Two-time GRAMMY Award winner, Robert Mirabal, is a 2019 New Mexico Music Commission Platinum Music Awards honoree. He lives with his family at the foot of the sacred Taos Mountain in northern New Mexico. Maintaining a traditional life, keeping the centuries-old customs of the Taos Pueblo people, Robert has been described as a Native American “Renaissance man” – musician, composer, painter, master craftsman, poet, actor, screenwriter, horseman and farmer – and he travels extensively playing his music all over the world. If you live a traditional life you see things differently—spiritually and musically. His first flute came when he was 18 with money he borrowed from his grandmother, and shortly afterward he had the opportunity to meet Native American flute player R. Carlos Nakai who greatly influenced him. When we met he looked at my hands and laughed. He said, “I have that same scar. It’s the scar of the flute maker.”
In the years since, Robert has continued the evolution of his flute making and has also become an accomplished novelist, poet, craftsman, composer, dancer, actor, painter, sculptor, concert performer and recording artist. His dozen albums of traditional music, rock and roll, and spoken word present a contemporary view of American Indian life that is unequaled. My music is informed by the ceremonial music that I’ve heard all my life. What I create comes out of my body and soul in a desire to take care of the spirits of the earth. A leading proponent of world music, Robert has merged his indigenous American sound with those of Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, tapping into a planetary pulse with a style that defies categorization. My travels have provided me with experiences that I could have never imagined, and exposed me to a global sound and a global voice.
Whether as a composer, songwriter, or musician, Robert has won many honors including two-time Native American Artist of the Year, three-time Songwriter of the Year, a 2006 GRAMMY Award for Sacred Ground, and his 2008 GRAMMY Award for Johnny Whitehorse Totemic Flute Chants, blending all of Robert’s influences into a musical landscape that conjures up both the historic and contemporary West. His 2002 breakthrough PBS Special, Music From a Painted Cave is unsurpassed in Native American theatrical expression. He is also the author of A Skeleton of a Bridge – a book of poetry, prose, and short stories, and most recently his book, Running Alone in Photographs – a memoir laced with gritty, introspective prose, that opens a window to a palpable experience of life in the Pueblo through the voice of Robert’s alter-ego Reyes Winds.
As a theatrical performer, Robert is no stranger to transforming himself. He portrayed Tony Lujan (Taos Pueblo), the famed husband of Mable Dodge Lujan, in the movie Georgia O’Keeffe, a retrospective about artist Georgia O’Keeffe starring three-time Academy Award nominee, Joan Allen. In recent year’s, Robert has appeared on Japanese and Italian TV as well as several guest roles on Walker Texas Ranger. “In August of 2012,” Robert premiered Po’Pay Speaks, his one-man show in Sante Fe about the leader of the Pueblo Revolt (1680) that is now touring internationally.
above: video biopic short about Robert – premiered August 23, 2019 at the Platinum Music Awards show – created by Bunee Tomlinson of Windswept Media.
Gonzalo was born and raised in Las Vegas, New Mexico. He has earned his place in New Mexico Music due to astonishing hits from his first CD, “Adolorido,” released in 2001. His second CD, “Mil Copas,” was released in 2002 and surpassed the sales of his first CD. In 2003, he released a Cumbia single that brought to the New Mexico Music scene his most popular song, “Sin Sal Ni Limon.” Gonzalo released a Greatest Hits CD in April of 2010.
Gonzalo has received 6 Los 15 Grandes De Nuevo Mexico Awards and 24 New Mexico Hispano Music Awards.
Hailing from Raton, New Mexico in the late 50’s, the Fireballs were New Mexico’s first Rock & Roll recording band to become internationally known. The group was christened the FIREBALLS® after their standing ovation performance of “Great Balls of Fire” at the Raton High School PTA talent contest in New Mexico, USA…January 1958. By the year’s end they had auditioned for the late Norman Petty at his already internationally famous recording studio at 1313 W. 7th Street, Clovis, New Mexico, where it stands today – a monumental contribution to the birth of early Southwest style Rock & Roll. Arriving on a Sunday afternoon for their audition, Petty acknowledged his interest in their basic style, simplicity, and feel in which the group performed their original guitar instrumentals and vocals penned by members George Tomsco and Chuck Tharp. Buddy Holly and the Crickets were scheduled for nighttime recording sessions Monday and Tuesday, so Petty logged the first Fireballs session for Wednesday night.
