Story of Bo Diddley

Lyrics

Now let's hear the story of Bo Diddley And the rock and roll scene in general Bo Diddley was born Ellis McDaniels in a place called McCoom, Mississipi about 1926 He moved to Chicago about 1938 Where his name was eventually changed to Bo Diddley He practiced the guitar every day and sometimes into the night 'Til his papa's hair began to turn white His pa said, "Son, listen here, I know You can stay, but that guitar has just gotta go" "So he pulled his hat down over his eyes Headed out for them western skies" I think Bob Dylan said that He hit New York City He began to play at the Apollo in Harlem Good scene there, everybody raving One day, one night Came a Cadillac with four head lights Came a man with a big, long, fat, cigar Said, "Come here, son, I'm gonna make you a star" Bo Diddley said, "Uh, what's in it for me?" Man said, "Shut your mouth, son, play the guitar and you just wait and see" Well, that boy made it, he made it real big And so did the rest of the rock and roll scene along with him And a white guy called Johnny Otis took Bo Diddley's rhythm He changed it into handjive and it went like this In a little old country town one day A little old country band began to play Add two guitars and a beat-up saxophone When the drummer said, "Boy, those cats begin to roam" Oh, baby, ooh-wee-oh-oh Ooh, la, la, that rock and roll You hear me? Ooh-wee-oh-oh Ooh, la, la, that rock and roll Then in the U.S. music scene, there was big changes made Due to circumstances beyond our control, such as payola The rock 'n' roll scene died after two years of solid rock And you got discs like, ah "Take good care of my baby Please don't ever make her blue", and so forth About, ah, one year later in a place called Liverpool in England Four young guys with mop haircuts began to sing stuff like, ah "It's been a hard day's night and I've been workin' like a dog", and so on In a place called Richmond in Surrey, way down in the deep south They got guys with long hair down their back singin' "I wanna be your lover, baby, I wanna be your man, yeah", and all that jazz Now we've doin' this number, Bo Diddley, for quite some time now Bo Diddley visited this country last year We were playin' at the club a Gogo in Newcastle, our home town And the doors opened one night and to our surprise Walked in the man himself, Bo Diddley Along with him was Jerome Green, his Maraca man And the Duchess, his gorgeous sister And we were doin', doin' this number Along with them came the Rolling Stones and the Mersey Beats They're all standin' around diggin' it And I overheard Bo Diddley talkin' He turned around to Jermone Green, he said, "Hey, Jerome what do you think these guys doin' our, our material?" Jerome said, "Uh, where's the bar man? Please show me to the bar" He turned around the Duchess and he said, "Hey, Duch, what do you think of these young guys doin' our material?" She said, "I don't know I only came across here to see the changin' of the guards and all that jazz" Well, Bo Diddley looked up at me and he said With half closed eyes and a smile He said, "Man", and took off his glasses He said, "Man, that sure is the biggest load of rubbish I ever heard in my life" Hey, Bo Diddley (Hey, Bo Diddley) Oh, Bo Diddley (Hey, Bo Diddley) Yeah, Bo Diddley (Hey, Bo Diddley) Oh, Bo Diddley (Hey, Bo Diddley) Yeah, Bo Diddley (Hey, Bo Diddley) Oh, Bo Diddley (Hey, Bo Diddley) Oh, Bo Diddley (Hey, Bo Diddley)