JACKSONVILLE, Fla.%uFFFD Bo Diddley, a founding father of rock ‘n’ roll whose distinctive “shave and a haircut, two bits” rhythm and innovative guitar effects inspired legions of other musicians, died Monday after months of ill health. He was
He had suffered a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation. The legendary singer and performer, known for his homemade square guitar, dark glasses and black hat, was an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, had a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, and received a lifetime achievement award in 1999 at the Grammy Awards.
In recent years he also played for the elder President Bush and President Clinton. Diddley appreciated the honors he received, “but it didn’t put no figures in my checkbook.” “If you ain’t got no money, ain’t nobody calls you honey,” he quipped.
His first single, Bo Diddley, introduced record buyers in 1955 to his signature rhythm: bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp, often summarized as “shave and a haircut, two bits.” The B side, I’m a Man, with its slightly humorous take on macho pride, also became a rock standard. Diddley was also one of the pioneers of the electric guitar, adding reverb and tremelo effects. He even rigged some of his guitars himself.
“He treats it like it was a drum, very rhythmic,” E. Michael Harrington, professor of music theory and composition at Belmont Born as Ellas Bates on Dec. 30, 1928, in McComb, Miss., Diddley was later adopted by his mother’s cousin and took on the name Ellis McDaniel, which his wife always called him. When he was 5, his family moved to Chicago, where he learned the violin at the Ebenezer Baptist Church.
He learned guitar at 10 and entertained passers-by on street corners. By his early teens, Diddley was playing Chicago’s Maxwell Street. “I came out of school and made something out of myself. I am known all over the globe, all over the world. There are guys who have done a lot of things that don’t have the same impact that I had,” he said.
______
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.