Miss you, Bo

Bo Diddley

Today (OK, technically it was yesterday now) is the third anniversary of the death of the great Bo Diddley. I remember being in high school when I first heard his recording of Say Man which includes one of my favorite insult lines of all time: “You look like you’ve been whupped with an ugly stick.”

My favorite little known fact about Bo Diddley was that he wrote the Mickey & Sylvia hit Love Is Strange.

My favorite story about Bo Diddley — although I’ve never confirmed its veracity — involved his Nov. 20, 1955, appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Now Sullivan was a pretty conservative guy and was worried about what this colored rock ‘n’ roll singer might do on his show. As he strolled past Diddley’s dressing room, he heard him strumming Tennessee Ernie Ford’s big hit. Sixteen Tons. “That’s it,” Sullivan allegedly told Diddley. “Sing that one.”

Here is the video of Diddley’s appearance on the Sullivan show. Sullivan barred him from ever appearing again.