January 1959 found their first record released on KAPP records. “Fireball”, a guitar instrumental; and “I Don’t Know”, a vocal by Chuck Tharp. “Fireball” was the Billboard ‘pick’ which resulted in the first airplay and sales.
Petty soon negotiated a contract for the group with a new aggressive British based label in the US, TOP RANK records. As a result more chart instrumental singles and albums followed: “Torquay”, “Bulldog”, and “Vaquero” which led to two appearances on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand shows. January 4, 1960 featured them performing “Bulldog”, and on June 23, 1961 they performed “Quite A Party”. They later appeared on Clark’s Saturday Night show, as well as various other national and regional shows. WARWICK records released additional singles which included “Quite A Party”, and an album. Little did the Fireballs know by now that their guitar instrumental music was one of the foundational influences of the Surf music culture that was starting to make big waves.
Coupled with a new vocalist, Jimmy Gilmer, the Fireballs savored success in a new dimension. “Sugar Shack” on DOT records was a #1 hit and the largest selling single of the year. More vocal singles and albums followed. It was a very unique transition in the music business for an ‘instrumental guitar band’ to become ‘vocal’ and retain prestige in both fields. Besides their own recordings, Petty recruited the Fireballs as studio musicians for other recording artist projects. Among many, folk singer Carolyn Hester and Arthur Alexander. It was during this time that Petty orchestrated the group through the task of musically enhancing the Buddy Holly ‘apartment tapes’ which surfaced after Holly’s death.
The late 60’s found the Fireballs on ATCO records with more chart singles and albums. Gilmer’s gutsy lead vocal along with the backup vocals from the Fireballs sang their way to another top 10 tune with “Bottle Of Wine” followed closely by “Come On React”, of which albums were released under each of the titles. Their Current recordings of traditional 50’s/60’s style guitar instrumentals, vocals, and their own brand of country-rock music reflect trace influences of Mexican and ‘western’ music dominant in the Southwest prior to the start of their recording career.
Fireballs recordings and songs are heard in the soundtracks of the following films: Forrest Gump , Mermaids , Congo , Dogfight , From Dusk Till Dawn , Box Of Moonlight , The Real Blonde, with others being negotiated for upcoming films.
July 28, 1989 the Fireballs were inducted into the Norman Petty Studio Walk Of Fame by Vi Petty, and headlined the show that evening at the Petty’s Main Street Theatre in Clovis, New Mexico. Three original members performed : Chuck Tharp- vocal & guitar , Eric Budd – drums and George Tomsco – lead guitar . Standing in for original bass player (Stan Lark) was Fireball’s historian Jerry MacNeish on bass. The Fireballs performed at the Nebraska Music Hall Of Fame induction ceremonies in Lincoln, Nebraska in 2000. On August 29, 2001, The Fireballs were inducted into the West Texas Rock & Roll Walk Of Fame in Lubbock, TX. Members present were George Tomsco, Stan Lark, Eric Budd, Chuck Tharp & Jimmy Gilmer – all performed together at the Texas Tech Stadium that evening.
Bo (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), born Ellas Otha Bates and changed as a child to Ellas McDaniel, was an R&B and Chicago Blues vocalist and guitarist. In addition, he was a songwriter and music producer, usually as Ellas McDaniel, and had cameo appearances in movies. He was nicknamed The Originator because of his key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll, and rock, and influenced a host of acts, including Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, the Who, the Animals, Pink Floyd, the Velvet Underground, Jimi Hendrix, Parliament Funkadelic, and the Jesus and Mary Chain.
Diddley lived in Los Lunas, New Mexico from 1971 to 1978, while continuing his musical career. He served for two and a half years as Deputy Sheriff in the Valencia County Citizens’ Patrol; during that time he purchased and donated three highway-patrol pursuit-cars.
He instigated a constant driving rhythm and biting electric guitar sound which he applied to a wide range of songs. His use of African rhythms and a signature beat, a simple five-accent clave rhythm, is a cornerstone of hip hop, rock, and pop. In recognition of his achievements Bo Diddley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and a Grammy Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He is also recognised for his technical innovations, including his trademark rectangular guitar.
Early life and career
Born in McComb, Mississippi, as Ellas Otha Bates, he was adopted and raised by his mother’s cousin, Gussie McDaniel, whose surname he assumed. In 1934, the McDaniel family moved to the largely black South Side area of Chicago, where the young Ellas dropped the name Otha and became simply Ellas McDaniel. In Chicago, he was an active member of the local Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he studied the trombone and the violin, becoming proficient enough on the violin for the musical director to invite him to join the orchestra, with which he performed until the age of 18. However, he was more taken by the pulsating, rhythmic music he heard at a local Pentecostal Church, and became interested in the guitar.
