Donnerstag, 2. Juni 2016

02.06. Charlie Watts, Othar Turner, Brian Brazil, Robert Ross, Frank "Gala" Gahler * Bo Diddley +









1908 Othar Turner*
1941 Charlie Watts*
1952 Brian Brazil*
2008 Bo Diddley+
Robert Ross*
Frank "Gala" Gahler*







Happy Birthday

 

Charlie Watts  *02.06.1941

 



Charles Robert „Charlie“ Watts (* 2. Juni 1941 in Islington, London, England) ist seit Januar 1963 Schlagzeuger der Rolling Stones, verfolgt nebenbei aber auch Soloprojekte.
Watts besuchte die Fryant Way Infants School in Kingsbury. Seit 1952 ging er auf die Tylers Croft Secondary Modern School. Mit 13 Jahren kaufte er sich ein Banjo, verlor aber schnell die Lust am Spielen und funktionierte es zu einer Trommel um. Zu Weihnachten 1955 bekam er von seinen Eltern Linda und Charles ein einfaches Schlagzeug geschenkt und fand Gefallen am Instrument. Zu dieser Zeit war er von Schlagzeuger Chico Hamilton beeinflusst. 1960 verließ Watts die Kunstschule Harrow Art School und arbeitete für eine Werbeagentur. 1961 entwarf er mit Ode To a High Flying Bird ein Kinderbuch über Charlie Parker, welches erstmals 1965 veröffentlicht wurde.
Seit 1960 spielte Watts in der Band Blues By Five. Auf ihn aufmerksam geworden, bot Alexis Korner ihm 1961 an, seiner Band Blues Incorporated als Schlagzeuger beizutreten, doch Watts musste beruflich bis Februar 1962 nach Dänemark. Nach seiner Rückkehr nach England spielte er im Trio des Komikers und Pianisten Dudley Moore, doch kurz darauf trat er Blues Incorporated bei. Bei einem Auftritt im Ealing Club 1962 traf Watts erstmals Brian Jones. Dieser wurde nun ebenfalls als Gitarrist Mitglied bei Blues Incorporated. Nach einem Auftritt im April 1962 wurde der junge Mick Jagger als Sänger der Band engagiert.
Im Juni 1962 trennten sich Jones und Jagger von Blues Incorporated und gründeten mit Keith Richards, Dick Taylor, Ian Stewart und Mick Avory die Rolling Stones. Im Dezember 1962 verließ Watts Blues Incorporated, da er sich für nicht gut genug hielt, um mit so ausgezeichneten Künstlern zusammenzuspielen. Zur gleichen Zeit wurde bei den Stones der Bassist Dick Taylor durch Bill Wyman ersetzt. Da auch Mick Avory die Stones verließ, um bei den Kinks einzusteigen, trat die Band kurzzeitig ohne Schlagzeuger auf. Nach einem „Aufnahmegespräch“ zwischen Ian Stewart und Watts traten die Rolling Stones am 12. Januar 1963 erstmals mit Charlie Watts am Schlagzeug auf – eine Besetzung, die Jahrzehnte Bestand haben sollte. Auf Grund seines trockenen, direkten Schlagzeugstils gilt er als das rhythmische Fundament der Band und wurde 1989 mit dieser in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame aufgenommen.
In den 1970er- und 1980er-Jahren war Watts lange alkoholabhängig, konnte sich aber durch Selbstdisziplin und Konsequenz erfolgreich von dieser Sucht lösen. In den 80er-Jahren tourte er mit einer eigenen Big Band, der Musikerkollegen wie Jack Bruce, Evan Parker und Courtney Pine angehörten. 2001 war er in Japan mit einem Tentett, das sich auf Jazz konzentrierte.
Seit 2010 ist Charlie Watts vermehrt mit der 2009 gegründeten Band The ABC&D of Boogie Woogie unterwegs. Die Buchstaben A, B, C und D stehen für die Anfangsbuchstaben der Vornamen der Bandmitglieder. Neben Watts sind an dem Boogie-Woogie- und Swing-Projekt die beiden Pianisten Axel Zwingenberger und Ben Waters sowie der Kontrabassist Dave Green beteiligt, mit dem Watts seit dem fünften Lebensjahr befreundet ist. Sie spielten unter anderem Konzerte in Monaco, Paris, in der Londoner Royal Festival Hall, in Hamburg, München, Prag, Monte Carlo, Graz und Bad Ischl. Ende Oktober 2010 folgte ein weiterer Auftritt im Rahmen des Festivals Steinegg Live in Steinegg bei Bozen. Auch 2011 und 2012 ging die Band auf kleinere Tourneen, 2012 trat sie dabei erstmals außerhalb Europas in New York auf.
Instrumente
Charlie Watts spielt ein Schlagzeug der Firma Gretsch, in der Konfiguration: Bass Drum, Hänge-Tom (welches er separat auf einem Ständer positioniert), Stand-Tom, Snare, Hi-Hat und vier Becken.
Privates
Watts ist seit 1964 mit seiner Frau Shirley verheiratet. Ihre Tochter wurde 1968 geboren. Er ist das einzige Mitglied der Stones, neben Keith Richards, das nur einmal geheiratet hat. Gemeinsam mit seiner Frau betreibt er in Devonshire das Vollblutaraber-Gestüt Halsdon.[1] 2004 diagnostizierte man beim ehemaligen Raucher Watts Kehlkopfkrebs. Nach einer Strahlentherapie ist er genesen und ging im August 2005 mit den Stones erneut auf Welttournee.
 http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Watts

Charles Robert "Charlie" Watts (born 2 June 1941) is an English drummer, best known as a member of The Rolling Stones. Originally trained as a graphic artist, he started playing drums in London’s rhythm and blues clubs, where he met Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards. In 1963, he joined their group, the Rolling Stones, as drummer, while doubling as designer of their record-sleeves and tour-stages. He has also toured with his own group, the Charlie Watts Quintet, and appeared at London’s prestigious jazz-club Ronnie Scott’s with the Charlie Watts Tentet.

