So long, Mr. Diddley. Thanks for everything!

AN APPRECIATION
The night Bo Diddley banned the Beat
How do you play with a legend without doing it the legendary way? By
learning his lesson of keeping himself new.
By Dave Alvin, Special to The Times
3:35 PM PDT, June 2, 2008

“Whatever you do, DO NOT play ‘the Beat!'”

That was the first thing Bo Diddley said to us before we walked onto
the stage of the Music Machine club in West L.A. for two sets back
in 1983. We were a mix of members of the Blasters and X who had
agreed, with great enthusiasm, to back up one of our greatest heroes
for free at a benefit show for the Southern California Blues Society.

To say that we were upset by his announcement/warning would be an
understatement. How could you play Bo Diddley songs and not play the
powerful, infectious and sensual Bo Diddley Beat?

Bo Diddley, 79; his beat marked rock ‘n’ roll Since Bo’s first
records for the Chess label back in the mid-’50s, his “Beat” (a
primal and relentless mix of the old shave-and-a-haircut riff,
Chicago blues grooves and Latin rhythms), had been borrowed, stolen
or adapted by everyone from Buddy Holly to the Rolling Stones to
David Bowie for their own hit records.

Now, even though Bo had utilized various permutations of the beat
over the course of his long career, he was asking us to abandon it
entirely in favor of . . . What? It’s sort of like asking an actor
to do Hamlet, but don’t use any of Shakespeare’s words.

Blasters drummer Bill Bateman and X drummer DJ Bonebreak, who were
sharing the drum and percussion duties for the night, asked Bo to
clarify what beat they should play. He tapped out some rhythm that
stressed a different accent but, to be honest, I couldn’t tell what
the difference was. Fortunately, Bill and DJ picked up on his
instructions and by the end of the first song Bo seemed pretty happy.

It was a very good band, with Bill and DJ teaming up for the
essential duties on drums, timbales and maracas, X’s John Doe and
Blasters bassist John Bazz sharing the bass position while my
brother Phil, who also played some harmonica, and I followed Bo as
best we could on guitars.

Most of the songs in the first set were new songs that Bo had
recently recorded but none of us had ever heard, let alone studied.
We (and just about every other musician in the modern age) had been
dissecting all of his old records for years with the passion of
theology students pouring over the Dead Sea scrolls or physicists
debating string theory. A couple of the songs in the set were
straight blues that easily fell into a comfortable pocket, but the
rest were extended one-chord, semi-funk jams that wound up sounding
as much like “Bitches Brew”-era Miles Davis as they did classic Bo
Diddley.

As the set progressed and I began to get comfortable with Bo’s new
beats, I started thinking that it was close-minded of me to expect
him to play the old songs the same old way. Wasn’t Bo Diddley as
much of a musical revolutionary as Bob Dylan? Weren’t his original
recordings of “Mona” or “Who Do You Love” as musically unique,
pivotal and influential in their day as Dylan’s?

Maybe Bo wasn’t the genius lyricist that Dylan is but in rock ‘n’
roll (or blues and folk), lyrics aren’t everything. If Dylan could
change the melodies, grooves and even lyrics to his songs in order
to keep exploring the possibilities of his art, why couldn’t Bo
Diddley?

Some people would argue that Bo was one of the architects of funk
and, if that’s the case, why shouldn’t he be allowed to follow his
own rhythmic path to wherever it might lead him? Why should Bo
Diddley have to be stuck in the past just because that’s where a
part of his audience (and perhaps his backing bands) wanted him to
remain?

I remember smiling on stage like a goofball as I realized all of
this and came to the conclusion that if you really dig Bo Diddley,
then let Bo Diddley be Bo Diddley! I was a young guy at the time who
was trying his best to replicate old music — and that’s the best
way to learn, believe me — but that night Bo taught me a lesson
about growing and surviving as an musician/artist: Stay true to
yourself.

After the first set I approached Bo backstage and told him what I
had been thinking while I played with him. “That’s right,” he said
laughing. “I already made all them old records years ago. Now I’m
keeping myself new.”

But as we walked back onstage for the second set, Bo turned to us,
smiled and said, “You know, you boys are pretty good, so I’ll tell
what: The first song is gonna be ‘Mona’ and you can play with the Bo
Diddley beat.” And we did.

Thank you Bo, for all your incredible music over the years and,
especially, the wise life lesson you taught me.

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Dave Alvin has been a member of the
Blasters, X and the Knitters and leads his own roots-rock group, the
Guilty Men.

http://tinyurl.com/459hv2

i’m going to go hear the hacienda brothers/dave alvin this thursday to show them some love (their first show since chris gaffney’s passing)
should be bittersweet…

lisa