Thursday, July 15, 2010

Who do you love? (Hey, Bo Diddley!)



(He's a Man! Man enough to have a woman on guitar!)

I saw Chuck and Bo together and separately lots of times-- and twice I saw them together on stage, but only on film and tv. The film was "Let The Good Times Roll"-- a great one from the 1970s that is evidently locked up by copyright problems. Too bad. A clip is below. My favorite part is when the the band stops. You hear Chuck doing one of his famous riffs and Bo throwing in his trademark rhythm skills. Perfect! The two also played togather in a spectacular television performance around the time that Chuck's London Sessions was a big hit.

(I mentioned my brother Stevo in an earlier post. Stevo once spent a few minutes with Bo Diddley. There was a concert at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium in the late 60s. Stevo couldn't get in. Maybe he didn't have the money. He did, however, have a bottle of wine, and sat for a while outside a stage door drinking his wine and carrying on for the crowd. Out steps Bo Diddley. He sat with Stevo for a while and talked-- about what we'll never know. But Stevo said he was very cool.

Stevo was a good match for Bo. One of Bo's last new albums showed him with a Harley. An old album showed him with a scooter. Stevo once led a group of Hells Angels through Sacramento on a borrowed mo-ped. Stevo and Bo had similar builds. And both had charisma. Once another brother was walking up to the Memorial Auditorium one night and found a huge crowd chanting "Stevo, Stevo, Stevo." Stevo stood and bowed, but said he was indisposed and couldn't do more. Your guess is as good as mine as to what they were expecting.)

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