Login
Login

Bo Diddley beat

{{Short description|Musical rhythm popularized by Bo Diddley}}

File:Bo-Diddley.jpg and his eponymous song]]

The Bo Diddley beat is a syncopated musical rhythm that is widely used in rock and roll and pop music.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/bo-diddley-guitarist-who-inspired-the-beatles-and-the-stones-dies-aged-79-838868.html|title=Bo Diddley, Guitarist Who Inspired the Beatles and the Stones, Dies Aged 79|last=Brown|first=Jonathan|date=June 3, 2008|website=Independent.co.uk|access-date=April 26, 2012}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/bo-diddley|title=Bo Diddley|website=Rock and Roll Hall of Fame|access-date=October 27, 2008}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/bo-diddley/biography|title=Bo Diddley|year=2001|website=Rollingstone.com|access-date=April 26, 2012}} 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{{Cite book| last = Thomakos| first = John | year = 2010| title = The Drum Set Styles Encyclopedia| section = Bo Diddley Beat| publisher = Mel Bay Publications| isbn = 978-1610652193| page = 67| quote= The heart of this [Bo Diddley beat] trademark groove is essentially a 3-2 clave rhythm, played with a strong swing.}} or based on the clave{{Cite book| last1 = Martin| first1 = Andrew R.| last2 = Mihalka| first2 = Matthew| year = 2020| title = Music Around the World: A Global Encyclopedia| location = Santa Barbara, California | publisher = ABC-CLIO| isbn = 978-1610694995| page = 179| quote = Bo Diddley's 1955 self-titled track featuring the 'Bo Diddley Beat' that was based on the clave rhythm.}}{{Cite book| last = Roscetti| first = Ed| year = 2008| title = Stuff! Good Drummers Should Know: An A to Z Guide to Getting Better| publisher = Hal Leonard| isbn = | page = 16| quote = the Bo Diddley beat, based on the rumba or clave rhythm}} or a variation thereof.{{Cite book| last = Horne| first = Greg| year = 2000| title = Intermediate Acoustic Guitar| publisher = Alfred Publishing| isbn = 0-7390-0426-3| page = 38| quote= The Bo Diddley Beat{{snd}}This is a variation of the clave made famous by Bo Diddley.}}

Music educator and author Michael Campbell explains that it "shows the relationship between Afro-Cuban music, Americanized Latin rhythms, and rock rhythm{{nbsp}}... [The beats] are more active and complicated than a simple rock rhythm, but less complex than a real Afro-Cuban rhythm.{{Cite book| last=Campbell| first=Michael| title=Popular Music in America: And the Beat Goes On |location=Boston, Massachusetts |publisher=Cengage Learning |edition=3rd |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-495-50530-3 |page=167}}

History and composition

File:Bo Diddley beat.png

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.{{Cite book| last = Peñalosa| first = David| year = 2010| title = The Clave Matrix; Afro-Cuban Rhythm: Its Principles and African Origins| location = Redway, California| publisher = Bembe Books| isbn = 978-1-886502-80-2| page = 244}} It is also akin to the rhythmic pattern known as "shave and a haircut, two bits",{{cite web |last=McDonald |first=Sam |date=September 7, 2005 |title=CHUNKA{{snd}}CHUNKA{{snd}}CHUNK A{{snd}}CHUNK–CHUNK |url=https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-20050907-2005-09-07-0509070012-story.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250103110209/https://www.dailypress.com/2005/09/07/chunka-chunka-chunk-a-chunk-chunk/ |archive-date=January 3, 2025 |access-date=December 8, 2015 |website=Dailypress.com}} 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.{{Cite book| last = Roscetti| first = Ed| year = 2008| title = Stuff! Good Drummers Should Know| publisher = Hal Leonard| isbn = 978-1-4234-2848-0| page = 16}}

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."{{Cite book| last = Sublette| first = Ned| year = 2007| title = The Kingsmen and the Cha-Cha-Chá.| publisher = Duke University Press| isbn = 978-0822340416| page = [https://archive.org/details/listenagainmomen00weis/page/83 83]| url = https://archive.org/details/listenagainmomen00weis/page/83}} Bo Diddley employed maracas, a percussion instrument used in Caribbean and Latin music, as a basic component of the sound. Jerome Green was the maraca player on Diddley's early records, initially using the instrument as a more portable alternative to a drum set.{{Cite web|url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-indestructible-beat-of-bo-diddley-20050825|last = Strauss|first = Neil|date = August 25, 2005|title = The Indestructible Beat of Bo Diddley|website = Rollingstone.com|access-date = December 8, 2015}} 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.

