Bo Diddley beat
The Bo Diddley beat is a syncopated musical rhythm that is widely used in rock and roll and pop music.[1][2][3] The beat is named after rhythm and blues musician Bo Diddley, who introduced and popularized the beat with his self-titled debut single, "Bo Diddley", in 1955. The beat is essentially the Afro-Cuban clave rhythm[4] or based on the clave[5][6] or a variation thereof.[7][8]
Music educator and author Mike Campbell explains that it "shows the relationship between Afro-Cuban music, Americanized Latin rhythms, and rock rhythmScript error: No such module "String".... [The beats] are more active and complicated than a simple rock rhythm, but less complex than a real Afro-Cuban rhythm.[8]
History and composition
The Bo Diddley beat is a variation of the 3-2 clave, one of the most common bell patterns found in Afro-Cuban music that has been traced to sub-Saharan African music traditions.[10] It is also akin to the rhythmic pattern known as "shave and a haircut, two bits",[11] that has been linked to Yoruba drumming from West Africa. A folk tradition called "hambone", a style used by street performers who play out the beat by slapping and patting their arms, legs, chest, and cheeks while chanting rhymes has also been suggested.[12]
According to musician and author Ned Sublette, "In the context of the time, and especially those maracas [heard on the record], 'Bo Diddley' has to be understood as a Latin-tinged record. A rejected cut recorded at the same session was titled only 'Rhumba' on the track sheets."[13] Bo Diddley employed maracas, a percussion instrument used in Caribbean and Latin music, as a basic component of the sound.[11] Jerome Green was the maraca player on Diddley's early records, initially using the instrument as a more portable alternative to a drum set.[14] When asked how he began to use this rhythm, Bo Diddley gave many different accounts. In a 2005 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he said that he came up with the beat after listening to gospel music in church when he was twelve years old.[14]
Use by other artists
Prior to Bo Diddley's self-titled song, the rhythm occurred in at least 13 rhythm and blues songs recorded between 1944 and 1955, including two by Johnny Otis from 1948.[15] In 1944, "Rum and Coca Cola", containing the beat, was recorded by the Andrews Sisters[9] and in 1952, a song with similar syncopation, "Hambone", was recorded by Red Saunders' Orchestra with the Hambone Kids.
Later, the beat was included in many songs composed by artists other than Bo Diddley:
- "I Wish You Would" by Billy Boy Arnold (1955)[11]
- "Not Fade Away" by Buddy Holly (1957)[16][17][18]
- "Cannonball" by Duane Eddy (1958)[11][18][19]
- "Willie and the Hand Jive" by Johnny Otis (1958)[18][20]
- "Hey Little Girl" by Dee Clark (1959)[21]
- "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" by Elvis Presley (1961)[17][18][20]
- "Mickey's Monkey" by the Miracles (1963)[20][19]
- "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" by the Supremes (1963)[20][19]
- "Rosalyn" by Pretty Things (1964)[19]
- "Don't Doubt Yourself, Babe" by the Byrds (1965)[19]
- "Mystic Eyes" by Them (1965)[9]
- "I Want Candy" by the Strangeloves (1965)[18][20][19]
- "Please Go Home" by the Rolling Stones (1966)[22][19]
- "Bummer in the Summer" by Love (1967)[23]
- "Get Me to the World on Time" by the Electric Prunes (1967)[20]
- "She Has Funny Cars" by Jefferson Airplane (1967)[24]
- "Magic Bus" by the Who (1968)[17][18][20][19]
- "1969" by the Stooges[18][19]
- "Panic in Detroit" by David Bowie (1973)[18][20][19]
- "Shame, Shame, Shame" by Shirley & Company (1974)[20]
- "Custard Pie" by Led Zeppelin (1975)[25]
- "New York Groove" by Hello (1975)[26]
- "Billy Bones and the White Bird" by Elton John (1975)[27]
- "She's the One" by Bruce Springsteen (1975)[17][18][20][19]
- "Bad Blood" by Neil Sedaka (1975)[19]
- "American Girl" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1977)[17]
- "Big Alice" by Don Pullen (1977)
- "Hateful" by the Clash (1979)[20]
- "Rudie Can't Fail" by The Clash (1979)[19][20]
- "(She's So) Selfish" by the Knack (1979)[28]
- "Lovers Walk" by Elvis Costello and the Attractions (1980)[29]
- "Cuban Slide" by the Pretenders (1980)[11]
- "What A Blow" by Ian Gomm (1980)
- "Europa and the Pirate Twins" by Thomas Dolby (1981)[20]
- "Don't Let Him Go" by REO Speedwagon (1981)[19]
- "Hare Krsna" by Hüsker Dü (1984)[30]
- "How Soon Is Now?" by the Smiths (1985) (Diddley-style tremolo)[18][31]
- "Mr. Brownstone" by Guns N' Roses (1987)[18][19]
- "Faith" by George Michael (1987)[17][20][19]
- "Ruby Dear" by Talking Heads (1988) [32]
- "Desire" by U2 (1988)[18][20][19]
- "Movin' On Up" by Primal Scream (1991)[33]
- "Tribal Thunder" by Dick Dale and the Del-Tones (1993)[20]
- "No One to Run With" by the Allman Brothers Band (1994)[34]
- "Party at the Leper Colony" by "Weird Al" Yankovic (2003)[35]
- "That Big 5-0" by Stan Ridgway (2004)[31]
- "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" by KT Tunstall (2005)[19]
- "If It's Lovin' that You Want" by Rihanna (2005)[19]
- "At the Bottom of the Ocean" by Ezra Furman (2013)[36]
- "Water Fountain" by Tune-Yards (2014)[37]
- "Fool For Love" by Lord Huron (2015)[38]
- "Bluey Theme Tune" by Joff Bush (2018)[39]
References
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