Inspired by a John Lee Hooker performance, he supplemented his work as a carpenter and mechanic by playing on street corners with friends, including Jerome Green (c. 1934–1973), in the Hipsters band, later renamed the Langley Avenue Jive Cats. Green would become a near-constant member of McDaniel’s backing band, the two often trading joking insults with each other during live shows. During the summer of 1943–1944, he played at the Maxwell Street market in a band with Earl Hooker. By 1951 he was playing on the street with backing from Roosevelt Jackson on washtub bass, and Jody Williams, whom he had taught to play the guitar. Williams later played lead guitar on “Who Do You Love?” (1956).
In 1951 he landed a regular spot at the 708 Club on Chicago’s South Side,with a repertoire influenced by Louis Jordan, John Lee Hooker, and Muddy Waters. In late 1954, he teamed up with harmonica player Billy Boy Arnold, drummer Clifton James and bass player Roosevelt Jackson, and recorded demos of “I’m A Man” and “Bo Diddley”. They re-recorded the songs at Chess Studios with a backing ensemble comprising Otis Spann (piano), Lester Davenport (harmonica), Frank Kirkland (drums), and Jerome Green (maracas). The record was released in March 1955, and the A-side, “Bo Diddley”, became a number one R&B hit.
Origins of stage name
The origin of the Bo Diddley stage name is unclear. McDaniel claimed that his peers gave him the name, which he suspected to be an insult.He also said that the name first belonged to a singer his adoptive mother knew, but harmonicist Billy Boy Arnold said that it was a local comedian’s name, which Leonard Chess adopted as McDaniel’s stage name and also for the title of his first single. Guitar craftsman Ed Roman stated that it was McDaniel’s nickname as a Golden Gloves boxer.
A “diddley bow” is a homemade, American single-string instrument played mainly by workers in the southern fields. It probably has influences from the West African coast. In the American slang term, bo diddly, bo is an intensifier and diddly is a truncation of diddly squat, which means absolutely nothing.
Success in the 1950s and 1960s
On November 20, 1955, Bo Diddley appeared on the hugely popular Ed Sullivan TV show. The show asked him to sing “Sixteen Tons”, but instead he sang “Bo Diddley”. Ed Sullivan was infuriated and banned Bo Diddley from his show. He also said that Bo Diddley wouldn’t last six months. The request came about because the show’s staff heard Bo Diddley casually singing “Sixteen Tons” in the dressing room. Bo Diddley was a great storyteller but the slant tended to vary. He said that when he saw “Bo Diddley” on the cue-card, he thought he was to perform two songs: “Bo Diddley” and “Sixteen Tons”. Chess included Diddley’s “Sixteen Tons” on the 1960 album Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger.
Bo Diddley’s single hits continued in the 1950s and 1960s: “Pretty Thing” (1956), “Say Man” (1959), and “You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover” (1962). He also released a string of albums: Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger and Have Guitar, Will Travel. These bolstered his self-invented legend. Between 1958 and 1963, Checker Records released eleven full-length Bo Diddley albums. Although, in the 1960s, he broke through as a crossover artist with white audiences, appearing at the Alan Freed concerts for example, he rarely aimed his compositions at teenagers. The album title Surfing with Bo Diddley boasted his influence on surf guitarists rather than surfing per se.
In 1963, Bo Diddley starred in a UK concert tour with the Everly Brothers and Little Richard. The up-and-coming Rolling Stones, were billed as a supporting act.
Bo Diddley wrote many songs for himself, but he also wrote for others. In 1956 he and guitarist Jody Williams co-wrote the pioneering pop song “Love Is Strange”, a hit for Mickey & Sylvia in 1957. He also wrote “Mama (Can I Go Out)” which would become a minor hit for pioneering Rockabilly singer Jo Ann Campbell who performed the song in the 1959 Rock & Roll film Go Johnny Go.
