Rock 'n' Roll "Originator" Bo Diddley Brings Blues

Media Contact:

Kristen Gleason
Director of Marketing
The Paramount Theater
215 East Main Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902
434.979.1922 ext. 103
kristen@theparamount.net

For Immediate Release

October 23, 2006

There are few musical artists who truly merit legendary status.  Without a doubt, Bo Diddley is one of them.  His crucial role in the birth of rock ‘n’ roll and his impact on the direction of popular music — influence reaching musicians from The Beatles and The Who to Bruce Springsteen — prove he has indeed has earned his title of “The Originator.”  

Even after more than 50 years in the music business, Diddley continues to break ground with lean and mean guitar sounds, original rhythms, and a larger-than-life persona.  That unmistakable pulse-quickening blues will get hearts pounding at The Paramount Theater when Bo Diddley gives a concert on Tuesday, November 7 with guests Alvin Youngblood Hart and Ruthie Foster.

Born in McComb, Mississippi in 1928, the boy known as Ellas Bates McDaniel became Bo Diddley when he took up boxing following his family’s move to Chicago.  At first music was only as a hobby for Diddley, but after playing places like the 708 Club in the early 50s, Diddley went looking for a recording contract.  He used “Uncle John,” a raunchy song in the “Dirty Dozens” tradition, for his demo, and brothers Leonard and Phil Chess of Chess Records thought it had potential.  Diddley revised the lyrics — naming the song after himself — and used maracas to emphasize the beat and the sound he was trying to create.  It took 35 takes, but they got the sound they wanted, and “Bo Diddley”/“I’m A Man” became a double-sided hit in 1955.

Diddley scored another 1955 hit, “Diddley Daddy,” and went on the road, where the “Bo Diddley Beat,” — which became a cornerstone rhythm of rock and roll— drove audiences wild.  Songs like “Mona,” “Who Do You Love?," "Road Runner," and "You Don't Love Me" were among the earliest examples of rock and roll close to its source material in rhythm and blues.  The excitement Diddley generated onstage was noted by a young Elvis Presley, bands like the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds covered his songs, and the Animals lionized him in “The Story of Bo Diddley.”  Later movies such as Trading Places (1983), Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll (1987), and Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) featured his music.

This living legend has received numerous honors in recent years.  In 1997 A Man Amongst Men, his first major label release in 20 years, was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Contemporary Blues Album.  He has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (1987), and received the Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s Pioneer Award (1996) and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences’ Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1998).   All the while Diddley continues to tour, bringing his groundbreaking sound to new generations.

Playing with Diddley on November 7 will be Alvin Youngblood Hart and Ruthie Foster. 

Alvin Youngblood Hart is known as a “musician’s musician” whose praises have been sung by everyone from Ben Harper to British guitar icons Eric Clapton and Mick Taylor.  He has received the 1997 W. C. Handy Award for Best New Artist, two Living Blues Awards, and a 2005 Grammy Award.  Hart’s appearances include London’s Royal Albert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, and the nationwide tour of The House of Blues Presents with Dr. John, Charlie Musselwhite, and Robert Jr. Lockwood.  His recordings include Big Momma’s Door, Start With The Soul, Down in the Alley, and Motivational Speaker.

Ruthie Foster’s songs are a hybrid of blues, gospel, roots and folk music delivered with a voice critics compare to Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin.  Perhaps her greatest influence was her mother Shirley Jones, who urged Foster to “Open your mouth and sing, girl!”  Foster has played with Josh White, Jr., Matt "Guitar" Murphy, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and Paul Schaffer, completed a UK tour with Eric Bibb, and appeared on PBS’s Austin City Limits.  Her albums Full Circle, Crossover, Runaway Soul, and Stages soon will be joined by The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster, slated for release in January 2007.

Seats for the blues extravaganza Bo Diddley and Friends on November 7 are $55, $50, $47, and $44.  Student rush tickets are available at The Paramount’s Box Office with a valid ID 45 minutes prior to curtain.   Tickets are available online or through The Paramount’s Box Office at 434.979.1333.