Story of Bo Diddley Lyrics
7 ContributorsStory of Bo Diddley LyricsNow let's hear the story of Bo Diddley
And the rock and roll scene in general
Bo Diddley was born Ellis McDaniels in a place called McCoom, Mississipi about 1926
He moved to Chicago about 1938
Where his name was eventually changed to Bo Diddley
He practiced the guitar every day and sometimes into the night
'Til his papa's hair began to turn white
His pa said, "Son, listen here, I know
You can stay, but that guitar has just gotta go"
"So he pulled his hat down over his eyes
Headed out for them western skies"
I think Bob Dylan said that
He hit New York City
He began to play at the Apollo in Harlem
Good scene there, everybody raving
One day, one night
Came a Cadillac with four head lights
Came a man with a big, long, fat, cigar
Said, "Come here, son, I'm gonna make you a star"
Bo Diddley said, "Uh, what's in it for me?"
Man said, "Shut your mouth, son, play the guitar and you just wait and see"
Well, that boy made it, he made it real big
And so did the rest of the rock and roll scene along with him
And a white guy called Johnny Otis took Bo Diddley's rhythm
He changed it into handjive and it went like this
In a little old country town one day
A little old country band began to play
Add two guitars and a beat-up saxophone
When the drummer said, "Boy, those cats begin to roam"
Oh, baby, ooh-wee-oh-oh
Ooh, la, la, that rock and roll
You hear me? Ooh-wee-oh-oh
Ooh, la, la, that rock and roll
Then in the U.S. music scene, there was big changes made
Due to circumstances beyond our control, such as payola
The rock 'n' roll scene died after two years of solid rock
And you got discs like, ah
"Take good care of my baby
Please don't ever make her blue", and so forth
About, ah, one year later in a place called Liverpool in England
Four young guys with mop haircuts began to sing stuff like, ah
"It's been a hard day's night and I've been workin' like a dog", and so on
In a place called Richmond in Surrey, way down in the deep south
They got guys with long hair down their back singin'
"I wanna be your lover, baby, I wanna be your man, yeah", and all that jazz
Now we've doin' this number, Bo Diddley, for quite some time now
Bo Diddley visited this country last year
We were playin' at the club a Gogo in Newcastle, our home town
And the doors opened one night and to our surprise
Walked in the man himself, Bo Diddley
Along with him was Jerome Green, his Maraca man
And the Duchess, his gorgeous sister
And we were doin', doin' this number
Along with them came the Rolling Stones and the Mersey Beats
They're all standin' around diggin' it
And I overheard Bo Diddley talkin'
He turned around to Jermone Green, he said, "Hey, Jerome what do you think these guys doin' our, our material?"
Jerome said, "Uh, where's the bar man? Please show me to the bar"
He turned around the Duchess and he said, "Hey, Duch, what do you think of these young guys doin' our material?"
She said, "I don't know
I only came across here to see the changin' of the guards and all that jazz"
Well, Bo Diddley looked up at me and he said
With half closed eyes and a smile
He said, "Man", and took off his glasses
He said, "Man, that sure is the biggest load of rubbish I ever heard in my life"
Hey, Bo Diddley (Hey, Bo Diddley)
Oh, Bo Diddley (Hey, Bo Diddley)
Yeah, Bo Diddley (Hey, Bo Diddley)
Oh, Bo Diddley (Hey, Bo Diddley)
Yeah, Bo Diddley (Hey, Bo Diddley)
Oh, Bo Diddley (Hey, Bo Diddley)
Oh, Bo Diddley (Hey, Bo Diddley)