Bo Diddley included women in his band: Norma-Jean Wofford, also known as “The Duchess”; Gloria Jolivet; Peggy Jones, also known as “Lady Bo”, was a rare, for the time, female lead guitarist; Cornelia Redmond, also known as Cookie; Debby Hastings, who led his band for the final 25 years. After moving from Chicago to Washington, D.C., he set up one of the first home recording studios where he not only recorded the album Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger but produced and recorded his valet, Marvin Gaye. The Bo Diddley-penned, “Wyatt Earp” was Gaye’s first single. It was released on Okeh Records, after Chess turned it down. During this time, Moonglows’ founder Harvey Fuqua sang backing vocals on many of Diddley’s home recordings. Gaye later joined the Moonglows and followed them to Motown.
Later years
Over the decades, Bo Diddley’s performing venues ranged from intimate clubs to stadiums. On March 25, 1972, he played with the Grateful Dead at the Academy of Music in New York City. The Grateful Dead released part of this concert as Volume 30 of the band’s Dick’s Picks concert album series. Also in the early 1970s, the soundtrack for the ground-breaking animated film Fritz the Cat contained his song “Bo Diddley”, in which a crow idly finger-pops along to the track.
In the late 1970s, Diddley moved to Hawthorne, Florida where he lived on a large estate in a custom-made log-cabin home, which he helped to build. For the remainder of his life he spent time between Albuquerque and Florida, living the last 13 years of his life in Archer, Florida, a small farming town near Gainesville.
In 1979, he appeared as an opening act for the Clash on their US tour; and in Legends of Guitar (filmed live in Spain, 1991) with B.B. King, Les Paul, Albert Collins, George Benson, among others. He joined the Rolling Stones as a guest on their 1994 concert broadcast of Voodoo Lounge, performing “Who Do You Love?” with the band. Sheryl Crow and Robert Cray also appeared on the pay-per-view special.
Diddley’s final vocal performance on a studio album was with the band Munkeez Strikin’ Matchiz, on their 2005 album BananAtomic Mass. He co-wrote the song “Wreck it”, and was joined by Parliament-Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell and rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy.
His final guitar performance on a studio album was with the New York Dolls on their 2006 album One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This. Bo contributed guitar work to the song “Seventeen”, which was included as a Bonus Track on the limited-edition version of the disc.
Legal battle
Bo Diddley fought sportswear brand Nike in his later years over alleged copyright infringement, specifically over the use of his likeness and the slogan “YOU DON’T KNOW DIDDLEY.” In 1989, Bo had worked with Nike on a commercial in the “Bo Knows” campaign, and had entered a licensing agreement with the company. However, the agreement ended in 1991. When Nike began selling the apparel again in 1999, Diddley did not feel that Nike should continue to use the slogan or his likeness. Despite the fact that lawyers for both parties could not come to a renewed legal arrangement, Nike allegedly continued marketing the apparel, and ignored cease and desist orders. The lawsuit was filed by Diddley’s attorney, John Rosenberg, in Manhattan Federal Court.
Illness
On May 13, 2007, Diddley was admitted to intensive care in Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, following a stroke after a concert the previous day in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Starting the show, he had complained that he did not feel well. He referred to smoke from the wildfires that were ravaging South Georgia and blowing south to the area near his home in Archer, Florida. Nonetheless, he delivered an energetic performance to an enthusiastic crowd. The next day, as Diddley was heading back home, he seemed dazed and confused at the airport. His manager, Margo Lewis, called 911 and airport security and Diddley was immediately taken by ambulance to Creighton University Medical Center and admitted to the Intensive-care unit, where he stayed for several days. After tests, it was confirmed that he had suffered a stroke. Diddley had a history of hypertension and diabetes, and the stroke affected the left side of his brain, causing receptive and expressive aphasia (speech impairment). The stroke was followed by a heart attack, which he suffered in Gainesville, Florida, on August 28, 2007.
While recovering from the stroke and heart attack, Diddley came back to his home town of McComb, Mississippi, in early November 2007, for the unveiling of a plaque devoted to him on the Mississippi Blues Trail. This marked his achievements and noted that he was “acclaimed as a founder of rock-and-roll.” He was not supposed to perform, but as he listened to the music of local musician Jesse Robinson, who sang a song written for this occasion, Robinson sensed that Bo wanted to perform and handed him a microphone. That was the first and last time that Bo Diddley performed publicly after suffering a stroke.
Death
Bo Diddley died on June 2, 2008 of heart failure at his home in Archer, Florida. Garry Mitchell, a grandson of Diddley and one of more than 35 family members at the musician’s home when he died at 1:45 am EDT (05:45 GMT), said his death was not unexpected. “There was a gospel song that was sung (at his bedside) and (when it was done) he said ‘wow’ with a thumbs up,” Mitchell told Reuters, when asked to describe the scene at Diddley’s deathbed. “The song was ‘Walk Around Heaven’ and in his last words he said ‘I’m going to heaven.'”
