Bo Diddley R.I.P.

[senorsalvia]

The king of the square, red Gretch guitar, passed away last night from heart failure....  While living in Gainesville Fla for a couple years recently,  I got the plaesure of seeing Bo several times...  Although he was definetly showing his age,  he always gave the crowd a good timey show, and seemed to just truly love playing for the peeps....  Bo was a fixture throughout the Gainesville community...  Everyone knew his bright red Ford pickup with the oversized wheels and tires...  It was not at all uncommon to see Bo drive up to a gas station, get out of his truck and say hello to anyone that was hanging around...  He often handed out $5 dollar bills to whoever was around telling them to "have a good day on Bo"  ===========  Another one of the "good ones" gone........

[laughingwillow]

RIP, Bo Diddley.

Great story, sal.

lw

[JRL]

Back in 69 I was at the Gold Rush a legendary music festival here in Norcal. Bo was third to the last act. After 18 hours of LSD, weed, opium and great music most people just collapsed and slept where they fell. I woke up the next morning and Bo was out on the hill standing around a fire with some hippies wrapped in a blanket.

[laughingwillow]

Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't remember ever catching BD's act....

lw

[JRL]

You would have loved his very African electro-voodo vibe.

[Stonehenge]

Bo was a stand up guy. He was a fine musician and very talented. He is living proof that show business, fame, money and the like do not lead inevitably to ruin. There are lots of other aging rockers out there going strong like BB King, the Stones, Bob Dylan and others.

[JRL]

Bo didn't have easy, he made some bad deals early and never made money off the songs he wrote. Fairly bitter about it, but with a bit of humor, judging from interviews I have read. Most of the guys from that crop  gave away way to much, that's how the business was. Willie Dxon was an exception, he even sued Led Zepplin and won.

[JRL]

Stoney, in this thinly veiled reference to our other current thread :"He is living proof that show business, fame, money and the like do not lead inevitably to ruin. There are lots of other aging rockers out there going strong like BB King, the Stones, Bob Dylan and others." I gotta say that the difference in people like Bo Diddley, BB KIng, Bob Dylan compared to our troubled singer is that they paid their dues for anywhere from a few years to decades before they became household words. Especially the old timers like Bo. The music industry and media were so different, it wasn't like everything they did was in worldwide scrutiny. "Paying your dues" is no joke, neither is being mentored by someone that has been there. What I read and hear from people in these similar circumstanses is that they often have been guided by older artists in how to handle the life with grace and style. Have I ever said that everyone falls victim to fame and fortune? Some handle it with the class of Duke Ellington or Toots Hibbert. I'm sure that the succesful ones have had their share of difficulties, we just don't hear about them.

[Stonehenge]

JRL, I think you may have a point in the age thing. Many of the ones mentioned did not start out with a bang. They had a chance to develop maturity before they became rich and household names. A large part of the reason many young stars of today are acting like spoiled brats is because they are spoiled brats. Their parents may have spoiled them and when they got hold of a lot of money at an early age, they continued in that lifestyle. They did not grow up because they didn't have to.

When you toss in drugs to the mix, you have an even greater potential for abuse and a downward spiral. You see the same things from rich kids running wild all over the world but we don't hear as much about that since they are not well known and may guard their privacy. Those who were forced to work hard in some way, learned lessons of life and were better able to handle success. It's not that success is a burden, as you've said many times, it's the lack of maturity and the opportunity to do crazy things. Give a million bucks to the average teen and you will see some nutty stuff go down.

[JRL]

Basically my point from the start.