Dusty Groove America website:

I'm A Man -- The Chess Masters 1955 to 1958
Bo Diddley

CD (Item 467398) Chess/Hip-O Select, Mid 50s -- Condition: New Copy

The birth of a genius -- and an amazing batch of early material from the legendary Bo Diddley! Even at his start, Bo was unlike anyone else -- a completely unique, completely self-contained bluesman who not only brought a wealth of new songs and styles to Chess Records, but who also did so with a good deal of humor as well! This beautifully-done 2CD package perfectly traces Diddley's early roots at Chess -- by going in session-by-session order, starting with key early singles, and moving into some of his weirder, wilder grooves. Given the shortness of the tunes, there's a huge amount of material in the package -- a whopping 48 tracks in all, offered up in master takes, alternates, and other odd versions -- complete with information on all sessions and players. Titles include "Heart O Matic Love", "She's Fine She's Mine", "Pretty Thing", "Diddley Daddy", "Bo Diddley", "I'm A Man", "Who Do You Love", "Love Is Strange", "Down Home Special", "Bo Meets The Monster", "Say Man", "Say Boss Man", 'Mona", "Our Love Will Never Go", and "Crackin Up". (Limited Edition.)

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Robert Fontenot, About.com Oldies website:

Bo Diddley: I'm a Man: The Chess Masters, 1955-1958

Bo Diddley purists will be glad to be able to trade in several of their old compilations at once, historians will rejoice at hearing the birth of "The Originator," and newbies can cheaply and easily get into the back catalog of one of rock's most unique characters. Also essential for Chicago blues fiends.

Pros

These 48 tracks represent no less than the birth of rock and roll... from one angle, anyway.
Six of these tracks have never been released, and the rest have never been together in one set.
Bo's unique style is well-served by the benefits of modern remastering.
Sequenced chronologically, so you can hear Bo become Bo.

Cons

A few of his classic early-Sixties tracks are missing... but that's for another comp.

Description
Release date: October 23, 2007
Hip-O Select 000923102
Studio (1955-1958)
Unreleased
Outtakes
Alternate versions
Limited edition

Guide Review - Bo Diddley: I'm a Man: The Chess Masters, 1955-1958

No one doubts that Bo Diddley helped lay the foundation of rock and roll by taking Chicago blues and doing... well, no one knows exactly what to it. Indeed, it's his very iconoclast nature that has ironically ensured he rarely gets mentioned in the first pantheon of rock architects. Sure, Chuck and Jerry Lee and Little Richard and Elvis blazed their own trail, but with a square guitar? Covered in fur? Playing a hambone beat? With maracas and a female guitarist? You get the picture.

This new 2-CD set, therefore, limited to 5000 non-numbered copies, is a good place for anyone to hear the genre's birth pangs, despite the limited edition gimmick. The release of this set makes at least four Bo comps obsolete, and while you don't get his less-celebrated and sadly underrated early-Sixties gems like "Road Runner," "500% More Man," and especially "You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover," the presence of eight unreleased takes and a dozen alternate versions -- including formative takes of his signature song, "Bo Diddley," and his biggest Top 40 hit, "Say Man," are more than enough to make up for it. (This is not even to mention the album tracks most fans of Fifties rock should know but don't, like the eerie ballad "The Clock Strikes Twelve," featuring Diddley on violin, or "Bo Meets The Monster," a novelty that's at least as authentic and chuckle-worthy as "Monster Mash.")

As befits a collectors' package like this one, the documentation on these 48 tracks is extensive, and there's even a free guitar-shaped magnet lurking in the packaging. But anyone who's casually heard and loved his theme song is gonna love the blues-fried groove on display here: Bo was not only one of the era's most innovative musicians, he was also one of its most consistent. Which means maybe the Originator isn't just boasting out of primitive rockstar hubris. He earned this one.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic website (Part 1/2):

Bo Diddley: I’m a Man — The Chess Masters, 1955-1958

When a musician has a beat named after them, there’s no doubt that they have their own signature — a calling card that is recognized as their own even when others play it. It’s rare that a musician gets credited with something so unique but such an honor can also be a mild curse, as it implies that’s all there is to their music. Bo Diddley, the man who patented a propulsive variation of the shave-and-a-haircut beat so instantly identifiable as one of the main strands of rock & roll’s DNA, suffers a bit from that curse. Not that anybody denies that Bo is one of the architects of rock & roll, but the omnipresence of the Bo Diddley beat can lead some listeners to dismiss him as a one-trick pony. Also, the sheer primal urgency of his rhythms and his no-nonsense persona could be overshadowed by the flamboyance of Little Richard or Jerry Lee Lewis, or the quickfire verbal skills of Chuck Berry. Diddley has had moments of resurgent popularity, his songs have been covered by generations of rockers, bands play his music without realizing their debt, but he’s never quite had his work undergo a critical reappraisal, one that would let more than the diehards know how rich and varied his work is. With any luck, Hip-O Select’s new double-disc set I’m a Man: The Chess Masters, 1955-1958 will help usher in that long overdue reappraisal.


