Line #8 Music/BoDiddley


1	[[quoteright:339:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bo_diddley_922.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:339:Bo Diddley with his iconic homemade guitar.]]
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4	->''"I opened the door for a lot of people, and they just ran through and left me holding the knob."''
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6	Ellas Otha Bates [=McDaniel=] (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), better known as [[StageNames Bo Diddley]], was an African-American {{Blues}}, RAndB and RockAndRoll singer and musician who was mainly prominent in the [[TheFifties 1950s]] and early [[TheSixties '60s]]. He was known as "the Originator" for being one of the first artists to start playing rock and roll. Music/TheBeatles and Music/TheRollingStones cited him as a favorite, and Music/JimiHendrix and Music/EricClapton were directly inspired by him.
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8	Perhaps his most famous and lasting contribution was the "BoDiddleyBeat" that's still used by rock artists the world over. He was also well known for designing his own, custom-built electric guitars, most famously his distinctive rectangular Gretsch "Twang Machine" with its instantly recognizable, almost ukelele-like tone color. ''Magazine/RollingStone'' ranks him twenty-seventh on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
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10	Born in Mississippi and raised in Chicago, Diddley also lived for some time in Valencia County, New Mexico (where he served as deputy sheriff for a couple years in the [[TheSeventies '70s]]), and spent his last years in Gainesville, Florida, where a park/community plaza is named after him. [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/14/occupy-gainsville-bo-diddley-son-arrested His son was arrested while protesting there in 2011.]]
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13	!!Tropes having to do with Bo Diddley:
14	* AnswerSong:
15	** "Bo Meets the Monster" is one of these to Sheb Wooley's "The Purple People Eater".
16	** And in the other direction, Music/MuddyWaters' "Mannish Boy" is a response to Diddley's "I'm a Man".
17	* BadassBoast: "I'm a Man" and "Who Do You Love?"
18	* BizarreInstrument / IconicItem: Mild example of the former in his signature box-shaped guitar.
19	* BoDiddleyBeat: The TropeMaker and TropeNamer.
20	* NerdGlasses: He wore these and managed to make them cool, similarly to Music/BuddyHolly and later Music/ElvisCostello.
21	* PunBasedTitle: His 1960 album ''Have Guitar Will Travel'' is a pun on the {{Western}} TV show ''Series/HaveGunWillTravel''.
22	* SelfTitledAlbum: His 1958 debut album ''Bo Diddley'', which naturally enough leads off with his hit Self-Titled Song "[[TitleTrack Bo Diddley]]".
23	* SingerNamedrop: A master of this trope, since his BreakthroughHit was called "Bo Diddley" and he mentioned himself in countless other titles and lyrics (one writer joked that he probably even wrote a song called "Bo Diddley is God").
24	* SpellingSong: "I'm a Man" and "Cadillac".
25	* VolleyingInsults: "Say Man"
26	* WhosOnFirst: One of his most well-known songs is named after him, which can lead to much confusion. It even confused Bo Diddley himself: when he appeared on ''Series/TheEdSullivanShow'' in 1955, he was supposed to perform "Sixteen Tons", but he performed "Bo Diddley" instead due to seeing a cue card with his name on it and thinking he was to perform both songs. Sullivan grew furious from the perceived double-crossing and banned him from future appearances on his show.
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Context Music / BoDiddley