In 2006, Watts was elected into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame; in the same year, Vanity Fair elected him into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame.

Early life

Charles Robert "Charlie" Watts was born to Charles Richard Watts, a lorry driver for a precursor of British Rail, and his wife Lillian Charlotte (née Eaves),[1] at University College Hospital, London, and raised (along with his sister Linda) in Kingsbury. He attended Tylers Croft Secondary Modern School from 1952 to 1956; as a schoolboy, he displayed a talent for art, cricket and football.[2]

As a child, Watts lived in Wembley, at 23 Pilgrims Way.[3] Wembley’s houses had been destroyed by German bombs during World War II; He and his family lived in a prefabricated home, as did many in the community.[3] Watts's neighbor Dave Green lived next door at 22 Pilgrims Way.[3] Green went on to become a jazz bass player. Green was Watts's childhood friend, and they remain friends today. Green recalls that as boys, "we discovered 78rpm records. Charlie had more records than I did... We used to go to Charlie's bedroom and just get these records out."[4] Watts' earliest records were jazz recordings; he remembers owning 78 RPM records of Jelly Roll Morton, and Charlie Parker.[4] Green recalls that Watts also "had the one with Monk and the Johnny Dodge Trio. Charlie was ahead of me in listening and acquisitions."[4] When Watts and Green were both about thirteen, Watts became interested in drumming:[4]
“     I bought a banjo, and I didn't like the dots on the neck. So I took the neck off, and at the same time I heard a drummer called Chico Hamilton, who played with Gerry Mulligan, and I wanted to play like that, with brushes. I didn't have a snare drum, so I put the banjo head on a stand.[4]     ”

Green and Watts began their musical careers together from 1958–1959 playing in a jazz band in Middlesex called the Jo Jones All Stars.[4]

Watts initially found his transition to rhythm and blues puzzling; commenting, "I went into rhythm and blues. When they asked me to play, I didn't know what it was. I thought it meant Charlie Parker, played slow.[4]

Watts' parents gave him his first drum kit in 1955; he was interested in jazz, and would practice drumming along with jazz records he collected.[5] After completing secondary school, he enrolled at Harrow Art School (now the University of Westminster), which he attended until 1960. After leaving school, Watts worked as a graphic designer for an advertising company called Charlie Daniels Studios, and also played drums occasionally with local bands in coffee shops and clubs. In 1961 he met Alexis Korner, who invited him to join his band, Blues Incorporated.[6] At that time Watts was on his way to a sojourn working as a graphic designer in Denmark, but he accepted Korner's offer when he returned to London in February 1962.[7]

Watts played regularly with Blues Incorporated and maintained a job with another advertising firm of Charles, Hobson and Grey. It was in mid-1962 that Watts first met Brian Jones, Ian "Stu" Stewart, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards, who also frequented the London rhythm and blues clubs, but it was not until January 1963 that Watts finally agreed to join The Rolling Stones.[8]

Musical career

Besides his music, Watts contributed graphic art to early Rolling Stones records such as the Between the Buttons record sleeve and was responsible for the 1975 tour announcement press conference in New York City. The band surprised the throng of waiting reporters by driving and playing "Brown Sugar" on the back of a flatbed truck in the middle of Manhattan traffic; a gimmick AC/DC copied later the same year. (Status Quo repeated the trick for the 1984 video to "The Wanderer" and U2 would later emulate it in the 2004 video for "All Because of You".) Watts remembered this was a common way for New Orleans jazz bands to promote upcoming dates. Moreover, with Jagger, he designed the elaborate stages for tours, first contributing to the lotus-shaped design of that 1975 Tour of the Americas, as well as the 1989–1990 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour, the 1997 Bridges to Babylon Tour, the 2002-2003 Licks Tour, and the 2005-2007 A Bigger Bang Tour.

Watts has been involved in many activities outside his life as a member of The Rolling Stones. In 1964, he published a cartoon tribute to Charlie Parker entitled Ode to a High Flying Bird. Although he has made his name in rock, his personal tastes focus on jazz. In the late 1970s, he joined Ian Stewart in the back-to-the-roots boogie-woogie band Rocket 88, which featured many of the UK's top jazz, rock and R&B musicians. In the 1980s, he toured worldwide with a big band that included such names as Evan Parker, Courtney Pine and Jack Bruce, who was also a member of Rocket 88. In 1991, he organised a jazz quintet as another tribute to Charlie Parker. 1993 saw the release of Warm And Tender, by the Charlie Watts Quintet,[9] which included vocalist Bernard Fowler. This same group then released Long Ago And Far Away in 1996. Both records included a collection of Great American Songbook standards. After a successful collaboration with Jim Keltner on The Rolling Stones' Bridges to Babylon, Watts and Keltner released a techno/instrumental album simply titled, Charlie Watts/Jim Keltner Project. Watts stated that even though the tracks bore such names as the "Elvin Suite" in honour of the late Elvin Jones, Max Roach and Roy Haynes, they were not copying their style of drumming, but rather capturing a feeling by those artists. Watts at Scott's was recorded with his group, "the Charlie Watts Tentet",[10] at the famous jazz club in London, Ronnie Scott's. In April 2009 he started to perform concerts with the ABC&D of Boogie Woogie together with pianists Axel Zwingenberger and Ben Waters plus his childhood friend Dave Green on bass.

In 1989, The Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the July 2006 issue of Modern Drummer magazine, Watts was voted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame along with Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Steve Gadd, Buddy Rich, and other highly esteemed drummers.

Private life and public image

On 14 October 1964, Watts married Shirley Ann Shepherd (born 11 September 1938), whom he had met before the band became successful. The couple has one daughter, Serafina, born in 1968, who in turn has given birth to Watts' only grandchild, a girl named Charlotte.

Watts has expressed a love–hate attitude toward touring. When he appeared on the BBC's Radio 4 'Desert Island Disks,[11] in February 2001, he said that he has had a compulsive habit for decades of actually sketching every new hotel room he occupies – and its furnishings. He stated that he keeps every sketch, but still doesn't know why he feels the compulsion to do this.

