Subject: RE: BO DIDDLEY's 71st birthday
From:
katlaughing
Date: 17 Nov 99 - 12:04 AM
Just load the cd player and start them playing! That is if you have one. Now, Bill, you did send the hamsters out to pasture and you really did get a new 'pewter, right?**BG**
Went looking. Take heart! There are high school students who've made a ncie little website with bios of famous writers and musicians of Mississippi! What foolwo is one of those bios on Bo. Seems he won the Lifetime Achievement award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation at the Seventh Annual Pioneer Awards in 1996.
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Biography of Bo Diddley
by Amanda Johnson (SHS)
Bo Diddley was born on December 30, 1928, in McComb, Mississippi, in Pike County. Bo Diddley's legal name was Ellas McDaniel, but he was born Otha Ellas Bates. Bo was adopted by his mother's cousin Gussie McDaniel and a man named Bates. When he was a child, Bo studied violin and taught himself how to play a guitar. When he was a young adult, Bo Diddley earned money performing odd jobs in construction and in boxing semi-pro. He also would spend much of his spare time playing music on the streets for extra money.
In his early performances (1945-1951) he was the lead singer in a Washboard Trio. He had married Ethel Mae Smith in 1946, and they had two children. They later got divorced , and he remarried a lady named Kay. There were two children from this marriage also.
Bo Diddley signed with the Chess/Checker Records in 1955 and remained with them until 1974. In 1955 he recorded his first hit song "'I'm a Man, " which made it to the number two spot on the charts. He got the stage name Bo Diddley from a one-stringed African guitar. One of the things that he said he hated most was that many record companies would use white artists to cover songs by black groups. The companies would do this "...in order for the music to have a so-called 'wider appeal.'" This practice was common throughout the '50s and '60s, but Diddley did not like it. This is what Mr. Diddley had to say about the situation while in the hospital for a pulled muscle in his right leg: "I think this is very wrong. We have to get away from that in this country. This country is not about that. We have to quit looking at each other's skin and give credit for what a man does. I'm not prejudiced against anybody. That's not my bag. But I just don't like the guys that handle my white brothers. They're the ones that are hogging up the money. [They say] 'We can't make this much money with the brother, so let's pick the pea pickers out here.' They'll promote them and pack the house. But they ain't gonna spend that money on you. I've seen this and it hurts. It really hurts."
Bo Diddley has been a well -respected artist and has even had performances for presidents. He played a concert for the President and Jackie Kennedy. He also played at t the Inaugural gala in Washington D. C. for President Bush, and he performed at the Democratic National Convention for Bill Clinton. Some of his other accomplishments include being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987; having a star in the sidewalk on the Hollywood Hall of Fame in 1989; and receiving the Lifetime Achievement award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation at the Seventh Annual Pioneer Awards in 1996. Road Runner Live by Diddley was released by Mastertone on February 26, 1999.
Bo Diddley has had a long lasting career that spans over five decades. His career began in the early forties and his personality and stage presence have made him a popular entertainer yet today. His popularity is world-wide. He is still performing concerts in places like Robinsonville, Mississippi, and Tokyo, Japan. Today he lives in Archer, Florida.
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