Bo Diddley

The foundation-laying rock 'n' roll of the great Bo Diddley is a pounding, primal thing — imitated by many, but never again delivered with the Originator's primordial punch and Saturday-night swagger. It was as if Diddley had harnessed the power of voodoo itself when he tore through his era-defining 1955 debut single, which boasted "Bo Diddley" on the a-side and "I'm a Man" on the b-side; just like that, the Beatles and the Stones had found one of their most important spiritual guides. Fact is, so did we. Even now that Bo's bid us farewell, we can still feel his spirit kickin' up the mother of all backbeats. "Who do you love?" Everybody loves Diddley. And there's plenty more rock 'n' roll trailblazing where that came from, in Next Steps . . .

Longtime friend Jerome Green played maracas with Bo Diddley from way back in the early days; while messing around in the studio during a session, the pair came up with "Say Man," a loose, late-night dose of the dozens that gives us a snapshot of just how downright fun Bo could be. Some of Diddley's 21st-century recordings carried that same boundless joy: consider Moochas Gracias, which he released in 2004 with children's singer Anna Moo. Even towards the end, Bo was a genius who dared to douse nursery-rhyme hollering in a highly flammable cocktail of R&B and rock 'n' roll. Feel the heat.

Believe it or not, Bo Diddley trained as a classical violinist, before U-turning into the blues and setting out in search of "that freight train sound." He found it alright, and a whole lot more — brandishing his signature cherry-red slab of a guitar and whipping up the hypnotic "hambone" beat that overrides the nervous system like some sort of musical witchcraft. In many ways, Diddley powered the British Invasion during the '60s: his riffs and swagger run through the work of the Animals and the Rolling Stones (who covered "Mona"). Which says nothing of his experimental, electrifying guitar distortions, which anticipated the freak-outs of Jimi Hendrix. In 1964, when John Lennon was asked what he was looking forward to seeing in America, he replied quite simply, "Bo Diddley." Then again, that was the impact of the mighty Mr. Diddley, one of the few musicians who could rightly be called a legend. And that legend lives on — even now that he's laid down that famous cherry-red slab.