Watts' personal life has outwardly appeared to be substantially quieter than those of his bandmates and many of his rock-and-roll colleagues; onstage, he seems to furnish a calm and amused counterpoint to his flamboyant bandmates. Ever faithful to his wife Shirley, Watts consistently refused sexual favours from groupies on the road; in Robert Greenfield's STP: A Journey Through America with The Rolling Stones, a documentary of the 1972 American Tour, it is noted that when the group was invited to the Playboy Mansion during that tour, Watts took advantage of Hugh Hefner's game room rather than frolic with the women.

Watts has spoken openly about a period in the mid-1980s when his previously moderate use of alcohol and drugs became problematic: "[My drug and alcohol problems were] my way of dealing with [family problems]... Looking back on it, I think it was a mid-life crisis. All I know is that I became totally another person around 1983 and came out of it about 1986. I nearly lost my wife and everything over my behaviour".[12]

One anecdote relates that during the mid-1980s, an intoxicated Jagger phoned Watts' hotel room in the middle of the night asking "Where's my drummer?". Watts reportedly got up, shaved, dressed in a suit, put on a tie and freshly shined shoes, descended the stairs, and punched Jagger in the face, saying: "Don't ever call me your drummer again. You're my fucking singer!"[13]

Watts is noted for his personal wardrobe: the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph has named him one of the World's Best Dressed Men. In 2006, Vanity Fair elected Watts into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame.[14]

In June 2004, Watts was diagnosed with throat cancer, despite having quit smoking in the late 1980s, and underwent a course of radiotherapy. The cancer has since gone into remission, and he returned to recording and touring with The Rolling Stones.

Watts now lives in Dolton, a rural village in Devon, where he and wife Shirley own an Arabian horse stud farm.[15] He also owns a percentage of The Rolling Stones' various corporate entities.

Equipment

Watts plays Gretsch drums and a variety of brands of cymbals, mostly UFIP and Zildjian. His current touring drumkit consists of a 1956-7 Gretsch Round Badge including a 22" (56 cm) kick drum, a 16" floor tom, a 12" tom and a 5"×14" Drum Workshop snare drum. Cymbals he is known to use include an 18" UFIP Natural Series Fast China, a UFIP Rough Series China with rivets, a very old 18" UFIP B8 Flat Ride, an Avedis Zildjian Swish, and a very old set of hi-hats, brand unknown.[16] He also uses Remo drumheads, assorted brands of hardware, and his own Vic Firth Charlie Watts signature drumstick.

Happy Birthday Charlie Watts! 





Charlie Watts - The A, B, C & D of Boogie Woogie Live @ Blue Note Milano 27-09-2011 
Axel Zwingenberger - piano
Ben Waters - piano
Charlie Watts - batteria
Dave Green - contrabbasso


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u1Qlzidrn0 







Othar Turner   *02.06.1908

 



Othar Turner (* 2. Juni 1908 in Rankin County, Mississippi; † 26. Februar 2003 in Gravel Springs, Mississippi), bisweilen auch Otha Turner geschrieben, war ein US-amerikanischer Musiker, einer der letzten Meister auf der Fife (deutsch: Schwegel), einem Vorläufer der Querflöte. Der traditionelle Musikstil Fife and Drum gilt als einer der Ursprünge des Blues.
Turner lebte in Gravel Springs, nicht weit von seinem Geburtsort, als Farmer und Musiker. Bereits als Kind hatte er Mundharmonika gespielt. Mit 16 Jahren hörte er zum ersten Mal die Fife, gespielt von einem Nachbarn namens R. E. Williams. Gegen den Willen seiner Mutter erlernte er das Instrument und schnitt sich seine Flöten selbst aus Schilfrohr. Zu seinen musikalischen Weggefährten gehörten Sid Hemphill und Napolian Strickland, die ebenfalls die Fife spielten.
Mit seiner Band "The Rising Star Fife and Drum Band", der Freunde und Verwandte angehörten, trat Turner bei lokalen Festen auf. In den 1960ern machten sie erste Aufnahmen, die in verschiedenen Anthologien erschienen. 1978 nahm sie Alan Lomax für seine Dokumentation Land Where the Blues Began auf.
Mit der Zeit verbreitete sich der Ruf Turners und seiner Musik. Anfang der 1970er spielte er erstmals auf Blues- und Folk-Festivals und machte in einer Fernsehsendung für Kinder mit. Seit den 1950ern hatte Turner sein eigenes jährliches Festival zum Labor Day, das sich vom Familien-Picknick zum Geheimtipp einer wachsenden Fangemeinde entwickelte. Bei diesem Ereignis schlachtete Turner jedes Mal selbst eine Ziege, deren Fleisch er anschließend in einem großen Kessel kochte.
1998 erschien Turners erstes Album Everybody Hollerin' Goat, das begeistert aufgenommen und vom Magazin Rolling Stone als eines der wesentlichen Alben des Jahrzehnts ausgewählt wurde. 1999 folgte das Album From Senegal to Senatobia, das den afrikanischen Ursprüngen der Fife-and-Drum-Musik nachspürte. Der Song Shimmy She Wobble vom Album Everybody Hollerin' Goat war 2002 in Martin Scorseses Film Gangs of New York zu hören.
Othar Turner erhielt in seinen späten Jahren zahlreiche Auszeichnungen. Er starb im Februar 2003 an den Folgen einer Lungenentzündung. Am gleichen Tag starb seine Tochter Bernice an Krebs. Bei der Totenfeier für die beiden spielte Turners Enkelin Sharde Thomas die Fife, so wie sie es von ihrem Großvater gelernt hatte.

Othar "Otha" Turner (June 2, 1907 – February 26, 2003)[1] was one of the last well-known fife players in the vanishing American fife and drum blues tradition.[2] His music was also part of the African-American genre known as Hill country blues.

Early life and education

Othar Turner, nicknamed "Otha", was born in Madison County, Mississippi in 1907. He moved further north, living his entire life in northern Mississippi hill country as a farmer near Como, Mississippi in Panola County. In 1923, aged 16, he learned to play fifes fashioned out of rivercanes and gradually learned other instruments as well. Public schools were segregated and historically underfunded for African Americans.