I’m a Man chronicles the first four years of Bo’s career, when he was cutting singles instead of albums, just like almost all other rockers in the late ’50s. Such emphasis on singles gave sessions a purpose: there was no room for filler, nothing recorded with the intent of padding out an album, so they were often concentrated and intense, as Bo’s were. This covers sessions recorded between March 2, 1955 and December 1958, proceeding in chronological order so the alternate takes pile up quickly and there are a lot them — roughly 12, some of them unreleased, some of them previously appearing on various compilations over the years, including the excellent Rare & Well Done. Sometimes, alternate takes differ only minimally from the master, but that’s not the case with Diddley’s early Checker/Chess recordings. Here, there are some startling differences, notable almost immediately with the two previously unreleased alternates of his calling card “Bo Diddley.” Both are almost brutal in their rhythms, which is where the real difference on these takes lie: over the course of three takes, it’s possible to hear the Bo Diddley develop, as the rhythm becomes lighter and danceable, more rock & roll and less blues. The rest of that first session is hard blues, highlighted by “I’m a Man,” which turned into nearly as big an anthem as “Bo Diddley.”

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic website (Part 2/2):

Bo never backed away from the blues after that session — his rock & roll always had an earthy, gritty grounding in the blues — but in the wake of the success of “Bo Diddley,” he started opening up his music almost immediately, with his second session producing the A-side “Diddley Daddy,” a much lighter rock & roll tune where the presence of Little Walter on harp is mediated by the Moonglows’ cheerful harmonies, a bit of a surprise considering the down-n-dirty precedent of “Bo Diddley,” “I’m a Man,” “Little Girl,” and “You Don’t Love Me (You Don’t Care).” As the next few years rolled on, Bo was often full of surprises like that, turning out some of the hardest, toughest early rock & roll singles, but he also could be light on his feet, boisterously, bawdily funny and sometimes just flat-out strange, as on the murky, ominous “The Great Grandfather” and the sawing violin of “The Clock Strikes Twelve.” Much of this is evident on the best Bo hits comps, but it comes into sharper relief on I’m a Man because of the context. Hearing Diddley’s music develop — and rather rapidly, for that matter — illustrates his depth and range and provides no small share of revelations, either. Chief among these, of course, is the first release of Diddley’s original version of “Love Is Strange,” a hit for Mickey & Sylvia that bears the writing credit of Ethel Smith, who was Diddley’s second wife. Bo’s version isn’t a duet and it’s heavier on the rhythm than Mickey & Sylvia’s, plus it lacks Mickey Baker’s guitar riff that ushers out the chorus — all essential differences that illustrate how Diddley’s music had an essential, earthy core. He may have been grounded in this blues and rhythm — and more than any of his peers, he placed equal emphasis on both — but he expanded it to encompass dusty, atmospheric, almost cinematic instrumentals like “Spanish Guitar,” rock & roll love songs like “Dearest Darling,” or the sweeter-still, previously unreleased “Our Love Will Never Go” whose dreaminess was echoed in “Crackin’ Up,” only there he flips the sentiment around and blames the girl for a relationship going south, proving that you can’t take the swagger away from Bo — after all, during these four years he had no less than sixsongs with his name in the title! Of course, much of this was delivered with his tongue firmly in cheek, and this was hardly the only instance of his wicked sense of humor: whenever he and Jerome Green, his main man on maracas, trash talked, the results were riotous, whether it was on the very funny “Cops and Robbers” or the immortal “Say Man,” also heard here in a very different alternate take with a few different jibes.

Here, Bo’s humor and easy experimenting stand out because of the session-by-session context, but they also serve a dual purpose of emphasizing just how hard his core classics rock. In this setting, “Bring It to Jerome,” “I’m Bad,” “Who Do You Love,” “Hey! Bo Diddley,” “Mona,” “Before You Accuse Me,” and “Diddy Wah Diddy” pack an enormous wallop, sounding bigger and badder than they do on most regular Diddley comps. That restored vitality is nearly as instructive as clear evident progression of Bo’s music over these four years, which is why it’s a necessary historical document, but to belabor that point is to make I’m a Man seem academic, which it decidedly is not. It’s Bo Diddley music, after all, so it’s a party that never ends. Let’s just hope the party continues on further volumes that extend into the ’60s.