His funeral, a four-hour “homegoing” service, took place on June 7, 2008 at Showers of Blessings Church in Gainesville, Florida, and kept in tune with the vibrant spirit of Bo Diddley’s life and career. The many in attendance chanted “Hey Bo Diddley” as a gospel band played the legend’s music. A number of notable musicians sent flowers, including: George Thorogood, Tom Petty and Jerry Lee Lewis. Little Richard, who had been asking his audiences to pray for Bo Diddley throughout his illness, had to fulfil concert commitments in Westbury and New York City the weekend of the funeral. He took time at both concerts to remember his friend of a half-century, performing Bo’s namesake tune in his honor.
After the funeral service, a tribute concert was held at the Martin Luther King Center, also in Gainesville, and featured performances by his son and daughter, Anthony McDaniel and Evelyn Cooper, as well as long-time background vocalist Gloria Jolivet; co-producer and guitarist Scott “Skyntyte” Free; Bo’s touring band the Debby Hastings Band; and guest-artist Eric Burdon.
In the days following his death, tributes were paid to Diddley by then-President George W. Bush, the United States House of Representatives, and an uncounted number of musicians and performers, including Eric Burdon, Elvis Costello, Ronnie Hawkins, Mick Jagger, B. B. King, Tom Petty, Robert Plant, Bonnie Raitt, George Thorogood, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Eric Clapton and Ronnie Wood. He was posthumously awarded a Doctor of Fine Arts degree by the University of Florida for his influence on American popular music. In its “People in America” radio series about influential people in American history, the Voice of America radio service paid tribute to him, describing how “his influence was so widespread that it is hard to imagine what rock and roll would have sounded like without him.” Mick Jagger stated that, “he was a wonderful, original musician who was an enormous force in music and was a big influence on the Rolling Stones. He was very generous to us in our early years and we learned a lot from him”. Jagger also praised the late star as a one-of-a-kind musician, adding, “We will never see his like again”.
The documentary film Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street by director Phil Ranstrom features Bo Diddley’s last on-camera interview.
In November 2009, the guitar used by Diddley in his final stage performance sold for $60,000 at auction.
Accolades
Bo Diddley achieved numerous accolades in recognition of his significant role as one of the founding fathers of rock and roll.
1986: inducted into the Washington Area Music Association’s Hall of Fame.
1987: inducted the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
1990: Lifetime Achievement Award from Guitar Player magazine.
1998: Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
1999: His 1955 recording of his song “Bo Diddley” inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as a recording of lasting qualitative or historical significance.
2000: Inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame and into the North Florida Music Association’s Hall of Fame.
2002: Pioneer in Entertainment Award from the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters
2002: Bo Diddley was honored as one of the first BMI Icons at the 50th annual BMI Pop Awards. He was presented the award along with BMI affiliates Chuck Berry and Little Richard.
2008: Although confirmed before his death in June 2008, an honorary degree was posthumously conferred upon Diddley by the University of Florida in August 2008.
2009: Florida’s Secretary of State announces Bo’s induction into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame (induction to occur during Florida Heritage Month, March 2010).
2010: Bo Diddley was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.
In 2003, U.S. Representative John Conyers paid tribute to Bo Diddley in the United States House of Representatives describing him as “one of the true pioneers of rock and roll, who has influenced generations”.
In 2004, Mickey and Sylvia’s 1956 recording of “Love Is Strange” (a song first recorded by Diddley but not released until a year before his death) was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as a recording of qualitative or historical significance, and he was inducted into the Blues Foundation’s Blues Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him No. 20 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
In 2005, Bo Diddley celebrated his 50th anniversary in music with successful tours of Australia and Europe, and with coast-to-coast shows across North America. He performed his song “Bo Diddley” with Eric Clapton, Robbie Robertson and longtime bassist and musical director Debby Hastings at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 20th annual induction ceremony. In the UK, Uncut magazine included his 1957 debut album “Bo Diddley” in its listing of the ‘100 Music, Movie & TV Moments That Have Changed The World’.