Musicmaking

In the late 1960s and 1970s, scholars from nearby colleges made field recordings of Turner and his friends' music, as examples of local traditions, but did not release these. Turner's Rising Star Fife and Drum Band (which consisted of friends and relatives) primarily played at farm parties.[2] Turner, along with bandmates Jessie Mae Hemphill and Abe Young, performed as the "Mississippi Fife and Drum Corps" on an episode of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood that aired on November 18, 1982.[3]

The group began to receive wider recognition for their Hill country blues in the 1990s. They were included in Mississippi Blues in Memphis Vol. 1 in 1993, followed by inclusion in many other blues collections. They released their own critically acclaimed album, Everybody Hollerin' Goat (1998). This was followed by From Senegal to Senatobia in 1999, which combined bluesy fife and drum music with musicians credited as the "Afrossippi Allstars".

The title, Everybody Hollerin' Goat, refers to a tradition Turner began in the late 1950s of hosting Labor Day picnics. He would personally butcher a goat and cook it in an iron kettle, and his band would provide musical entertainment. The picnics began as a neighborhood and family gathering. The event grew over the years to attract musical fans, first from Memphis, Tennessee, and later from all over the world.

The song, "Shimmy She Wobble", from Everybody Hollerin' Goat was featured in the 2002 film, Gangs of New York. Martin Scorsese, the film's director, featured Turner in his 2003 PBS mini-series The Blues, discussing the link between African rhythms and American blues. The concept was continued on the 2003 album Mississippi to Mali by Corey Harris. The album was dedicated to Turner, who died a week before he was scheduled to record for the album. His granddaughter and protégé Shardé Thomas, then 12 years old, filled in for the recording sessions.

Othar Turner died in Gravel Springs, Mississippi, aged 95, on February 26, 2003.[1] His daughter, Bernice Turner Pratcher, who had been living in a nursing home because of terminal breast cancer, died the same day, aged 48. A joint funeral service was held on March 4, 2003, in Como, Mississippi. A procession leading to the cemetery was led by the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band, with his granddaughter Shardé Thomas, then 13 years old, at its head playing the fife.
Films

    Gravel Springs Fife and Drum (1971). Filmed by Bill Ferris, recorded by David Evans, and edited by Judy Peiser. (Watch film: Gravel Springs Fife and Drum

Otha Turner "My Babe" with Luther Dickinson .mp4 










Brian Brazil  *02.06.1952

 



Harmonica Master Brian Brazil has two distinct recognizable qualities: his signature trademark of playing intricate, melodic, fiery solos and a commanding baritone voice full of powerful soul. An accomplished in demand professional stage performer, studio musician and touring artist and arranger, this dynamics entertainer has appeared on Television shows, recorded on Television and film soundtracks, played dozens of County / State Fairs, Music Festivals and has been a member of 18 bands including the celebrated Palomino Club House Band.
His control of a Diatonic Harmonica is so articulate that it is often mistaken for a Chromatic Harmonica. Comparing him to other Harmonica players isn’t easy due the diversity of musical styles he has mastered including Blues, Country, Bluegrass, Rock, Soul and Roots music. Most influential in his style are Norton Buffalo, Charlie McCoy, Toots Theilmans, Paul Butterfield, James Cotton, Little Walter Jacobs, and Charlie Musselwhite.
Varied career highlights include opening shows for dozens of major recording and touring artists like Bo Diddley, Albert Collins, Asleep At The Wheel, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Mel Tillis, as well as sharing the stage with other greats like Albert King, Albert Lee, Coco Montoya, and Don Preston. Extended road tours have landed him noteworthy applause across the US and Europe.
Brian Brazil is being added to many International Blues Radio Station play list while continuing to grow a global fan base encompassing Blues and Harmonica lovers of all ages.
He’s consistently charted in the top 40 each of the past 38 months on Our Stage.com. He placed #1 with his version of Messin’ With The Kid, he also achieved the top ten ranking 13 times and top 40 status 24 times with songs below.
“Treat Her Right”
“Messin’ With Kid”
“Lost In Hells Kitchen”
“Alligator Alley (Broke Down Blues)”
Brian is actively booking Clubs, Private Parties, Events and Music Festivals in the Mid-Atlantic States, US and Europe. For band bookings please use the contact page of the website.
  As of July 20th, 2013 Brian was recognized and inducted by the Blues Hall Of Fame as a “Master Blues Artist”



Treat Her Right 
The song Treat Her Right with Brian Brazil singing and playing Harmonica as the main lead instrument.










Robert Ross  *02.06.




Robert Ross is an American blues singer, songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and leader of the Robert Ross Band.
Ross was nominated six times for a New York Music Award before winning for Best Blues Artist in 1989. He has also won several grants for integrating music into education programs. Ross' original song, "Sittin' in the Jailhouse",[1] was recorded in 1980 by Johnny Winter and appeared on Winter's album, Raisin' Cain[2] and Winter's compilation, A Rock 'n' Roll Collection.
As co-leader of the Dicey Ross Band with harmonica player Bill Dicey, Ross recorded with Big Joe Turner in 1976 for Spivey Records, a Brooklyn record label owned by Victoria Spivey and Lenny Kunstadt. Ross has also worked with John Lee Hooker, Lightnin' Hopkins, Brownie McGhee, Memphis Slim, Sunnyland Slim, Otis Rush, Dr. John, Bobby Lewis, Pinetop Perkins, Cyril Neville, Big Mama Thornton, Louisiana Red, J.B. Hutto, Eddie Kirkland, Floyd Jones, and Homesick James. The Robert Ross Band tours frequently and has released two albums in Europe on Brambus Records.
Ross' diverse repertory includes boogie woogie, soul, blues, rock and roll and jazz.

Robert Ross Band 




You Can't Have Your Cake 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEz2avm0wZM 







Frank "Gala" Gahler  *02.06.