[For Further exploration: check out the U.K. reissue The Story of Bo Diddley, a double-disc set that digs into Bo’s ’60s recordings not heard here and offers a better introduction than the Chess Box to the wild, weird, wonderful world of Bo.]

Amazon.com Customer Review (Part 1/2):

Bo: The Motherlode, November 27, 2007
By J P Ryan (Waltham, Massachusetts United States)

As a fan I can only say what a delight it is to find oneself in the middle of disc one of "I'm A Man: The Chess Masters 1955 - 1958", witnessing previously unheard primal ooze from the very creation of rock 'n' roll, happy as a baby that, thanks to context and previously unheard and historically crucial material - including two alternate versions of 'Bo Diddley ' itself, each surprisingly different from the other AND from the final master we all know and love - it all absolutely sounds so new again, so urgent, and so pleasureable, not the least bit academic or 'interesting' in the way you might expect when you notice a boxed set by a major artist includes several previously ureleased alternate takes.

"Hmmm...morally speaking, should I play ALL the false starts of (Charlie Parker's) 'Mr Lee' again, or just program the masters?"

The sense of revelation occurs, for me, during track four, the second alternate version of 'Bo Diddley', as Bo lets out a roar - an invocation - whose power and menace clearly is such that it will not survive to the master take, already one of the seminal debut 45s from the rock 'n' roll era. The band, and Bo espececially, dig into the grooves and soar....

The story of Bo Diddley is, I presume, familiar to most of you reading this...Born December 30, 1928 in McComb, Mississippi, part of the great black American migration north, but ahead of the curve, when he was only 7 or 8, which makes the depth of 'southernness' in his music all the more remarkable; learned to play violin, which influenced his approach to the guitar ("The rhythm guitar sound that I started I call the muted sound. I learned that from playing classical violin...Now they call it funk." Quoted from "The Chess Box", 1991)...Learned to build his own guitars at Foster Vocational Scool. Early groups, from the mid-'40s, include the Hipsters, and the Langley Avenue Jive Cats.. By 1950 or so Bo's Jive Cats includes Jerome Green (world's all time number one maracas player), Billy Boy Arnold on harmonica, and drummer Clifton James - who all contribute mightily to the music on this set. They must have been confident when Bo approached the Vee-Jay label late in 1954 with a demo tape; rejected by Edward Abner, by early 1955 Bo found his home at Chess, who issued his music over the next 20 years...

Even recalling the cultural explosion that was rock 'n' roll, as Elvis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Jerry Lee Lewis seemed to burst out of nowhere, Bo Diddley - who did not inspire a movie celebrating his music on his 60th, 70th, or 75th birthdays - stood out as THE major sonic innovator from rock 'n' roll's first generation. Rather than milking the shave-and-a-haircut rhythm of his debut, Diddley evolved a fresh and sophisticated approach, one that kept his music compelling over the course of scores of singles and 13 or 14 Checker albums issued through the mid-60s....

Amazon.com Customer Review (Part 2/2):

Bo: The Motherlode, November 27, 2007
By J P Ryan (Waltham, Massachusetts United States)

The sound of these early records is big, raw, and sometimes unbelievably grungey - hoodoo with a big beat. His most original music manages to sound like nobody else, with its emphasis on rhythm and ambience prove that he helped shape what was later called funk - a full decade before James Brown broke through with 'Out Of Sight' and 'Papa's Got A Brand New Bag'.

Rooted in the blues (he cites John Lee Hooker as a major influence), Bo was 18 and 13 years younger than Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, respectively. Stylistically his roots are just as primal, but from the start he was always more interested in experimenting. Like Chuck Berry (two years his senior), Bo was no blues purist, and if he lacks Berry's sly verbal sophistication the intensity and originality of his work reminds us just how unique it seems even today, and can be found in the music of of Captain Beefheart ('Diddy Wah Diddy', covered in '66) and The Stooges ('Little Doll' is pure Diddley). And what other rockers white or black regularly employed women musicians, long before Maureeen Tucker (major influence: Bo Diddley) became drummer for the Velvet Underground?