In 2006, Bo Diddley participated as the headliner of a grassroots organized fundraiser concert, to benefit the town of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, which had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The “Florida Keys for Katrina Relief” had originally been set for October 23, 2005, when Hurricane Wilma barreled through the Florida Keys on October 24, causing flooding and economic mayhem. In January 2006, the Florida Keys had recovered enough to host the fundraising concert to benefit the more hard-hit community of Ocean Springs. When asked about the fundraiser Bo Diddley stated, “This is the United States of America. We believe in helping one another”. In an interview with Holger Petersen, on Saturday Night Blues on CBC Radio in the fall of 2006 Bo Diddley commented about the racism that existed in the music industry establishment during the early part of his career, that saw him deprived of royalties from the most successful part of his career.
Bo Diddley performed a number of shows around the country in 2005 and 2006 with the fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Johnnie Johnson Band, featuring Johnson on keyboards, Richard Hunt on drums and Gus Thornton on bass. From 1985 until he died, his touring band consisted of Debby Hastings (bassist and musical director); Jim Satten (guitarist, band leader, musical director); Scott “Skyntyte” Free, Nunzio Signore or Frank Daley (guitar); Tom Major, Dave Johnson, Yoshi Shimada, Mike Fink or Sandy Gennaro (drums); John Margolis, Dave Keys or Bo’s personal manager, Margo Lewis (keyboards).
Bo Diddley was honored by the Mississippi Blues Commission with a Mississippi Blues Trail historic marker placed in McComb, his birthplace, in recognition of his enormous contribution to the development of the blues in Mississippi. On June 5, 2009 the city of Gainesville, Florida, officially renamed and dedicated its downtown plaza the Bo Diddley Community Plaza. The plaza was the site of many benefit concerts at which Bo Diddley performed during his lifetime to raise awareness about the plight of the homeless in Alachua County, and to raise money for local charities, as well as the Red Cross.
The Bo Diddley beat
Bo Diddley is well known for the Bo Diddley beat, which is essentially the clave rhythm, and one of the most common bell patterns found in sub-Saharan African music traditions. Tamlyn found this rhythm in 13 rhythm and blues recordings made in the years 1944–55, including two by Johnny Otis from 1948.
Bo Diddley has given different accounts regarding how he began to use this rhythm. Sublette asserts: “In the context of the time, and especially those maracas [heard on the record], ‘Bo Diddley’ has to be understood as a Latin-tinged record. A rejected cut recorded at the same session was titled only ‘Rhumba’ on the track sheets.” The Bo Diddley beat is similar to “hambone”, a style used by street performers who play out the beat by slapping and patting their arms, legs, chest, and cheeks while chanting rhymes. Somewhat resembling “shave and a haircut, two bits” rhythm, Diddley came across it while trying to play Gene Autry’s “(I’ve Got Spurs That) Jingle, Jangle, Jingle”. Three years before Bo’s “Bo Diddley”, a song similar syncopation “Hambone”, was cut by Red Saunders’ Orchestra with The Hambone Kids. In 1944, “Rum and Coca Cola”, containing the Bo Diddley beat, was recorded by the Andrews Sisters and later Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” (1957) and Them’s “Mystic Eyes” (1965) used the beat.
“Bo Diddley beat”/Son clave Play (help·info).
In its simplest form, the Bo Diddley beat can be counted out as either a one-bar, or a two-bar phrase. Here is the count as a one-bar phrase: One e and ah, two e and ah, three e and ah, four e and ah. The bolded counts are the clave rhythm.
Many songs (for example, “Hey Bo Diddley” and “Who Do You Love?”) often have no chord changes; that is, the musicians play the same chord throughout the piece, so that the rhythms create the excitement, rather than having the excitement generated by harmonic tension and release. In his other recordings, Bo Diddley used a variety of rhythms, from straight back beat to pop ballad style to doo-wop, frequently with maracas by Jerome Green.
Also an influential guitar player, he developed many special effects and other innovations in tone and attack. Bo Diddley’s trademark instrument was the rectangular-bodied Gretsch nicknamed the “Twang Machine” (referred to as “cigar-box shaped” by music promoter Dick Clark). Although he had other odd-shaped guitars custom-made for him by other manufacturers throughout the years, most notably the “Cadillac” and the rectangular “Turbo 5-speed” (with built-in envelope filter, flanger and delay) designs made by Tom Holmes (who also made guitars for ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, among others), Diddley fashioned the square guitar himself around 1958 and wielded it in thousands of concerts over the years. In a 2005 interview on JJJ radio in Australia, Bo implied that the design sprang from an embarrassing moment. During an early gig, while jumping around on stage with a Gibson L5 guitar, he landed awkwardly hurting his groin. He then went about designing a smaller, less restrictive guitar that allowed him to keep jumping around on stage while still playing his guitar. He also played the violin, which is featured on his mournful instrumental “The Clock Strikes Twelve”, a twelve-bar blues.
