With a distinctive rectangular shaped guitar Bo Diddely, Ellas McDaniel, gave much impetus to the bluesy rock and roll music of today. Nothing like the lute and its curvy back, light weight and delicate sounds Bo's guitar was an attack of using a single chord throughout an entire song.
"Chunk a Chunk Chunk a Chunk Chunk" rhythm beat made his music unique and simple but memorable. Many of us have played the Bo Diddely style of guitar and sang that song of the same name. Less known was he also played the violin. (see below.)
What a blast playing that style, hard and rockin'. Fun to no end.
Wikipedia has quite the story to tell about his origins and his original sound. "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 similar-shaped guitars custom-made for him by other manufacturers, he fashioned this 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.
[16] [17] 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
12-bar blues.
[18]"
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