Bo Diddley in the Southern Quote

He was born Otha Ellas Bates in December 30th, 1928 in Pike County, MS. You might know him as Bo Diddley. Diddley is a southern expression for “nothing much at all.” One story has it that the nickname was first given to him by his fellow elementary school students. Bo might not have had a lot but by the age of ten he was displaying a talent for music that money can’t buy.

As a child he took the violin lessons he got at school and taught himself how to play the guitar. While he did play the violin in the Ebenezer Baptist Church Orchestra, he took the guitar and made money playing music for passers-by on the street.

After high school Bo briefly worked in construction and tried the hardscrabble world of amateur boxing before deciding to form a music group. He was twenty-six. It was 1954 and a star was being born. By the mid 1960’s Bo Diddley had taken his unique style and signature beat and become an influential American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. The Bo Diddley beat is all about rhythm. His songs often have no chord changes. His lyrics are generally witty. It was Bo who first penned the line, “You look like you been in a hatchet fight and everybody had one but you.”

Today Bo Diddley lives in Archer, Florida. He continues to travel and perform. Although Bo Diddley has enjoyed world-wide popularity for close to five decades and enjoyed numerous awards, among them a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, he always felt like he was taken advantage of in the early years and never properly compensated for his songwriting and recording talents. That theme can be heard in today’s southern quote. Bo Diddley has often said,

“I opened the door for a lot of people, and they just ran through and left me holding the knob.” — Bo Diddley