He often created lyrics as witty and humorous adaptations of folk music themes. The song “Bo Diddley” was based on the African American clapping rhyme “Hambone” (which in turn was based on the lullaby “Hush Little Baby”). Likewise, “Hey Bo Diddley” is based on the song “Old MacDonald”. The rap-style boasting of “Who Do You Love?”, a wordplay on hoodoo, used many striking lyrics from the African-American tradition of toasts and boasts. His “Say Man” and “Say Man, Back Again,” both of which were later cited as progenerators of hip-hop music, share a strong connection to the insult game known as “the dozens”. For example: “You got the nerve to call somebody ugly. Why you so ugly, the stork that brought you into the world ought to be arrested”.
Discography
“I used to get mad about people recording my things; now I got a new thing going … I don’t get mad about them recording my material because they keep me alive.”
Bo Diddley, 1969 Pop Chronicles interview.
Main article: Bo Diddley discography
Bo Diddley (1958)
Go Bo Diddley (1959)
Have Guitar Will Travel (1960)
Bo Diddley in the Spotlight (1960)
Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger (1960)
Bo Diddley Is a Lover (1961)
Bo Diddley’s a Twister (1962)
Bo Diddley (1962)
Bo Diddley & Company (1963)
Surfin’ with Bo Diddley (1963)
Two Great Guitars (1964)
Hey! Good Lookin’ (1965)
500% More Man (1965)
The Originator (1966)
Super Blues (1967)
The Super Super Blues Band (1968)
The Black Gladiator (1970)
Another Dimension (1971)
Where It All Began (1972)
The London Bo Diddley Sessions (1973)
Big Bad Bo (1974)
20th Anniversary of Rock & Roll (1976)
Ain’t It Good To Be Free (1983)
Breakin’ Through the B.S. (1989)
Living Legend (1989)
This Should Not Be (1992)
A Man Amongst Men (1996)
Books
George R. White, Living Legend, Sanctuary Publishing Ltd, 1995.
Laurent Arsicaud, Bo Diddley, Je suis un homme, Camion Blanc editions, 2012.
The pueblo of Jemez is a small community about 50 miles north of Albuquerque, NM. The Black Eagle Singers are a force keeping the musical traditions of their ancestors alive in Jemez, a community dedicated enough to this philosophy to teach its children the original native language of Towa before they are allowed to learn English. The group consists of five members of the Yepa clan and four other singers, all covering a combination of vocalizing and expressive rhythm done on the large traditional powwow drum. Terrence and Kendrick Casiquito also come from a musical family, and the lead vocalist is Glendon Toya. The group credits Little Jimmy Coyote as their introduction to the world of powwows, where the Black Eagle Singers now perform, particularly in the southeast United States. The group was also given a few assists down the powwow trail by the Black Lodge Singers, one of the genre’s most prominent performing groups. The Black Eagle group has recorded a half-dozen different productions for various independent labels specializing in Native American or “na” music. Native American Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico is a remarkable production on Indian Sounds, followed up by a second volume that was the ensemble’s first release on compact disc. There are two volumes of Navajo Songs from Canyon de Chelly released through American Indian Sources, and Soaring High released by the appropriately named Pow Wow label. Jemez and the members of the Black Eagle Singers remain in the forefront of current affairs in this part of the world, much of it focusing on the ownership of property of every conceivable sort, from human remains to land.
photo: globalquerque.org
Bandmember David Yepa is also a lawyer in the Jemez pueblo, and was one of a small group of prominent local residents appointed by former President Bill Clinton to the board of trustees for the new Valles Caldera National Preserve. This represents about 95,000 acres purchased by the federal government for a cool $101 million, to be set aside from any future development. Naturally, the residents of Jemez have much to be happy about with this decision. In 1999, Jemez became the site of the largest ever repatriation of Indian human remains and related funerary objects. The Black Eagle Singers performed at a ceremony in May of that year, in which Yepa also presented a prayer in his capacity as War Captain. As a result of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), a large collection of human remains from the Peabody Museum in Harvard and funerary objects from the institution’s sister museum in Andover were transported to Jemez and reburied. The tribe received another honor when one of its members, Benny Shendo, Jr., was named Secretary of Indian Affairs in the New Mexican government. Throughout this time, Black Eagle continued to record, releasing Star Child (2000), Life Goes On (2002), Flying Free (2003), which won them a Grammy for Best Native American Music Album, Straight Up Northern (2005), and Voice of the Drums (2006).
