I was in my teens when I first heard George Thorogood‘s version of Bo Diddley‘s “Who Do You Love” with the line “Snake skin shoes baby put them on your feet/Got the good-time music and the Bo Diddley beat.” That was perhaps my first inkling that Bo Diddley was a real person.
When I first heard of Diddley I was five years old. And as far as I knew, he was just another cartoon character referenced along with Snoopy, Alley Oop, and the Jolly Green Giant in the novelty album Snoopy vs. The Red Baron by The Royal Guardsmen. The album had a cover version of the song “Bo Diddley,” and heavy rotation in my home.
Sadly, Bo Diddly is gone now. Also sadly, he is forever linked in my mind with a throwaway band from the 1960’s–likely one of many who never paid Diddley any royalties
Life is not fair.
4 comments
Anonymous
June 4, 2008 at 1:12 amNice peiece yourself… I remember that Snoopy stuff.
It’d be good to get together and play.
Ted
June 4, 2008 at 6:01 amLP Cards Fan: In spite of how dismissive I was about The Royal Guardsmen, that was a pretty important album to me and my musicology. It introduced me to a few other great songs, via their mediocre cover versions: “Li’l Red Riding Hood” by Sam Sham and the Pharoahs, “Liberty Valance” by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, “The Battle of New Orleans” by Jimmie Driftwood, and “Roadrunner” also by Bo Diddley.
My favorite song, however, is “Bears”, by I don’t know who.
LP Cards Fan
June 4, 2008 at 4:45 amFollowed your link from Chuck’s site. I’ve got the Snoopy and the Red Barron on CD. I’m going to have to pull it out and find the reference.
Anonymous
June 4, 2008 at 11:50 pmOh no… get you two guys together to talk and drink beers… now that would be a trip. 🙂