Overlooked Albums #13: Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley Is A Gunslinger

Talk about DIY. Bo Diddley did it long before it was fashionable. The songs on Bo Diddley Is A Gunslinger are home recordings; basement tapes years before Dylan and The Stones made their own. Even the photo session for the album cover was paid out of Diddley’s own pocket, a princely sum of fifty dollars. The bosses at Chess Records were tight with other people’s money, and many amongst their great roster of artists never saw half of the royalties they earned. Given this, cutting the overhead and avoiding studio surcharges were sound financial moves for Diddley.

Diddley was born Ellas Otha Bates in McComb, Mississippi, not far from the Louisiana border. The McDaniel surname came later when he was adopted by his mother’s cousin, who transplanted him to Chicago. As a boy, young Ellas was schooled in violin and trombone, but he was soon seduced by the gospel music, blues, and race records that were the Southside’s lifeblood.

When the big beat became rock and roll, Ellas was in the forefront with a new name and a new sound. The Latin-tinged Bo Diddley would become a milestone, widening the musical canvas with cross-rhythms that broke away from the standard 4/4 beat. But Diddley was not a one-trick pony. I’m A Man was a carnal blues that became a staple for Chicago blues players and British bands such as The Yardbirds. Those two songs were the A and B side of Diddley’s first single, a musical big bang that had a huge impact on musicians and a welcoming public.

A constant during Diddley’s career was his willingness to explore new sounds and styles. He loved to change musical hats as a crack session player for other Chess artists, as a guitar and amp designer, or as producer. Case in point is ...Gunslinger, which was recorded in two different locations but sounds as sharp and well-modulated as any studio recording produced by Chess at that time. Its title song is a boastful chant that features the patterned Diddley hambone beat. With that out of the way, variety is the norm. There are fast rockers (Ride On Josephine, Cadillac), doo-wop (Somewhere), dance steps (Doing The Crawdaddy), novelty (Whoa Mule!), even a guitar and sax instrumental (Diddling). There are no fillers here; the songs show the unfettered confidence of someone at the top of his game. The five unreleased songs included in the CD version are worth the price alone, all sharing the verve and playfulness of the album’s original tracks.

The album’s most famous track is Cadillac, later covered by The Kinks on their first record, which illustrates the high regard in which Diddley was held amongst British musicians, many of whom honed their skills learning his guitar licks. There was also a great number of fans that anticipated each new release. Not surprisingly, ...Gunslinger sold better in the UK than it did in the USA.

Diddley would go on to have a modest run of charting singles until 1967. His career as a Chess recording artist ended in 1973. He still got ahead through sheer determination, playing in rock and roll revival shows and small venues, and recording sporadically. Always ready for new experiences, he even found time to serve as deputy sheriff for the Valencia County Citizen’s Patrol in New Mexico. What made him bitter was the fact that his recording earnings never matched his sales. The Chess buyout by GRT in 1969 and the subsequent sales of its catalog from one company to another made royalty statements hard to track down.

Diddley’s music would be rediscovered by succeeding generations. George Thorogood virtually made a career reworking his songs. The Clash were in awe of him, requesting Diddley as the opening act for their 1979 American Tour. Around this time he started to garner long-overdue accolades as a pioneer, becoming a Rock And Roll Hall of Fame inductee in 1987. Numerous life-achievement awards followed. Less reported were the great number of charity events he supported throughout his lifetime.

Diddley’s performing career ended in 2007 when he suffered a stroke after a gig. He died of heart failure on June 2, 2008. Listening to a gospel song on his death bed, his last words were “I’m going to heaven”. And he did.