BO DIDDLEY: BO DIDDLEY (1962)
1) I Can Tell; 2) Mr.
Khrushchev; 3) Diddling; 4) Give Me A Break (Man); 5) Who May Your Lover Be; 6)
Bo's Bounce; 7) You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover; 8) Babes In The Woods; 9)
Sad Sack; 10) Mama Don't Allow No Twistin'; 11) You All Green; 12) Bo's Twist.
In early 1962, Bo Diddley finished up the «roleplaying
trilogy» with Bo Diddley Is A Twister,
an album that has never been released on CD and which I have not been able to
locate — and I assume that there must have been a good reason, because Bo
Diddley might certainly be a lover, or even a gunslinger, by nature, but a
twister only by temporary trade. (Actually, the few tracks I have heard are
anything but generic twist — for Bo
to sound like Chubby Checker, he should have had brain surgery).
Anyway, that record is probably best left
forgotten, but he did rebound later on in the year, with a second self-titled
album that housed his last single of any major importance — Willie Dixon's ʽYou
Can't Judge A Book By The Coverʼ, maybe the catchiest song in the entire
history of bodiddleyism, hiding a macho substance ("I look like a
farmer, but I'm a lover" — agriculturalists all over the world, take arms)
behind an innocently happy blues-pop melody. So happy, in fact, that even the
Monkees ended up covering it — there is a hilarious version on Live 1967 that does a good job of
linking their «commercial act» to the «authentic rock'n'roll» legacy.
The other memorable highlight was ʽI Can Tellʼ,
just as catchy and surprisingly «moody» for Bo — normally, his slow-moving
numbers are dismissable, but the sexy build-up to the chorus bark ("grrr-I
know you don't lorrrve me no more!") is so diligently crafted this time
that even Muddy could use a hint. Covered that same year in an unnecessarily
sped up and vastly inferior version by Johnny Kidd, and God knows who else.
Sandwiched in between the two classics, as
usual, is a bunch of total filler mixed with some tasty, if rather under-realized
ideas. ʽMr. Khrushchevʼ is at least priceless for substituting the ubiquitous
"Hey, Bo Diddley!" with the much fresher — and highly relevant for
1962 — "Hey, Khrushchev!" (unfortunately, Nikita Sergeyevich's
personal reaction to the summons remains strictly hidden by his biographers).
ʽBabes In The Woodsʼ has a stupid title and even sillier backup vocals, but
the muttering-stuttering gimmick in the chorus still sticks with you, love it
or hate it.
Overall, there is lots of purely instrumental
stuff on the record, which is good — even if, at this point, new rhythms almost
completely cease to appear, each such track is still a good chance to say
something individual without resorting to lyrical and vocal silliness. ʽGive Me
A Break (Man)ʼ is like a condensed two-minute instrumental variation on ʽYou
Can't Judge A Bookʼ — faster, louder, and I bet Jimi himself must have learned
a lot from that guitar rumble (his typical arrangement of ʽKilling Floorʼ at
least is certainly based on those patterns). The new ʽDiddlingʼ (not the same as on Gunslinger) is surprisingly mean and lean for the usually happy Bo,
and ʽSad Sackʼ continues Bo's experiments with different sorts of scraping,
scratching, and sliding guitar noises —another small step on the way to turn
the guitar into a talking apparatus.
Thus, one more modest thumbs up here: two highlights and
next to no lowlights is just enough for a Bo Diddley record circa 1962 to be
recommendable. (Of course, you can also just get the highlights on
compilations, but some of these have the nerve to omit ʽI Can Tellʼ, so be
wary).
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