A: NOT A SURFER

I saw Bo Diddly once, when he opened for the Clash. That should tell you how long ago it was. At the time, I was probably of the same mind as the Clash. I mean, it's Bo Diddley, a living legend! What could go wrong? A pick up backing band, that's what. No Duchess, no Jerome bringing it home. Just a bunch of hacks that think an easy gig is going up on stage and playing the chunk-a-chunk-chunk, chunk chunk thing for an hour. I was underwhelmed.

In the ensuing years I listed to Bo Diddley stuff from throughout his career and came to the conclusion that he made his best music during his first ten years and that after that, it's a mine field. That said, he did enough in that first ten years or so to keep you busy for a while. The first three below are lesser known non-hits, but of personal interest because they've been covered by bands you may be familiar with. "Before You Accuse Me" was covered by Creedence, "Diddy Wah Diddy" was covered by both Captain Beefheart and 8 Eyed Spy (Lydia Lunch). "Road Runner" was covered by the Zeros.

I thought I'd look for an oddball to include and found one with a rabbit hole attached. "Surf, Sink, or Swim", yeah, you guessed it, from the 1963 cash-in LP, Surfin' With Bo Diddley. First off, what a load of crap. Bo Diddley probably never touched a surfboard in his life. That's okay, surfing isn't a prerequisite for playing music. "Surf, Sink, or Swim" is a great instrumental. Surf music, it is not. I went to Discogs and came away, well, annoyed. Though credited to Bo Diddley, only four of the songs on Surfin' With Bo Diddley actually have Bo Diddley on them. Here's the kicker, by some accounts the other eight songs are by the Megatons. By other accounts they were actually recorded by Billy Lee Riley and his band, including "Surf, Sink, or Swim" on which Bo Diddley was supposedly overdubbed. What the fuck? On Diddley's record it says that he wrote it. Who to believe? I was tempted to do a full blown investigation into this matter but then it occurred to me: I don't think Fuzzgate was ever fully resolved.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Bo Diddley - Before You Accuse Me mp3 at Internet Archive
Bo Diddley - Diddy Wah Diddy mp3 at Internet Archive
Bo Diddley - Road Runner mp3 at Internet Archive
Bo Diddley - Surf, Sink or Swim mp3 at Internet Archive