Editing Bo Diddley (section)

== Beat ==
{{Main|Bo Diddley beat}}
The "Bo Diddley beat" is essentially the [[clave rhythm]], one of the most common [[bell pattern]]s found in [[sub-Saharan African music traditions]].<ref>Peñalosa, David (2010: 244). ''The Clave Matrix; Afro-Cuban Rhythm: Its Principles and African Origins''. Redway, California: Bembe. {{ISBN|1-886502-80-3}}.</ref> One scholar found this rhythm in 13 rhythm and blues recordings made in the years 1944–55, including two by [[Johnny Otis]] from 1948.<ref>Tamlyn, Garry Neville (1998). ''The Big Beat: Origins and Development of Snare Backbeat and Other Accompanimental Rhythms in Rock 'n' Roll''. PhD thesis. Table 4.16. page 284.</ref>

Bo Diddley gave different accounts of how he began to use this rhythm. [[Ned Sublette]] says, "In the context of the time, and especially those maracas [heard on the record], 'Bo Diddley' has to be understood as a Latin-tinged record. A rejected cut recorded at the same session was titled only 'Rhumba' on the track sheets."<ref>Sublette, Ned (2007: 83). "The Kingsmen and the Cha-cha-chá." Ed. Eric Weisbard. ''Listen Again: A Momentary History of Pop Music''. Duke University Press. {{ISBN|0822340410}}.</ref> The Bo Diddley beat is similar to "[[Juba dance|hambone]]", a style used by street performers who play out the beat by slapping and patting their arms, legs, chest, and cheeks while chanting rhymes.<ref>Roscetti, Ed (2008). ''Stuff! Good Drummers Should Know''. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 16. {{ISBN|1-4234-2848-X}}.</ref> Somewhat resembling the [[Shave and a Haircut|"shave and a haircut, two bits"]] rhythm, Diddley came across it while trying to play [[Gene Autry]]'s "(I've Got Spurs That) [[Jingle, Jangle, Jingle]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afropop.org/multi/feature/ID/298/Blues+Reflections:+2003 |title=Blues Reflections |publisher=Afropop.org |date=April 3, 1970 |access-date=February 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605102906/http://www.afropop.org/multi/feature/ID/298/Blues+Reflections:+2003 |archive-date=June 5, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Three years before his "Bo Diddley", a song with similar syncopation titled "Hambone" was cut by the [[Red Saunders (musician)|Red Saunders]] Orchestra with the Hambone Kids. In 1944, "[[Rum and Coca Cola]]", containing the Bo Diddley beat, was recorded by the [[the Andrews Sisters|Andrews Sisters]]. [[Buddy Holly]]'s "[[Not Fade Away (song)|Not Fade Away]]" (1957) and [[Them (band)|Them's]] "[[Mystic Eyes]]" (1965) used the beat.<ref name="Sixties">Hicks, Michaël (2000). ''Sixties Rock'', p.36. {{ISBN|978-0-252-06915-4}}.</ref>
[[File:Bo Diddley beat.png|thumb|280px|right|"Bo Diddley beat"<ref name="Sixties" />/[[Son clave]] {{audio|Bo Diddley beat.mid|Play}}.]] In its simplest form, the Bo Diddley beat can be counted out as either a one-bar or a two-bar phrase. Here is the count as a one-bar phrase: '''One''' e and '''ah''', two e '''and''' ah, three e '''and''' ah, '''four''' e and ah (the boldface counts are the [[Clave (rhythm)|clave]] rhythm).

Many songs (for example, "[[Hey Bo Diddley]]" and "[[Who Do You Love? (Bo Diddley song)|Who Do You Love?]]") often have no [[chord (music)|chord]] changes; that is, the musicians play the same chord throughout the piece, so that the rhythms create the excitement, rather than having the excitement generated by harmonic [[tension (music)|tension and release]]. In his other recordings, Bo Diddley used various rhythms, from straight [[beat (music)|back beat]] to [[Popular music|pop]] [[ballad]] style to [[doo-wop]], frequently with maracas by Jerome Green.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Eder |first1=Bruce |title=Artist Biography of Jerome Green |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jerome-green-mn0000325428/biography |website=All Music |access-date=May 3, 2020 |archive-date=June 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603083250/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jerome-green-mn0000325428/biography |url-status=live }}</ref> His 1955 rhythm and blues hit, "Bo Diddley", had a "driving African rhythm and ham-bone beat".<ref name="Auuila2000">{{cite book |last1=Aquila |first1=Richard |title=That Old-time Rock & Roll: A Chronicle of an Era, 1954–1963 |date=2000 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-06919-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJxfiKtxrRsC&pg=PA209 |language=en}}</ref> Beginning that same year, Diddley collaborated with various doo-wop vocal groups, using [[the Moonglows]] as a backing group on his first album, ''Bo Diddley'', released in 1958. In one of the most well-known of his 1958 doo-wop sessions, Diddley added harmonies by the Carnations recording as the Teardrops, who sang smooth, polished doo-wop in the backgrounds on the songs "I'm Sorry", "Crackin' Up", and "Don't Let it Go".<ref name="Pruter1996" />