 



Im Jahre 1984 wurde Frank 'Gala' Gahler zur Armee eingezogen und verließ daraufhin die Gruppe NO55. Nach seiner Armeezeit war eine Rückkehr zu NO55 aber nicht möglich, da das Management der Band beschloss, ohne 'Gala' weiter zu arbeiten. Kurzentschlossen suchte sich der Musiker ein paar Mitstreiter, um ein eigenes Bandprojekt zu gründen. Zu 'Gala' gesellten sich der Bassist Werner Kuhlee, der Gitarrist Jens Schultz, der Keyboarder Reinhard Richter und der ehemalige Monokel-Schlagzeuger Mario Janik. In dieser Quintett-Besetzung wurde die Gruppe GALA gegründet.
Schnell entstanden die ersten eigenen Titel. Musikalisch war GALA im Genre Rock und Rhythm & Blues zuhause. Die Kompositionen und Texte stammten allesamt von Frank Gahler. Auch eine Zusammenarbeit mit Michael Sellin als Texter war angedacht. Innerhalb kürzester Zeit hatten sich die Musiker ein eigenes Live-Programm erarbeitet. Es war eine Mischung aus überwiegend eigenen Titlen und ausgewählten Fremdtiteln, die die Band nachspielte. Nachdem die Gruppe GALA schon mehrere Konzerte in der DDR gespielt hatte, schickte die Gastspieldirektion die junge Band 1985 auf Konzertreise in die damalige Sowjetunion. Dort kam es zu einem tragischen Zwischenfall. Der Band-LKW, der das komplette Equipment von GALA transportierte, hatte auf einer Autobahn in der UdSSR einen schweren Unfall. Der Lastwagen kippte um und die geladenen Instrumente und die Technik (Mischpult, etc.) wurden dabei komplett zerstört. Die Gruppe GALA war ab diesem Moment praktisch nicht mehr "spielfähig". Unstimmigkeiten unter den Musikern kamen erschwerend hinzu, so dass sich GALA kurz darauf auflöste. Frank Gahler stieg dann doch wieder bei NO55 ein, und auch die anderen Musiker suchten sich ein neues Betätigungsfeld.
Nach der Wende versuchte Frank Gahler sein Projekt GALA wiederzubeleben. Noch zu DDR-Zeiten siedelte er in die BRD über. Dort angekommen knüpfte 'Gala' einen Kontakt zum damaligen Manager der Ersten Allgemeinen Verunsicherung, Hage Hein, den er bei einer gemeinsamen Mugge in Berlin kennengelernt hatte. Hage Hein war von Frank Gahlers Arbeit als Musiker sehr angetan und kümmerte sich darum, dass er im Westen weiter Musik machen konnte. Es kam zu einem Plattenvertrag mit der Plattenfirma Intercord in Stuttgart. Die Intercord stellte Frank eine Band zusammen und fand in Mick Jackson auch einen namhaften Produzenten, der für die Band im Studio an den Reglern sitzen sollte. Innerhalb kürzester Zeit wurden Songs geschrieben und im Studio aufgenommen. In einem Interview für die Radiosendung von Deutsche Mugge sagte Frank Gahler, dass er mit dem Endprodukt überhaupt nicht zufrieden war. Die Platte bewegte sich mehr im Bereich Pop und hatte für seinen Geschmack zu wenig rockige Momente. Auch die bunte Zusammenstellung der Band, in der einige Musiker nicht aus Deutschland kamen, ließ eine erfolgreiche Zukunft für GALA nicht zu. Es erschien letztlich ein Album und eine Single, dann löste sich GALA wieder auf. Frank Gahler stieg einige Zeit später wieder als Sänger bei der Gruppe MONOKEL ein.
Zur Zeit ist Frank Gahler wieder im Studio und arbeitet an neuem Songmaterial. Ein neues Album ist für 2013 angekündigt, aber bereits im Herbst 2012 ging er mit seiner neuen Band auf eine kleine Tournee. Neben ihm gehören Tobi Hillig (g, voc), Calle Große (g, voc), Bert Eulitz (bg, voc), beathoven (key, kl, acc, voc) und Micha Joch (dr, perc) zur neuen Besetzung.


Wie Gala über den Schulchor zur Musik kam, Hansi Biebl traf, bei MONOKEL seine Einstufung als Profimusiker erhielt und offizieller Bandchef wurde...

Schöne Stimmung, denk’ ich mir gerade.

Dem Morgen graute schon vor etwa einer Stunde und nur die Luft schmeckt noch immer nach dem gestrigen Abend, während am Himmel eine violette Flüssigkeit auf uns zu wabert, in der sich ein immer größer werdender Spritzer Orange breit macht. Mickrige Sonnenstrahlen, die sich schüchtern durch das müde Fenster in unser Leben schummeln, tauchen das chaotische Durcheinander auf dem Küchentisch in ein goldiges, unschuldiges Licht. Wie aus weiter Ferne höre ich das Orchester dieses neuen Tages schon mal zaghaft seine Instrumente stimmen.

Bereits vor Stunden hat sich Renee lachend, indem sie kokett den Kopf in den Nacken geworfen hat, in Richtung Wendeltreppe verabschiedet. Basti und ich sind schon seit Dunkelzeiten die Letzten, und selbst die herumliegenden Gitarren laufen nicht mehr erhöhte Gefahr, von Trunkenbolden zertrampelt zu werden. Mit stoischer Gelassenheit bemerke ich, wie mir vom Singen und Saufen der Hals weh tut und trotzdem nippen wir noch müde an dem dritten, aber nun wirklich allerletzten Scheidebecher, ohne den Geschmacksrezeptoren eine wirkliche Herausforderung zu bieten. Selig wie zwei Kinder, denen man die geklauten Backförmchen zurückgegeben hat, grinsen wir in die sich breit machende Stille hinein und denken auch nicht im Entferntesten an die längst überfällige Mütze Schlaf.

