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The Bo Diddley beat is a syncopated musical rhythm that is widely used in rock and roll and pop music. The beat is named after rhythm and blues musician Bo Diddley, who introduced and popularized the beat with his self-titled debut single.
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History and composition
The Bo Diddley beat is essentially a 3-2 clave rhythm. This beat is one of the most common bell patterns found in Afro-Cuban music and can be traced as far back as sub-Saharan African music traditions. The Latin connection was so strong that Bo Diddley used maracas as a basic component of his sound. When asked how he begun to use this rhythm, Bo Diddley gave many different accounts. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Diddley said he came up with the beat after listening to gospel music in church when he was twelve years old.
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." Somewhat resembling the Shave and a Haircut rhythm, Diddley came across it while trying to play Gene Autry's version of "Jingle, Jangle, Jingle".
According to ethnomusicologists, the Bo Diddley beat is similar to a folk tradition called "hambone". Hambone is a style used by street performers who play out the beat by slapping and patting their arms, legs, chest, and cheeks while chanting rhymes. "Handboning" can also be described as a form of corpophone—using your body for percussion, excluding the voice—a technique inherent in African-American culture. The introduction of the neologism as a classificatory category was added to the conventional scheme of idiophone, membranophone, chordophone, aerophone, and electrophone by the American ethnomusicologist Dale A. Olsen. The Bo Diddley beat is also akin to the age-old rhythmic pattern best known as "shave and a haircut, two bits." In addition, this rhythm has been linked to Yoruba drumming from West Africa.
In its simplest form, the Bo Diddley beat can be counted out as either a one-bar, or a two-bar phrase. The following consists of the count in 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.
Songs using the Bo Diddley Beat
The rhythm occurs in thirteen rhythm and blues recordings made in the years 1944–55, including two by Johnny Otis from 1948. In 1952, a song with 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.
Later songs employing the Bo Diddley beat include:
More subtle uses of the Diddley beat include "Hateful" (1979) by The Clash and "How Soon Is Now?" (1985) by The Smiths.