An influential guitar player, Bo Diddley developed many special effects and other innovations in tone and attack, particularly the "shimmering" tremolo sound,<ref name="Larson2004" /><ref name="Schiller2019">{{cite book |last1=Schiller |first1=David |title=Guitar: The World's Most Seductive Instrument |year=2019 |publisher=Workman Publishing |isbn=978-1-5235-0850-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jnKHDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA44 |language=en}}</ref> and amp reverb. His trademark instrument was his self-designed, one-of-a-kind, rectangular-bodied "Twang Machine" (referred to as "cigar-box shaped" by music promoter [[Dick Clark]]), built by [[Gretsch]]. He had other uniquely shaped guitars custom-made for him by other manufacturers throughout the years, most notably the "Cadillac" and the rectangular "Turbo 5-speed" (with built-in envelope filter, flanger and delay) designs, made by Tom Holmes (who also made guitars for ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, among others). In a 2005 interview on [[Triple J|JJJ]] radio in Australia, he implied that the rectangular design sprang from an embarrassing moment. During an early gig, while jumping around on stage with a [[Gibson L5]] guitar, he landed awkwardly, hurting his groin.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/jayandthedoctor/listen/boone_m1035862.mp3 |title=Mp3 file : Jay and the Doctor |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=March 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624195337/http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/jayandthedoctor/listen/boone_m1035862.mp3 |archive-date=June 24, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/jayandthedoctor/listen/bodidleytw_m1035870.mp3 |title=Mp3 file : Jay and the Doctor |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=March 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624195333/http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/jayandthedoctor/listen/bodidleytw_m1035870.mp3 |archive-date=June 24, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He then went about designing a smaller, less-restrictive guitar that allowed him to keep jumping around on stage while still playing his guitar. He also played the violin, which is featured on his mournful [[instrumental rock|instrumental]] "The Clock Strikes Twelve", a [[twelve-bar blues]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oldies.about.com/od/buyersguides/gr/diddleymasters.htm |title=Bo Diddley – I'm a Man: The Chess Masters, 1955–1958 – CD review |publisher=Oldies.about.com |date=February 25, 2008 |access-date=February 20, 2011 |archive-date=July 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707075606/http://oldies.about.com/od/buyersguides/gr/diddleymasters.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Diddley often created lyrics as witty and humorous adaptations of [[folk music]] themes. His first hit, "Bo Diddley", was based on [[Juba dance|hambone]] rhymes.<ref name="Wald2014">{{cite book |last1=Wald |first1=Elijah |title=Talking 'bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-939404-3 |page=87 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B9gVDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA87 |language=en}}</ref> The first line of his song "Hey Bo Diddley" is derived from the nursery rhyme "[[Old MacDonald]]".<ref name="Elliott2017">{{cite book |last1=Elliott |first1=Richard |title=The Sound of Nonsense |year=2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-5013-2456-7 |page=84 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YzI7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT84 |language=en}}</ref> The song "Who Do You Love?" with its [[roots of hip hop|rap]]-style boasting, and his use of the African-American game known as "[[the dozens]]" on the songs "Say Man" and "Say Man, Back Again," are cited as progenitors of hip-hop music;<ref name="Aquila2016">{{cite book |last1=Aquila |first1=Richard |title=Let's Rock!: How 1950s America Created Elvis and the Rock and Roll Craze |year=2016 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-6937-8 |page=229 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=340xDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA229 |language=en}}</ref> for example, in the dialogue of the song, "Say Man", percussionist Jerome Green says the lines: "You've got the nerve to call somebody ugly. Why, you so ugly till the stork that brought you in the world oughta be arrested."<ref name="Wald2014"/>