"Bo Diddley" is a song by American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

pioneer Bo Diddley. It introduced the rhythm that became known as the Bo Diddley beat and topped the

Billboard R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

for two weeks in 1955. The song is included on many of Diddley's compilation albums including '' Bo Diddley'' (1958) and '' His Best'' (1997).

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

recorded a version that became his highest charting single in the UK.

Composition and recording

The song is rhythmically similar to hambone, a technique of dancing and slapping various parts of the body to create a rhythm and song. Diddley's

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

along with his backup musicians on maracas and drums contributed to the patted juba rhythm. This combination of rock and roll, African rhythms and guitar was an innovation and came to be known as the Bo Diddley Beat. Lyrically, it is similar to the traditional lullaby "

Hush Little Baby "Hush, Little Baby" is a traditional lullaby, thought to have been written in the Southern United States. The lyrics promise various rewards to the child for remaining quiet. The simple structure allows more verses to be added ad lib. It has a Rou ...

". "Bo Diddley" was recorded in Chicago at his first formal session for Leonard Chess on March 2, 1955. Diddley, on guitar and vocals, was accompanied by Frank Kirkland on drums, Jerome Green on maracas, and Billy Boy Arnold on harmonica.

Charts and recognition

Checker Records Checker Records is an inactive record label that was started in 1952 as a subsidiary of Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, who ran the label until they sold it to General Recorded ...

released "Bo Diddley" as a single with " I'm a Man" in April 1955.The song spent two weeks at No. 1 on the

, eventually becoming the tenth best-selling single of 1955 on the chart. Music critic

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...

described the song as: In 1998, "Bo Diddley" received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award and it is included on the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

's list of "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll". In 2011, the A and B-side pair were added to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...

list of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" American sound recordings. In 2017, the single was inducted in to the Blues Hall of Fame. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked the song at No. 277 on its 2021 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", down from No. 62 on its 2004 list.

Buddy Holly version

recorded the song in 1956, but it was not released until 1963, when it was included on the '' Reminiscing'' album and later became a single. Holly, on vocals and guitar, accompanied by

Jerry Allison Jerry Ivan Allison (August 31, 1939 – August 22, 2022) was an American musician, best known as the drummer for the Crickets and co-writer of their hits "That'll Be the Day" and "Peggy Sue", recorded with Buddy Holly. His only solo chart entr ...

on drums recorded "Bo Diddley" at one of their earliest sessions with

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

Norman Petty at his recording studio in Clovis, New Mexico, sometime in 1956. In 1962, Norman Petty overdubbed the demo of "Bo Diddley", as well as other tracks, with

the Fireballs The Fireballs, sometimes billed as Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, were an American rock and roll group, particularly popular at the end of the 1950s and in the early 1960s. The original line-up consisted of George Tomsco (lead guitar), Chuck ...

. The single release was one of Holly's highest-charting singles on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, reaching No. 4 on the week of July 10, 1963, spending a total of 12 weeks on the chart. In the U.S., the song reached No. 116 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine's

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart.

References

{{Authority control 1955 songs 1955 debut singles Songs written by Bo Diddley Bo Diddley songs Buddy Holly songs Number-one singles in the United States Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients United States National Recording Registry recordings Checker Records singles Songs released posthumously Songs based on children's songs