I once lived in Togo, West Africa and remember going to (and hearing) many all night "funerals." During one of those funerals, which was taking place next door to my house, I had a dream that Bo Diddley had shown up in town and was playing. No wonder: Togolese funerals are in part festive affairs, with all night drumming and dancing. The drums thunder. The voices chant and cheer. And in the background of some of those songs, you hear the cowbells playing the familiar Bo Diddley beat. It's not a sound that sprang from nowhere. It was passed, through generations, to Bo.
You don't hear that particular beat in these funeral shots from the captial city of Lome, Togo-- but you'll get an idea where rock and roll came from!
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