1955 Songs: Bo Diddley

Tweet

Let’s go way, way back to the year rock and roll started rocking and rolling, 1955! As with the first song (“Ain’t That a Shame”), this is one of the pioneering songs in rock and roll (never mind the guy who wrote and sang it). You can still hear people doing this song! And here it is, in its original glory. Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley Pretty cool to name a song after yourself, right? Bo Diddley’s real name was Ellas Bates McDaniel, which just doesn’t sound very rock and rolly…hence, the name change. (Sometimes that’s a good idea…pretty sure “Reggie K. Dwight” would still be a lounge singer. ) This song is in the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry. It’s also been recognized by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the “songs that shaped rock and roll.” No kidding, given how everybody from Buddy Holly to Warren Zevon to Bob Seger (and about 60 others) covered it. But Bo knew Diddley and he wrote it, giving us a song for the Mount Rushmore of early rock classics. Bo Diddley Written by Ellas Bates McDaniel Recorded by Bo Diddley Released as a single, 1955 He gonna take it to a private eye: