R.I.P. Bo Diddley

By Jen Eide

If Bo Diddley doesn't want to make you dance I may need to verify that you still have a pulse. Here's a brief video tribute. This first clip is "Hey, Bo Diddley" from the 1966 film The Big T.N.T. Show.



Here is Diddley playing "Roadrunner" on an unnamed European TV show from 1960. Check out the guitar showboating starting around the one minute mark. Diddley is playing the Jupiter Thunderbird guitar that he designed and Gretsch built. Not only did the man have ears for music, but he had an eye for design as well.



Bo Diddley hired some pioneering female guitarists for his bands, and they deserve some attention after all this time (just as Motown's "Funk Brothers" eventually got their due). Check out these fascinating biographies of Norma-Jean "The Dutchess" Wofford (seen in the TNT video) and Peggy "Lady Bo" Jones (featured in the "Roadrunner" clip).