Take)
12. Dearest Darling (Alternate Take)
13. Crackin' Up
14. Mumblin' Guitar
15. Story of Bo Diddley