A pivotal year in the life of the maverick blues man
After a string of US R&B hits for Chess' Checker imprint that had begun in 1955, in 1960 Bo Diddley upped sticks and moved from Chicago to Washington DC, where he set up his own studio in the basement of his house. The informative sleevenotes to this set, written by Diddley's biographer George R White, reveal that there were so many comings and goings from the house that the police thought Diddley was running a brothel.
Frustrated by record company interference, what Diddley really yearned for was creative autonomy and, in this respect, setting up his own studio established a new, almost revolutionary precedent for African-American artists. Once ensconced, Diddley got down to the business of recording with a vengeance, churning out a slew of tracks dominated by his jangling guitar and shouted vocals.
This 2-CD set - the third instalment so far chronicling Diddley's Chess output - features previously unheard demos and alternate takes, as well as official singles and album cuts. Some of the demos, such as the wonderfully low-fi Aloha and Funny Talk, are wild and raw, but capture the visceral energy and hypnotic appeal of Diddley's idiosyncratic guitar-led grooves.
Ride on, Josephine, ride on....Man, it's hard to accept that Bo's gone, but his music lives on forever.
You mention some raw & unpolished materia as well as polished materia. I recall on one album, "Gunslinger" I think. While in midst song, Bo gets a 'frog' in his throat...and never misses a beat.
Boy, I should use spell check...
Raw & unpolished songs & polished songs.
I recall on one album, "Gunslinger" I think, Bo gets a frog in his throat mid song....and never misses a beat.