"I'm A Man" offers a generous eight tracks - four alternates - from Bo Diddley's very first session for Chess, on March 2, 1955, and this session is alone worth the proce of admission, for the years playing Chicago clubs allowed his great band to forge a style uniquely their own from the start of Bo's recording career. Diddley has stated that he wanted to make "jungle music" and these records, cut over 50 years ago live up to that rich, almost cinematic phrase, which was famously used (its racism thinly disguised) to attack rock 'n' roll as it was taking off. This set offers for the first time since 1990's "Chess Box", a serious attempt at an in-depth examination of Bo Diddley's body of work, in the form of a remarkable chronological document of his first three years in the studio, beginning with that epochal first session on March 2, 1955 through January 29, 1958. It confirms that the classic double-sided debut single captures Bo Diddley white hot, with a fully devoped and integrated style and persona. The sonic picture jumps out on the very first track, an alternate, as you find yourself moving to the sizzle of the maracas and the shimmer of Bo's guitar, and they are always out front, for as Robert Palmer so neatly pointed out, Bo Diddley utterly "reorganized the rhythm section" (the "Chess Box" is well worth checking out, despite its 'early digital' sound, for the inclusion of "Deep Blues" author Palmer's brilliant essay) as profoundly as did James Brown a decade later. These sides also feature virtuoso Little Walter-infuenced harp from Billy Boy Arnold (and sometimes Little Walter himself); Clifton James' creative drumming, which on so many of these recordings emphasizes tom-toms and snare, rarely the ride cymbal or bass drum; and sometimes Chess-stalwart Willie Dixon's swinging bass. And we notice the way the mixes highlight that sizzle, utterly drenching some songs in reverb, especially during the fadeouts - and these may by the most creative fadeouts in rock 'n' roll...Other rarities include Bo's original 'Love Is Strange', which Mickey & Sylvia made into a smash shortly after this version was recorded. And check out the claves on 'She's Fine, She's Mine', a B-side rarely reissued on compilations...

This album is more fun than "The Sun Sessions" and just as important. Bo Diddley's influence on subsequent rock 'n' roll - just ask the Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, Pretty Things, or over in the States Buddy Holly, Billy Stewart (Bo's protege), Captain Beefheart, Creedence, Quicksilver, or the Doors. Still later The New York Dolls recorded a lone cover on their 1973 classic debut: Bo's "Pills". This profound impact on rock 'n' roll makes the fact that virtually none of his studio albums ("Gunslinger, from 1960, was remastered for CD in 2004) has been reissued for CD in the US perverse. One can only hope "I'm A Man" is just the first blazing installment in a series that will cover Bo's career at Chess, and I suggest writing encouraging words to Hip-O and buying extra copies of this limited edition as xmas presents.

Bo Diddley made an awful lot of great, original music well into the '60s, after all, and even issued a solid studio album as recently as 1996's "A Man Amongst Men". For now, this set from Hip-O is the motherlode I've hoped for, and a concept that this artist deserves. From that glorious title track (appropriated by Muddy Waters for 'Mannnish Boy') to the stinging blues 'I'm Bad' to the four-minute-plus guitar workout that must have made a young Jimi Hendrix smile, 'Spanish Guitar', here's Jungle Music for the ages.

Amazon.com Customer Review:

Bo's Incredible 50"s Rock, November 27, 2007
By William Lynd "lynd8" (Poestenkill, NY United States)

This truly is an amazing set of music. I've been a fan of Bo's for a few years now and was a little frustrated about the sound quality on some of the earlier compilations and lack of completness. This set obviously takes care of Bo's first 4 years - definitively! Kudos to Hip-O-Select for doing such a nice job. Nice little booklet with all recording dates and musician info too.

If I could have changed anything, I probably would have just changed the order a bit - I like the chronological approach, but sometimes hearing the same song twice in a row is a little annoying. Maybe disc one could have been the masters and disc two could have been the alternates, but whatever! - I am truly glad to have purchased this set.

I really would like to have another volume or two - 1959-1963 would be awesome as there are some really hard to find(and great!)tracks that have not been easily available in the U.S. for quite a while, and the sound on the imports sometimes leaves something to be desired.

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Honest Jon's Record Shop, London, England:

Bo Diddley
I'm A Man: The Chess Masters 1955 to 1958

'What you say, man? Quit mumblin, and talk out loud.'

Bo Diddley wrote The Bible.

Dan Nishimoto, Prefix Magazine, Brooklyn, NY:

Bo Diddley
I'm a Man: The Chess Masters, 1955-1958

Release Date: October 23, 2007
Label: Hip-O Select

There's a good reason you still won't hear Bo Diddley rockin' on your (satellite) radio. The man behind the eponymous hit from 1955 is one of those rare artistic concessions -- not to the mainstream, but the other way around. The placement of his debut single in rock 'n' roll history was a rare instance of democratic capitalism in the music industry: when creativity met a critical mass of public opinion, or when the consumers actually got what they wanted. The subsequent success of "Bo Diddley" (eighteen weeks on the R&B charts) was an exception made by a slow-to-change culture that also made a mental note, "That's the last time we let this ****er in." And understandably so: More than fifty years later, Bo Diddley's beat is still as vicious as ever.

