Bo Diddley, R.I.P.

If you got lucky, you could get an intermittent patch of good reception from late night Oklahoma City radio and hear snatches of the likes of Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Fats Domino. This was on the Iowa farm, circa 1955, with ear pressed to the speaker grille on the living room console radio, after everyone else was in bed. Best of all, there was Bo Diddley. It was almost impossible to sleep after hearing him. Nearby Omaha radio didn't even begin to catch up until later on, and even then it was mostly (ho-hum) Elvis. Yesterday, Bo Diddley passed on, and all I want to do today is revisit as much of his music as I can. Here is something, fairly early, but well after 1955, probably mid-60s. I am going to keep looking ...

I didn't know for several years that Bo Diddley wore glasses; for quite a while Buddy Holly was my only spectacles-wearing musical hero (remember, that back in the 50s, wearing glasses carried some negative social weight for a kid like me).