BO DIDDLEY
Arrangement, Music Legacy
Bo Diddley, Bo Diddley have you heard? 
Poppa's going to buy you a mocking bird.
And if that mocking bird won't sing,
Poppa's going to buy you a diamond ring.
If that diamond ring won't shine,
Poppa's going to take you to the five and dime.
Hey! Bo Diddely!
Hey! Bo Diddely!
Hey, Bo Diddley don't you know?
Poppa's going to buy you a radio.
If that radio won't play,
Poppa's going to take it and throw it away.
Hey! Bo Diddely!
Hey! Bo Diddely!
(Instrumental)
Hey, Bo Diddley where've you been?
"Been around the world and I'm goin' again"
Bo Diddley, Bo Diddley what did you see?
"Saw a lot of things that appealed to me!"
Hey! Bo Diddely!
Hey! Bo Diddely!
Hear the way Bo Diddley played the song in the 1950's.
click here:
NOTE: this is an audio file and will take some time to download.
(Ellas McDaniel) 1955
Bo Diddley bought his babe a diamond ring,
If that diamond ring don't shine,
He gonna take it to a private eye,
If that private eye can't see
He'd better not take the ring from me.
Bo Diddley caught a nanny goat,
To make his pretty baby a Sunday coat,
Bo Diddley caught a bear cat,
To make his pretty baby a Sunday hat.
Mojo come to my house, ya black cat bone,
Take my baby away from home,
Ugly ole mojo, where ya bin,
Up your house, and gone again.
Bo Diddley, Bo Diddley have you heard?
My pretty baby said she wasn't for it.
The words are based on the child's lullaby, "Hush Little Baby".
Here is how "Mockingbird" evolved into a 1950's Rhythm 'n Blues song:
"Mockingbird" was later copied by James Taylor and Carly Simon in the 1970's and will probably reappear in the future.
NOTE: this is an audio file and will take some time to download.
Bo Diddley had most of his success in the 50's and early 60's. He had a very strong influence on others who followed.
Buddy Holley and the Rolling Stones use his style with the song "Not Fade Away." The song "Hand Jive" features the style. The Who use it in "Magic Bus." The Strangeloves, Bow Wow Wow, then Erin Carter use it in "I Want Candy." The Guess Who and Lenny Kravits use a variation of it in "American Woman."
He has mentioned that he first heard the distinctive "Shave and
a haircut, two bits" rhythm from the Latin people in
Chicago. The Samba bands in Brazil use the clave (key) to announce
the rhythm. You can hear the claves, wooden dowel instruments, clicking
the pattern at the beginning of this version of "Bo Diddley."
Bo Diddley's name at his birth in 1928 in McComb, Mississippi was Otha Ellas Bates McDaniel; he had been adopted by his mother's cousin, Gussie McDaniel, and a man named Bates. The family moved to Chicago when young Ellas was five years old. As a child he studied violin.
He taught himself how to play a guitar and played it in a band he joined while in school. He also played the trombone in his church choir. Ellas began a five-year stint as the leader of a three-man washboard band when he was seventeen.
Bo Diddley took his name from a one-stringed African guitar, and usually played a guitar with a rectangular box shape. He managed to work his name into some of his songs. He is still singing and performing, and took his place in the Rock-and-Roll Hall Of Fame in 1987.
Biographical information from the Tom Simon Home Page
John-patrick Yeiser 
musiclegacy.com