~ bio by Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi
above: Black Eagle performing “Angel’s Song” and “Straight up North” in a segment from Southwest Sounds produced by the New Mexico Music Commission in 2007.
One of 2006’s most unexpected indie success stories, Beirut, Zach Condon’s brainchild, combines a wide variety of styles, from pre-rock/pop music and Eastern European Gypsy styles to the alternately plaintive and whimsical indie folk of the Decemberists to the lo-fi, homemade psychedelic experimentation of Neutral Milk Hotel. At the heart of this sonic hybrid was a teenager from Albuquerque, New Mexico, a fact that made Beirut’s debut album, Gulag Orkestar, all the more surprising. Something of a musical prodigy, multi-instrumentalist Zach Condon began making one-man D.I.Y. bedroom recordings in his early teens; while conducting interviews several years later, he claimed to have recorded an entire album of ’50s-style doo wop material and a collection of electronic pop songs inspired by the Magnetic Fields. (Indeed, Condon’s dolorous vocal delivery and low, somewhat shaky pitch sound directly inspired by the Fields’ Stephin Merritt.)
After dropping out of high school, Condon claims to have traveled through Europe at the age of 16, in the process becoming exposed to the Balkan folk and Gypsy music that’s at the heart of Gulag Orkestar. Back home in Albuquerque, Condon crossed paths with fellow New Mexican Jeremy Barnes, formerly of Neutral Milk Hotel, whose own albums as A Hawk and a Hacksaw share similarly ethnographic interests with Condon’s new material. With the help of Barnes and his A Hawk and a Hacksaw partner, Heather Trost, Condon recorded the songs that would make up Gulag Orkestar largely on his own, playing accordion, keyboards, saxophone, clarinet, mandolin, ukulele, horns, glockenspiel, and percussion along with Barnes’ drums and Trost’s cello and violin.
After Barnes gave an early version of the album to Ba Da Bing! Records label head Ben Goldberg, the newly christened band Beirut was signed to the New Jersey-based label and Condon moved from Albuquerque to Brooklyn, where he put together a floating collective of part-time bandmembers along the lines of Broken Social Scene for live performances. Following the release of Gulag Orkestar in May 2006, critical approbation quickly moved from the smallest blogs to mainstream media outlets that pegged Condon as a one-man cross between Jeff Mangum, Conor Oberst, and Sufjan Stevens. The EP Lon Gisland followed in 2007, leading up to the full-length The Flying Club Cup later that year. In 2009, Condon released the double-EP March of the Zapotec/Holland. The latter featured six electronic tracks recorded at home under the pseudonym Realpeople, while the former included six tracks recorded in Oaxaca, Mexico with the Jimenez Band, a 19-piece group from Teotitlán del Valle. 2011’s Rip Tide was recorded in Upstate New York during a cold winter, yet it still managed to retain the sunny, uplifting sound that is synonymous with the outfit. The first single, “East Harlem,” featured lush melodies that resonated with Condon’s guised lyrics as well as an array of ukuleles, horns, and keys. Preceded by the infectious title cut, 2015’s No No No arrived after a period of personal upheaval that saw Condon dealing with health issues and a divorce.
above: Beirut – Postcards From Italy (Official Video)
Two-time GRAMMY Award winner, Robert Mirabal, is a 2019 New Mexico Music Commission Platinum Music Awards honoree. He lives with his family at the foot of the sacred Taos Mountain in northern New Mexico. Maintaining a traditional life, keeping the centuries-old customs of the Taos Pueblo people, Robert has been described as a Native American “Renaissance man” – musician, composer, painter, master craftsman, poet, actor, screenwriter, horseman and farmer – and he travels extensively playing his music all over the world. If you live a traditional life you see things differently—spiritually and musically. His first flute came when he was 18 with money he borrowed from his grandmother, and shortly afterward he had the opportunity to meet Native American flute player R. Carlos Nakai who greatly influenced him. When we met he looked at my hands and laughed. He said, “I have that same scar. It’s the scar of the flute maker.”
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