Sebastian Baur - mannomann, wie lange kenn’ ich diesen niemals erwachsen werdenden Bengel eigentlich schon? Als wir uns begegneten, waren wir gerade mal siebzehn Jahre jung und konnten uns auf Anhieb nicht ausstehen. Wir trafen uns bei irgendwelchen Parties oder in dunklen, verrauchten Clubs und glaubten beide in dem jeweils anderen ein arrogantes Großmaul sehen zu müssen. Wie Recht wir hatten!! Allerdings hat sich diese gegenseitige Abneigung dann aber sehr schnell gelegt! Jedenfalls ist heute nicht nur sein 49. Geburtstag, sondern auch der Tag, an dem wir nun aber WIRKLICH beschlossen haben, so was wie ’n Buch über all den Mist, den wir in den letzten 30 Jahren erlebt haben, zu schreiben.

Wie oft sitze ich nämlich bei Parties oder anderen Gelegenheiten mit Freunden oder guten Bekannten zusammen und gebe die eine oder andere Anekdote aus meinem Leben zum Besten und wie oft muss ich dann hören, dass diese Geschichten ja doch eigentlich aufgeschrieben gehören. Ich fang’ damit schon mal an…

BLUESHARP

Genau genommen, fängt ja meine Beziehung zu der aufregenden Welt der Livemusik ’n bisschen vor der Begegnung mit Basti an. Klar, ich hab’ immer schon rumgefummelt auf der Klampfe und gesungen hab’ ich schon als Knirps im Schulchor. Aber so richtig nervös wurde ich, als ich mit der Mundharmonika ein Verhältnis anfing. Mein Freund Peter, oder Olaf, oder Micha - na, irgendeiner meiner damaligen Kumpels - brachte nämlich ’ne richtige Hohner Bluesharp aus Budapest mit und es klang einfach nur noch schauderhaft, was der mit dem Teil anstellte. Meine schon damals sehr stürmische Natur ließ es einfach nicht zu, dass der ansonsten eigentlich nette, aber in diesem Fall doch offensichtlich sehr untalentierte Peterolafmicha, dem kleinen, unschuldigen Instrument solche Pein zufügen durfte. Ergo entwand ich ihm den Hobel und machte mich tapfer daran, demselbigen akzeptable Töne zu entlocken. Au Backe! Ich habe meine Umwelt wohl einige Wochen und Monate schwer genervt, bis ich einigermaßen anhörbares aus dem erstaunlichen kleinen Ding rausgeblasen habe. Selbst bei Spaziergängen in Wald und Flur trötete ich wie ein Geisteskranker auf dem Gerät rum, was uns zumindest garantierte, von schlecht gelaunten Wildschweinrotten weiträumig umgangen zu werden. Aber siehe da, eines Tages fing es an zu klingen und mein Interesse bezog sich fortan auf alles, was mit diesem Instrument und der dazugehörigen Musik zu tun hatte. Als wäre der buchstäbliche Knoten geplatzt, hörte ich wie besessen Leute wie Muddy Waters, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Big Bill Broonzy, Robert Johnson, Champion Jack Dupree, Willie Dixon und last but auf alle Fälle not least - Sonnyboy Williamson. Ich glaube, ohne viel zu übertreiben, sagen zu können,dass ich gerade von Sonnyboy Williamson am meisten Harp spielen gelernt habe.Mein Gott, wie oft stand der alte Mann neben meinem Bett und hat’s mir mit der Kelle gegeben! Jedenfalls öffneten sich für mich damals Türen und Tore, von deren Existenz ich vorher nicht mal was geahnt hatte.
Wie schon erwähnt, ich hab’ mich immer schon mit Musik beschäftigt - war mit Begeisterung im Schulchor, mit acht Jahren wurde ich zum Geigenunterricht geschickt (gähn!) und mit 13 begann ich von einem guten Freund - Norbert Goretzki - (wo der jetzt wohl steckt?), Gitarre zu lernen. Ich interessierte mich für irische Folklore, war verrückt nach Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Led Zeppelin waren meine Familienmitglieder und Hendrix, Cream und Black Sabbath lieferten den Soundtrack für die vielen Stummfilme, die bei leicht verwirrten, aufmüpfigen Jugendlichen so ablaufen. - Alles Super - ABER DIESER BLUES…Plötzlich begriff ich, woher all diese geile, kraftvolle Musik, die mich kirre machte, herkam und mir war klar: DISS MUSSTE MACHEN, GALA!!





Mr.Speiches Monokel Blues Band feat. Frank Gala Gahler 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=10&v=48WjmS0_8rg 



Ostrock Live: NO 55 spielt "Am Fenster" (City) 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=16&v=MwZLLjXnOOM 






R.I.P.

 

Bo Diddley  +02.06.2008

 