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.{{Cite thesis| last=Tamlyn| first=Garry Neville| title=The Big Beat: Origins and Development of Snare Backbeat and other Accompanimental Rhythms in Rock'n'Roll| publisher=University of Liverpool| url=http://www.tagg.org/xpdfs/TamlynPhD1.pdf | access-date=August 4, 2014| publication-date=March 1998| page=284}} In 1944, "Rum and Coca Cola", containing the beat, was recorded by the Andrews Sisters{{Cite book| last = Hicks| first = Michael| year = 2000| title = Sixties Rock| isbn = 978-0-252-06915-4| page = 36| publisher = University of Illinois Press}} 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:

|last = Pareles|first = Jon|work = The New York Times

|date = 20 March 1988

|author-link = Jon Pareles |access-date = December 15, 2022}}

  • "Desire" by U2 (1988)
  • "Movin' On Up" by Primal Scream (1991){{Cite web|url = https://diffuser.fm/primal-scream-screamadelica/|title = When Primal Scream Created Their Own World With "Screamadelica"|last = Swanson|first = Dave|author-link = Dave Swanson |website = Diffuser.fm| date=24 September 2016 |access-date = June 30, 2019}}
  • "Tribal Thunder" by Dick Dale and the Del-Tones (1993)
  • "No One to Run With" by the Allman Brothers Band (1994){{Cite web|first = Bruce|last = Eder|url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/where-it-all-begins-mw0000113120|title = Allman Brothers Band: "Where It All Begins" – Review|website = AllMusic|access-date = October 20, 2017}}
  • "Party at the Leper Colony" by "Weird Al" Yankovic (2003){{cite web| url =http://www.rebeatmag.com/10-times-weird-al-parodied-pre-1980s-hits-and-was-awesome/| last = Cunnigham| first = Jen| title = 10 Times 'Weird Al' Parodied Pre-1980s Hits (And Was Awesome): 10) 'Party at the Leper Colony' (2003)| website = Rebeatmag.com| access-date = February 22, 2022}}
  • "That Big 5-0" by Stan Ridgway (2004)
  • "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" by KT Tunstall (2005){{Cite web|url = https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/bo-diddley-beat-feature/|title = Tracing the Bo Diddley Beat|last = Allen|first = Jim|website = Uiscovermusic.com|date = February 1, 2022|access-date = July 29, 2022}}
  • "If It's Lovin' that You Want" by Rihanna (2005)
  • "At the Bottom of the Ocean" by Ezra Furman (2013){{cite web|url = https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/13/ezra-furman-sneaky-petes-review|title = Ezra Furman – Review|last= Jack |first = Malcolm|date = February 13, 2014|website = Theguardian.com|access-date = December 15, 2018|issn = 0261-3077}}
  • "Water Fountain" by Tune-Yards (2014){{Cite web|url = https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/mar/18/tune-yards-album-comes-back-water-fountain|last = Hann| first = Michael|date = March 18, 2014|title = Tune-Yards Comes Back with Water Fountain|access-date = January 27, 2021|website = Theguardian.com}}
  • "Fool For Love" by Lord Huron (2015){{Cite web| url = https://www.npr.org/transcripts/397364256| title = Lord Huron Wants You to Dance at the Apocalypse| last = Block| first = Melissa | website = NPR.org| date = 6 April 2015| access-date = April 1, 2021}}
  • "Bluey Theme Tune" by Joff Bush (2018){{Cite web |date=2023-04-23 |title='Bluey' Composer Reveals Secret To That Catchy AF Theme Song |url=https://www.fatherly.com/entertainment/bluey-themesong-explained-joff-bush |access-date=2024-08-04 |website=Fatherly |language=en}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Category:Rhythm and meter

Category:Bo Diddley