Bo Diddley, Bo Diddley, have you heard
Mommy's gonna buy me a mockingbird ...

Bo Diddley / I'm A Man was the first rock'n'roll record I ever heard. I promptly bought every Checker single Bo Diddley put out and then found Muddy Waters, Little Walter and Chuck Berry 'cause they were on the same record company.

Technically speaking, the shave and a haircut two bits beat had already been used in quite a few pop songs long before Bo rocked it out. Furthermore, his catalog of great Checker recordings includes many equally great songs that don't have that beat, but he's bound to be remembered for the Bo Diddley Beat 'cause that's what rock journalists focus on.

Last year, I was fortunate enough to see a great Bo Diddley performance here in Florida. The world is less fun without Bo Diddley in it.

Better go see see Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis while you still can. 

http://tinyurl.com/5v3chw

Arguably, the most influential American musician of the later half of the 20^th Century. He was to Rock and Roll what George Washington was to America; what Babe Ruth was to baseball. A Founding Father when Rhythm and Blues birthed the genre. I'm no Diddley maven, but I can say, confidently that there's not a person reading this who hasn't experienced the cellular vibrations caused by his sound...the Bo Diddley Beat. There may not be another musician who has been covered more often: The Everly Brothers, Little Richard, The Rolling Stones, The Grateful Dead, Eric Clapton, Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen, Guns N Roses, Bowie, The Pretenders, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, The Supremes, The Police, Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds, The Clash, The Yardbirds, The Doors, Credence, Velvet Underground, Tom Petty. This is a partial list of musicians and groups who not only covered Diddley, but absorbed his sound throughout their careers. You're on your own from here. This man made musical history.

Ironically, the name Bo Diddley is old Southern Black slang for "nothing at all." He jammed for 60 years...

Whew, Ellas Otha Bates Born 12/30/28. Died 06/02/08.

I remember hearing him for the first time when I was about 10, blatting out of a cheap radio in a machine shop run by a friend of my Dad's.  Utterly compelling beat that once heard is never forgotten.

Hugely influential, as Ridge observes below, and with a range of songs that all hands and cook have covered at one time or another.  Its my personal belief that "Who Do You Love" has been covered more times, by more people than any other song.

Just kicked today, and I figure the All-Star Dead Band is happy to have him fronting for them.

What a great, original beat. I collected everything I could on him. Look at all the people that recorded his stuff and his style...

The man invented the diddley beat.

Hey BO DIDDLEY fans! You are all invited to visit the BO DIDDLEY-The Originator at http://members.tripod.com/~Originator_2/index.html the most detailed and accurate source of information about the musician BO DIDDLEY on the web. BO DIDDLEY is one of the founding fathers of rock music, and a positive role model for young people. The Site has already been recognised and listed by a number of online education facilities such as themusicland, Teacher's Resource Room, Schoolzone Education, ClasSearch.com, Schoolsnet, TeAch-nology.com, Education World, StudyWeb, CyberSleuth Kids, DizzyDuckling, KidsNook, Fun Music Ideas, Art Kids Rule! and KidsClick!, as well as the online versions of the Encyclopedia Britannica and the Encarta Encyclopedia, as being a valuable resource. Thank you. David Blakey, Webmaster, BO DIDDLEY-The Originator http://members.tripod.com/~Originator_2/index.html A Celebration of his unique contribution to Popular Music.