Bo Diddley (* 30. Dezember 1928 in McComb, Mississippi; † 2. Juni 2008 in Archer, Florida) war ein US-amerikanischer Rock 'n' Roll- und Bluesmusiker. Diddley gilt als ein Pionier des Rock 'n' Roll.
Bo Diddley wurde auf einer kleinen Farm in der Nähe der Stadt McComb im Bundesstaat Mississippi als Ellas Otha Bates (nach anderen Quellen auch Otha Ellas) geboren. Da seine Mutter ihn nicht großziehen konnte, adoptierte ihn ihre Cousine Gussie McDaniel, deren Nachnamen er annahm. Als Diddley sieben Jahre alt war, zog die Familie nach Chicago.
Zunächst lernte Diddley Geige spielen, mit zwölf Jahren bekam er von seiner Schwester Lucille eine einfache Gibson-Gitarre zum Üben geschenkt.[1] Gegen Ende seiner Schulzeit gründete er mit zwei Freunden die Band The Hipsters und spielte mit ihnen auf der Straße. Nach der Schule arbeitete er zunächst als Zimmermann und Mechaniker.
Karriere
Diddleys Band The Hipsters wurden im Laufe der Zeit immer populärer. Im Alter von 19 Jahren bekam er ein Engagement im 708 Club in Chicago. Dank seines leistungsstarken Verstärkers, seines einzigartigen Stils und seiner ungewöhnlichen Gitarre, die er mit einem aus einer alten Uhr und Autoteilen selbstgebauten Tremologerät erweitert hatte, erregte er beträchtliches Aufsehen. 1954 verließen Jackson und Williams die Band und wurden durch James Bradford und einen gewissen Buttercup ersetzt. Hinzu kamen noch Billy Boy Arnold, Clifton James und Jerome Green.
Durch Billy Boy Arnold versuchte Bo Diddley bei verschiedenen Plattenfirmen unterzukommen. Er schaffte es schließlich mit seinen beiden Stücken Bo Diddley und I’m a Man bei Chess Records. Auf dieser Single wirkten auch Willie Dixon und Otis Spann mit. Aufgrund des Erfolges spielte er landesweit einige Konzerte, unter anderem im Apollo Theater in New York City, wo er den bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt gehaltenen Zuschauerrekord von Sammy Davis Junior brach. In den folgenden Jahren war er immer wieder in den Charts zu hören und entwickelt sich zu einem vielseitigen Musiker.
1958 fertigte er für sich eine E-Gitarre mit rechteckigem Korpus an. Dazu nahm er den Hals einer Gretsch-Gitarre samt Kopfplatte und Griffbrett sowie die Elektrik, Brücke und Saitenhalter und montierte diese Bauteile auf einen flachen Quader aus Bakelit; dieses eigenwillig gestaltete Instrument wurde zu seinem Markenzeichen.[2] Anscheinend favorisierte Diddley die rechteckige Form, die an die im Blues ursprüngliche Cigar Box Gitarre angelehnt war, eine ursprünglich aus Armut entstandene Form der Gitarre, bei der der Korpus aus einer Holzschachtel, einer Zigarrenschachtel, gefertigt wurde.[3]
Ab 1959 spielte Bo Diddley auch mit Peggy Jones alias „Lady Bo“ zusammen, einer Absolventin der New Yorker Musikschule. Mit ihr erweiterte er das Spektrum seiner Songs abermals. 1960 wechselte er nach Washington, D.C. Ab dieser Zeit durfte er auch seine Musik selbst produzieren – eine in dieser Zeit für einen farbigen Musiker ungewöhnliche musikalische Freiheit, die sonst nur noch James Brown genoss. 1962 hatte Bo Diddley mit dem Song You Can’t Judge a Book By the Cover (Dixon) seinen vorerst letzten Hit. Unter seinem bürgerlichen Namen Ellas McDaniel schrieb er auch Songs wie Mona, der von den Troggs, Tom Petty und den Rolling Stones eingespielt wurde. Vorherrschend ist ein bestimmter Rhythmus, der als „Bo Diddley Beat“ bezeichnet wird oder auch als "salesman's knock" (weil die reisenden Händler in dieser Weise an die Haustüren zu klopfen pflegten). Beispiele für diesen synkopischen Rhythmus (stroke/stroke/stroke/rest/stroke/stroke) sind Diddley-Kompositionen wie Bo Diddley,[4] aber auch Magic Carpet Ride [5] von Steppenwolf, Magic Bus [6] von The Who und Not fade away[7], ein Song von Buddy Holly der vor allem durch die frühen Rolling Stones bekannt wurde.
Ab Ende der 1960er geriet er, wie viele andere Bluesmusiker auch, etwas ins musikalische Abseits. Trotzdem veröffentlichte er weiterhin Alben. Diese entstanden zusammen mit bekannten Kollegen wie Little Walter, Muddy Waters und Howlin’ Wolf. Beim Toronto Peace Festival 1969 trat er unter anderem neben John Lennons Plastic Ono Band, Chuck Berry und Jerry Lee Lewis auf. 1972 war er einer der Top-Acts der London Rock And Roll Show im berühmten Wembley-Stadion. Auch in den weiteren 1970ern blieb der Einfluss von Bo Diddley ständig präsent. Zahlreiche Musiker aus der Punk- und New-Wave-Szene griffen auf seine Stücke zurück.
1987 wurde Diddley in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame und 2004 in die Blues Hall of Fame aufgenommen. Gelegentlich übernahm er Nebenrollen in Filmen, wie 1983 die des Pfandleihers in Die Glücksritter. Im Film Blues Brothers 2000 trat er als Musiker auf; 2003 hatte er einen Gastauftritt in der US-amerikanischen Sitcom Immer wieder Jim.[8]
Krankheit und Tod
Am 13. Mai 2007 erlitt Bo Diddley nach einem Konzert in Council Bluffs, Iowa, einen Schlaganfall, der sein Sprachzentrum stark beeinträchtigte.[9] Am 29. August 2007 erlitt er einen Herzinfarkt und musste erneut ins Krankenhaus eingeliefert werden. Am 2. Juni 2008 starb Diddley im Alter von 79 Jahren in seinem Haus in Florida an Herzversagen.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Diddley 

Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American R&B and Chicago Blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter and music producer (usually as Ellas McDaniel). He was also known as The Originator because of his key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll, and rock, influencing a host of acts, including The Animals, Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Parliament Funkadelic, The Velvet Underground, The Who, The Yardbirds, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Eric Clapton,[1] Elvis Presley,[2] and The Beatles,[3] among others.[4]

He introduced insistent, driving rhythms and a hard-edged electric guitar sound on a wide-ranging catalog of songs, along with African rhythms and a signature beat (a simple five-accent clave rhythm) that remains a cornerstone of hip hop, rock and pop.[3][4][5] In recognition, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation[4][6] and a Grammy Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He was also known for his technical innovations, including his trademark rectangular guitar.