I'm a Man: The Chess Masters, 1955-1958 is a welcome reminder that covers Diddley's formative years at Chess Records. Many of his signature hits -- including "Bo Diddley," "Diddy Wah Diddy," the pre-Mickey & Sylvia version of "Love Is Strange," and "Who Do You Love" -- were recorded in this fertile period and are included here. Heard together in this manner, the apparent primal simplicity surrounding the "Diddley beat" is fleshed out as deliberately carnal, like the pulsing throb of an adolescent heartbeat, and a landmark in rhythm ’n’ blues and rock 'n' roll.

Granted, as an early inductee to the Rock 'n’ Roll Hall of Fame and a bona fide icon among current young adults through his popular Nike campaign in the '80s, Diddley has already been well documented. Chess Box (1990) offered a thorough overview of his nearly career-long relationship with the label. However, I'm a Man brings greater depth to the conversation with an abundance of alternate takes that illustrate Diddley's rapid development. For example, three versions of "Bo Diddley" feature subtly different arrangements and key signatures, but reveal an adventurous and prescient use of the studio. Should Hip-O continue to explore Diddley's career in such detail and depth, then I'm a Man could become an essential serial in any popular-music fan's collection.

Jim McGuinness, GoTricities.com - The Best of Tennessee & Virginia:

Bo Diddley “I’m a Man: The Chess Masters, 1955-58” (Hip-O-Select)

For sheer musical impact, few forces in the history of rock ‘n’ roll have been as lethal as the Bo Diddley beat.

This limited edition two-CD set examines the first four years of Diddley’s recording career. Among the 48 tracks are a dozen alternate takes that differ greatly from the released version, thus showing that the Diddley sound was more than the “bomp, ba-bomp-bomp, bomp-bomp” that became his signature. Among the highlights is Diddley’s original version of “Love is Strange,” a hit for Mickey & Sylvia in 1957 but unreleased by Diddley until now.

The set is available by mail-order only at hip-o-select.com


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Arsenio Orteza, WORLD Magazine, Asheville, NC:

I’m a Man: The Chess Masters 1955-1958 | Bo Diddley

Style: Two discs' worth of seminal hits, misses, and alternate takes by the fourth occupant (along with Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Ray Charles) of the black rock 'n' roll Mount Rushmore.

Worldview: That with a famous beat, a careening rectangular guitar, and a goofy sense of humor, one man can move the world.

Overall quality: Some redundancy (eight songs twice, one song thrice); 29 songs once; lots of fun.

In 2002, launching "Little Steven's Underground Garage", his popular weekly syndicated radio show celebrating garage rock music, the musician, actor and radio disc jockey Steven Van Zandt (aka Little Steven) described BO DIDDLEY as "the spiritual godfather of garage".

This Christmas (2007), Little Steven has included BO DIDDLEY's "I'm A Man/The Chess Masters 1955-1958" compilation (Hip-o Select 2-CD + download) on his "Underground Garage Christmas List" of the coolest rock & roll gifts this holiday season.

Little Steven's Underground Garage Christmas List: http://www.littlestevensundergroundgarage.com/xmaslist.html

David (Webmaster)

redtunictroll:

Bedrock 'n' roll

Artist: Bo Diddley

Album: I'm A Man: The Chess Masters 1955-1958

Hip-O re-chisels some stone rock 'n' roll tablets with Bo Diddley's first 36 masters for Chess, augmented with 12 alternate takes. Like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Elvis and the Everly Brothers' early works, you can hear Diddley transforming his roots into the newly christened rock 'n' roll. In Diddley's case both the rhythm and blues stay close at hand, and his inventions can be heard throughout the next 50 years of rock music. Listening through the masters in chronological order, interspersed with alternate takes, gives a sense of Diddley's evolution. In particular, the refinements from early to master takes, particularly in the vocal approach, shows Diddley to be surprisingly experimental in the studio. It's rare when you can point to something as a pillar of invention, but Diddley's music – his beat, his audacious rhythm guitar playing and his vocals are just that, a foundation of rock 'n' roll. [©2007 redtunictroll at hotmail dot com]

Robert Fontenot, About.com Oldies website:

Top Ten Oldies Reissues: 2007

The best new oldies music compilations and box sets of 2007.

Some think that oldies music reissues are doomed to be dead history, endlessly repackaging and thus repeating things we've heard already. Believe it or not, however, several pieces of rock cornerstones -- essential, in many cases -- remain in the vaults even decades on, and in any case, endless advances in remastering technology make even the most cherished musical memories seem as fresh as tomorrow.