Life
Early life and career

Born in McComb, Mississippi, as Ellas Otha Bates,[7] he was adopted and raised by his mother's cousin, Gussie McDaniel, whose surname he assumed, becoming Ellas McDaniel. In 1934, the McDaniel family moved to the largely black South Side area of Chicago, where the young man dropped the name Otha and became known as Ellas McDaniel, until his musical ambitions demanded that he take on a more catchy identity. In Chicago, he was an active member of his local Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he studied the trombone and the violin, becoming proficient enough on the latter for the musical director to invite him to join the orchestra, with which he performed until the age of 18. He was more impressed, however, by the pulsating, rhythmic music he heard at a local Pentecostal Church, and he also became interested in the guitar.[8][9]

Inspired by a concert where he saw John Lee Hooker perform,[4] he supplemented his work as a carpenter and mechanic with a developing career playing on street corners with friends, including Jerome Green (c. 1934–1973),[10] in a band called The Hipsters (later 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.[11][unreliable source?]During the summer of 1943–44, he played at the Maxwell Street market in a band with Earl Hooker.[12] 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).[13][14] Williams later played lead guitar on "Who Do You Love?" (1956).[13] In 1951 he landed a regular spot at the 708 Club on Chicago's South Side,[11] 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.

Stage name

McDaniel adopted the stage name Bo Diddley. The origin of the name is somewhat unclear, as several differing stories and claims exist. Diddley claims that his peers gave him the nickname, which he first suspected to be an insult.[15] Bo Diddley himself said that the name first belonged to a singer his adoptive mother was familiar with, while harmonicist Billy Boy Arnold once said in an interview that it was originally the name of a local comedian that Leonard Chess borrowed for the song title, and artist name, for Diddley's first single. Guitar craftsman Ed Roman reported that another (unspecified) source says it was his nickname as a Golden Gloves boxer.[16]

A "diddley bow" is a typically homemade American string instrument of African origin, probably influenced by instruments found on the coast of west Africa.[17]

The American slang phrase bo diddly meaning "absolutely nothing" goes back possibly to the early 20th century or earlier. Diddly is a truncation of diddly-squat, retaining the same meaning[18] of "nothing"[19] and bo is an intensifier.[20]
Success in the 1950s and 1960s

On November 20, 1955, he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, a hugely popular television variety show, where he managed to infuriate the host. "I did two songs and he got mad," Diddley later recalled. "Ed Sullivan said that I was one of the first colored boys to ever double-cross him. Said that I wouldn't last six months". The show had requested that he sing the Merle Travis-penned Tennessee Ernie Ford hit "Sixteen Tons", but when he appeared on stage, he sang "Bo Diddley" instead. This substitution resulted in his being banned from further appearances.

The request had come about because Sullivan's people heard Diddley casually singing "Sixteen Tons" in the dressing room. Diddley's accounts of the event were inconsistent.[21]

Diddley was an excellent storyteller whose stories varied from time to time. He contended to friends and family, however, that he was not trying to double-cross Sullivan, and attributed the "misunderstanding" to the fact that when he saw "Bo Diddley" on a cue-card, he was under the impression he was to perform two songs: "Bo Diddley" and "Sixteen Tons".

Chess included Diddley's recording of "Sixteen Tons" on the album Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger,[22] which was originally released in 1960.[23]

He continued to have hits through the rest of the 1950s and into the 1960s, including "Pretty Thing" (1956), "Say Man" (1959), and "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" (1962). He released a string of albums whose titles, including Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger and Have Guitar, Will Travel, bolstered his self-invented legend.[11] Between 1958 and 1963, Checker Records released 11 full-length albums by Bo Diddley. Although he broke through as a crossover artist with white audiences (appearing at the Alan Freed concerts, for example) during the early 1960s,[11] he rarely tailored his compositions to teenage concerns. The album title Surfing with Bo Diddley was a boast about his influence on surf guitarists.

In 1963, he starred in a UK concert tour with the Everly Brothers and Little Richard. The Rolling Stones. Still barely known outside London at that time, he appeared as a supporting act on the same bill.

In addition to the many songs Diddley recorded, he 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.[24] He also wrote "Mama (Can I Go Out)" which would become a minor hit for pioneering female Rockabilly singer Jo Ann Campbell and featured in the 1959 Rock & Roll film Go Johnny Go, in which Campbell performs the song.

Bo Diddley long included women in his band: "The Duchess" Norma-Jean Wofford, Gloria Jolivet, Peggy Jones (a.k.a. "Lady Bo," a rare, for the time, female lead guitarist), Cornelia Redmond (a.k.a. Cookie), and Debby Hastings, who led his band for the final 25 years of his performing career. After moving from his home in 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 he produced and recorded his valet, Marvin Gaye. The Diddley-penned, "Wyatt Earp" was Gaye's first single released on Okeh Records, since the Chess brothers did not want to release the record. Also during this time, Moonglows founder Harvey Fuqua who sang background on many of Diddley's home studio recordings was introduced to Gaye, and asked him to join the Moonglows. When Fuqua went to Motown, Gaye followed.[4]

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.

Bo Diddley spent some years in New Mexico, living 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.[25] In the late 1970s, Diddley left Los Lunas and 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, New Mexico 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.

Bo Diddley battled sportswear brand Nike in his later years over alleged copyright infringement, specifically over the slogan/phrase "YOU DON'T KNOW DIDDLEY." When he was 74, Bo had worked with Nike on a commercial, but did not feel that Nike should use the slogan, which he had previously used. Nike and Bo could not agree on terms for the use of the phrase but Nike used it anyways. That is when Bo decided to sue Nike.[26]

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.[27] 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.[28] 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).[29] The stroke was followed by a heart attack, which he suffered in Gainesville, Florida, on August 28, 2007.[30]

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.[31]

Death

Bo Diddley died on June 2 2008 of heart failure at his home in Archer, Florida.[32][33] 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.'"[34]

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.[35][36] 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.[37]

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".[1]

The documentary film Cheat You Fair: The Story of Maxwell Street by director Phil Ranstrom features Bo Diddley's last on-camera interview.[38]

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.[39]
    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.[citation needed]

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".[40]

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.[41]

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"..[42] In an interview with Holger Petersen, on Saturday Night Blues on CBC Radio in the fall of 2006[43] 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.[44] 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.[45] Tamlyn found this rhythm in 13 rhythm and blues recordings made in the years 1944–55, including two by Johnny Otis from 1948.[46]

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."[47] 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.[48] 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".[49] 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.[50]
"Bo Diddley beat"[50]/Son clave About this sound 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.[51][52] 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.[53]

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".


Bo Diddley - I'm a Man 








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