2007 saw several dozen great re-releases and new compilations of oldies music; this list attempts only to honor the most daring and vital.

1. Bo Diddley, "I'm a Man: The Chess Masters, 1955-1958"

Bo Diddley purists will be glad to be able to trade in several of their old compilations at once, historians will rejoice at hearing the birth of "The Originator," and newbies can cheaply and easily get into the back catalog of one of rock's most unique characters. Also essential for Chicago blues fiends.

Michael Andrews, Charleston City Paper, Charleston, SC:

Top Albums of 2007

Bo Diddley
I'm A Man: The Chess Masters 1955 – 1958
(Hip-O Select)

Lord have mercy, Bo Diddley may not get around as well as he used to, but the self-proclaimed "Originator" is still rockin' the joint like a pier six brawl! This double-disc collection compiled much of Diddley's better-known Chess output, as well as lesser-known slices of sheer distorted genius. What do Rudy Ray Moore's party records, Captain Beefheart's gravel growl, and Tom Waits' worldly take on blues and R&B have in common? Shoot fire, man, you know it's Bo! —Michael Andrews

Dick Young of Young Research and Publishing, Key West, FL. Website: http://www.youngresearch.com/

Dick Young's Essential Music Recordings

DICK YOUNG'S COMPILATION/REISSUE OF THE YEAR

BO DIDDLEY
"I'M A MAN/THE CHESS MASTERS, 1955-1958"
Audio CD (August 31st 2007)
Original Release Date: August 31, 2007
CD Edition limited to 5000 non-numbered limited edition copies.

A “complete” 48 track set collection of the Rock ’N’ Roll Hall Of Famer’s first historic four years of recording, 1955 to 1958.

Bruce Sylvester, Blues Lounge, Goldmine magazine:

Continuing with reissues, Bo Diddley’s two-CD I’m A Man: The Chess Masters, 1955-1958 (Hip-O Select/Universal) shows the Mississippi-born singer/guitarist as a link in the chain of Africa’s griots, southern bluesmen with a hambone beat and today’s hip-hop rhymers.

Comic “Say Man” hearkens back to street-corner jivers doing “the dozens.” From his debut session, “Bo Diddley” and a pre-Muddy Waters “I’m A Man” burst with bragging self-assertion. The strong notes call “Who Do You Love” “a magnum opus of phantasmagoric dread.”

The 48 tracks here cover his entire 1955-58 catalog with 12 alternate takes. Among eight previously unissued songs, a forgettable “Love Is Strange” brings home how much Mickey & Sylvia later developed the number.

Chicago blues stalwarts Willie Dixon (bass), Otis Spann (piano) and Little Walter and Billy Boy Arnold (harmonica) help on this anthology of songs that Buddy Holly, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and George Thorogood would cover.

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Bill Dahl, Goldmine magazine. Date: February 15, 2008:

The monumental influence of Bo Diddley on the development of rock and roll guitar has never been more extensively chronicled than on Hip-O Select's essential I'm a Man: The Chess Masters, 1955-1958.

This two-CD blockbuster contains all 48 masters the shave-and-a-haircut rhythm wizard waxed for Checker during his most seminal period.

Along with all the classic rockers we already love, there are two unissued alternate takes of "Bo Diddley" from his first date (one as hot as the hit), an alternate "Say Man," an early "Run Bo Diddley," and perhaps most intriguingly, Bo's original "Love Is Strange," complete with lyrics. (www.hip-oselect.com)


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Andy Rock, Andy's Music Blog: http://andyrockmusicblog.blogspot.com/ :

Thursday, September 13, 2007

The Man

Universal's Hip-O Select label just issued a new Bo Diddley compilation, "I'm A Man: The Chess Masters, 1955-1958." It is a stellar two disc compilation highlighting three of Bo's most innovative and fruitful years with Chess. All the inventive sides are there: “I’m A Man,” “Bo Diddley,” “Who Do You Love,” “Pretty Thing,” “Diddley Daddy” plus alternate takes and other gems from that period.

After revisiting all of those fantastic tunes and soaking in the greatness from such a tremendous artist, one track really hit a chord with me, "Mona." It has it all: great rhythm, a magnetic groove, Bo's trademark riffing, distorted guitars and impassioned vocals. All cover versions, whether close replicas like The Rolling Stones’ version or extended jams like what Quicksilver Messenger Service created, do not hold a candle to the original. Just imagine going back in time to 1957 and hearing such a progressive sound during the infancy stages of the Rock N’ Roll genre. Amazing stuff….

Bo Diddley's sound inspired countless pioneering Rock artists such as The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Doors, Buddy Holly and The Animals, to name a few. Look no further than “Mona” if you are interested in hearing one of the highly creative and driving forces in Rock N’ Roll, Bo Diddley.

Charles Waring, Record Collector magazine, London, England:

Bo Diddley - I’m A Man: The Chess Masters 1955-1958

Seminal early recordings from one of rock’s architects.

In May 1955, an unknown Mississippi-born blues singer stormed up the US R&B charts with a song called Bo Diddley, a mesmeric combination of chanted vocals, choppy tremolo guitar and pounding tom-tom drums. Raw, primal, and boasting a refrain as addictive as heroin, it was unlike anything that had been heard before. Record buyers may have been a tad perplexed by the fact that the artist’s name was also Bo Diddley, but that didn’t stop them buying enough copies to send it rocketing to No 1. It wasn’t until the early 60s, though, that the song made a profound impact in the UK, influencing nascent blues-based beat groups like The Rolling Stones and The Animals. Though time and familiarity may have diluted the potency of Diddley’s early sides for Chess’s Checker subsidiary, the 48 tracks on this new 2-CD compilation possess an eccentricity combined with visceral earthiness that still fascinates. Every track that Diddley cut in an extremely fertile period spanning 1955-58 is here in chronological order. Though this might please pedantic aficionados, the chronological approach is flawed, resulting in three different versions of the singer’s debut hit appearing in the first five tracks. Overall, though, this is a fine retrospective enhanced by exemplary annotation.

Hip-O Select | 80009231-02

Amazon.com Customer Review by J P Ryan (Waltham, Massachusetts, United States):

Bo Diddley at 80: How about "Sir Bo Diddley"?

I've reviewed a couple Bo Cds, and with Hip-O's Chess box set programs the man finally gets the first step towards an up to date (in terms of sonics/remastering) and comprehensive reissue program. But despite the fact his influence - on the Stones, Yardbirds, Faces, Clash, Buddy Holly, New York Dolls, Iggy/Stooges, and even Muddy Waters himself ('I'm a Man' preceded 'Mannish Boy') on several generations of hall of fame rock 'n' rollers is undeniable and deep, if this first "1955-58" box doesn't sell enough, project producer Andy McKaie says there will be no followups. And none of the man's 15 or so great Checker albums covering the 1955 - 66 period has been remastered for CD with the singlular exception of "Gunslinger" (1960).

My own appreciation of Bo was deepened considerably after reading the late Robert Palmer's fantastic essay included in 1989's 2-CD "Chess Box". Yet even Chuck Berry had his legacy enhanced by Keith Richards and director Taylor Hackford's 60th birthday tribute film/concert/album "Hail HailRock 'n' Roll" while Bo passed his own 60th, 70th and 75th birthdays with little public notice, despite a pretty decent late (1996) period album, "A Man Amongst Men" and increasing health problems. This year marks his 80th birthday come December. Sinatra was feted at 70 and 80, Elvis is enshrined, Muddy's catalog has been given many excellent reissues of original albums/boxes/comps for every level of fan.

Let's write Geffen/Universal/Hip-O and insure Sir Bo is given the attention and respect his great body of work deserves - for the sheer pleasure he has given me and millions of other listeners worldwide, before it's too late for this giant to appreciate.

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NB. If fans wish to e-mail the folks at Hip-o Select with their suggestions for further BO DIDDLEY reissues and compilations etc, the address to write to is: hipocrates@hip-oselect.com

David (Webmaster).

Ron Wynn, Nashville City Paper, Nashville, TN:

Last week’s column included a wish that Bo Diddley would get the same type of deluxe treatment as Chuck Berry in the fine new boxed set devoted to Berry’s ‘50s recordings. Subsequently some readers informed me via e-mail that there had already been a Diddley project released, and the good folks at the label were even nice enough to send me a copy.

Bo Diddley: I’m A Man – The Chess Masters 1955-1958 (Hip-O-Select) contains the slashing, joyful and driving classics Diddley created during that period for Chess, such staples as “Bo Diddley,” “I’m A Man,” “Who Do You Love” and “Hey! Bo Diddley.” Diddley’s relentless, slithering guitar licks and exuberant vocals were punctuated by excellent bass work from Willie Dixon and piercing drumming and percussive support from Clifton James and Jerome Green, plus ample amounts of rippling piano from Otis Spann.

Diddley could also stretch things idiomatically, venturing at times in doo-wop, novelty pop and more conventional blues. There are alternate takes and first versions alongside the masters, and Chris Morris’ liners nail the mix of aggression and humor that characterized Diddley’s best numbers. Session compiler Andy McKaie also informs me that there’s more Diddley and Berry coming down the pike, which qualifies as truly great news.

Joseph Tortelli, Goldmine magazine. Date: February 15, 2008:

Bo Diddley
I’m A Man: The Chess Masters, 1955-1958
Hip-O Select (B0009231-02)
Grade: *****

Long before “self-branding” became a business school buzzword, Ellas McDaniel developed the ultimate personal brand: Bo Diddley. Bo Diddley is his professional name, “Bo Diddley” is the title of his first record, and the “Bo Diddley beat” is the popular term for the rhythmic juggernaut energizing his music. Reinforcing the brand, he recorded “Diddley Daddy,” “Run Diddley Daddy,” “Hey! Bo Diddley” and even “Bo Meets The Monster,” a 1958 novelty single.

All are included in I’m A Man: The Chess Masters, 1955-1958, a limited-edition two-CD set encompassing 48 tracks from his earliest years recording for Chess Records’ Checker imprint. Twenty-six songs were issued during the late 1950s on such groundbreaking singles as “Mona,” “Diddy Wah Diddy,” “Who Do You Love” and “Before You Accuse Me,” an uptempo blues popularized by Creedence Clearwater Revival on Cosmo’s Factory in 1970. Lacking the commercial crossover success of many contemporaries, Diddley scored only one Top 40 pop hit, the jiving “Say Man,” which spotlights the guitarist trading streetwise insults with percussionist Jerome Green.

Along with a half-dozen LP cuts, the collection has eight alternate takes first issued on CDs and box sets and, most significantly, eight previously unreleased tracks. Two takes of “Bo Diddley” are unveiled beside the original R&B chart-topper; the three versions come from a two-day session in March 1955 that produced “I’m A Man”/”Bo Diddley,” the most influential double-sided single in rock ‘n’ roll history.

The ballad “Our Love Will Never Go” reveals a gentler vocal and songwriting style. A 1956 demo of “Love Is Strange” finds Diddley debuting a tune whose songwriting is attributed to his wife Ethel Smith. Whether he had a hand in the composition remains a matter of speculation, but the song was polished by Mickey and Sylvia, who pinned a catchy guitar riff to their familiar 1957 duet.

An important addition to 1950s music, I’m A Man: The Chess Masters lays out Diddley’s initial recordings chronologically and supplies detailed session credits. More than a half-century later, Bo Diddley describes a rock ’n’ roll founder and his potent, durable, innovative brand of music. www.hip-oselect.com

— Joseph Tortelli

Rich Kienzle, No Depression magazine:

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BO DIDDLEY
I'm A Man: The Chess Masters 1955-1958
(Hip-O Select)


(NODEPRESSION.NET) -- If Chuck Berry molded his music from his love of jazz, country, pop and blues, Bo Diddley, who moved from McComb, Mississippi, to Chicago in 1934, retained a gutbucket earthiness blending overtones of the rawest Delta blues with sounds of the primitive Chicago street bands he played with as a kid. Half a century after his debut single, "I'm A Man"/"Bo Diddley", and decades after Buddy Holly, the Rolling Stones, George Thorogood and others built on his foundations, it's worth examining Bo's first four years in greater depth.

This limited-edition two-CD package assembles 48 tracks, encompassing released and unreleased masters, twelve alternate takes, and eight unissued masters, one an edgy rendition of Mickey & Sylvia's 1958 hit "Love Is Strange".

Bo's primal nature embraced the conventional blues structure of "I'm A Man" and drove his trademark sound, manifested on "Bo Diddley"; the song's "hambone" rhythm and raw, tremolo-drenched guitar defined him. Such raw, relentlessness begat "Mona", "Bring It To Jerome", "Say Man", "Diddy Wah Diddy", the tongue-in-cheek voodoo of "Who Do You Love" and the fiery "Down Home Special".

The alternate takes, combined with dramatically improved remastering, allow the listener to hear the creative process unfold as Bo and the band work out ideas. It's easy to hear how editing created certain released masters, thanks to the inclusion of both edited and unedited masters, along with Chris Morris's concise notes and George White's discographical data.

Last November, McComb honored Bo (a.k.a. Ellas McDaniel) with a plaque on the Mississippi Blues Trail, noting his influence and citing him as, to use a hackneyed but correct cliche, "a founder of rock and roll." Still recovering from the crippling stroke suffered in May, he attended the ceremony and sang a bit. That indefatigable spirit comes through on this extraordinary collection, which easily merits a sequel.

-- RICH KIENZLE

Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Rich Kienzle