[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9] [House] [Pages 11842-11844] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]SALUTING THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF THE LATE BO DIDDLEY Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1251) saluting the life and music of the late Otha Ellas ``Bo Diddley'' Bates, guitar virtuoso and rock and roll pioneer, whose music continues to influence generations of musicians. The Clerk read the title of the resolution. The text of the resolution is as follows: H. Res. 1251 Whereas Bo Diddley, a founder of the rock and roll genre, helped to reshape the sound of popular music worldwide by melding blues, Southern gospel, rhythm and blues, and African American culture into a new genre that continues to influence popular music to this day; Whereas Bo Diddley was born as Otha Ellas Bates on December 30, 1928, in McComb, Mississippi, grew up on the South Side of Chicago, studied classical violin from the age of 7 through the age of 15, and, strongly influenced by the music of John Lee Hooker, started playing the guitar at the age of 12; Whereas Otha Ellas Bates adopted ``Bo Diddley'' as his stage name while performing on the South Side of Chicago; Whereas Bo Diddley reshaped the sound of popular music, recording such tracks as ``Bo Diddley'' and ``I'm A Man'', both becoming number 1 hits; Whereas Bo Diddley's career spanned several decades, spawning hits such as ``Who Do You Love'', ``Mona'', ``Crackin' Up'', ``Say, Man'', and ``Road Runner''; Whereas Bo Diddley and his famous ``Bo Diddley beat'' has influenced, and continues to influence, generations of musicians, from Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley to The Rolling Stones, The Clash, Bruce Springsteen, The Smiths, U2, and The Beatles; Whereas Bo Diddley was a loving father to his 4 children and is survived by 15 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and 3 great-great grandchildren; Whereas Bo Diddley, in his later years, toured with Joe Strummer and The Clash, as well as playing at the inaugurations of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton; Whereas Bo Diddley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, won a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 1998, and was inducted into the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame as a musician of lasting historical importance; and Whereas, with the death of Bo Diddley on June 2, 2008, at his home in Archer, Florida, the Nation has lost one of its most influential rock and roll and blues guitarists: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives-- (1) honors the life and contributions of Bo Diddley; (2) recognizes and honors Bo Diddley for his invaluable contributions to American culture; (3) recommits itself to ensuring that musical artists such as Bo Diddley receive fair protection under the copyright laws for their contributions to American culture; and (4) extends condolences to his family on the death of this remarkable and talented man. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Zoe Lofgren) and the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King) each will control 20 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California. {time} 1600 General Leave Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from California? There was no objection. Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today we honor the life and musical legacy of Bo Diddley, a founding father of rock and roll, a guitarist who has influenced generations of musicians, who no doubt will continue to do so for generations to come. This resolution was introduced by the chairman of the full Judiciary Committee, Mr. Conyers, who was unable to be here in time to present it himself. I am honored to note that Bo Diddley was born Otha Ellas Bates in the small town of McComb, Mississippi. He moved as a young boy to Chicago, where he initially studied classical violin. But at age 12, he heard John Lee Hooker play ``Boogie Chillen'' and found his true calling, the electric guitar. He got the nickname, by which he will ever be known, as a teenager from a girl in his neighborhood. He said she meant it as a compliment to his boxing skill. After years playing music with friends on the South Side of Chicago, first on street corners, later at the 708 Club, Bo Diddley and his band made their first record in 1955. Vee-Jay Records had turned them down, who said the music was just too strange. But they walked across the street to Chess, who signed them up on the spot. The song, titled ``Bo Diddley,'' became an instant hit, reaching number 2 on the charts. Later that year, he was invited to perform on TV on the Ed Sullivan Show. For some reason, Ed Sullivan chose to have him play a Tennessee Ernie Ford song, ``16 Tons.'' Bo Diddley [[Page 11843]] didn't know that song. So the show's crew spent 2 hours playing him the record and rehearsing it with him and made cue cards with the lyrics for him. But what the audience got to hear that night was ``Bo Diddley.'' And when the show's producer asked him what went wrong, he said, ``Man, maybe that was `16 Tons' on those cards, but all I saw was `Bo Diddley.' '' Although Ed Sullivan didn't plan for it to be, that was the first rock and roll performance on TV, a year before Elvis Presley made his appearance on the show. Bo Diddley had several other songs reach the top of the charts. He became as well known as any recording artist in America. But he contributed so much more than that, and it would be hard to overstate his importance to the music world. He quite literally played to his own beat, actually called the ``Bo Diddley beat.'' And to this day, that beat is a rock and roll staple. You hear it in the music of Buddy Holly, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, and countless others. But Bo Diddley was no mere one-beat wonder. He introduced a rich complexity of driving rhythms and cross-rhythms, building on African American traditions from the Cuban clave, to the hambone of the Chicago street, to the shout of the church. He not only laid the cornerstone for rock and roll, he also laid the groundwork for rap music and, by mixing in elements of classical violin technique, also for funk. He was also a pioneer in the use of reverb, tremolo, sustain, distortion and feedback, all essential ingredients in heavy metal and psychedelic rock. To help round out the Bo Diddley beat with what he called ``that freight train sound,'' he persuaded Jerome Green to set aside the tuba and take up the maracas and added Billy Boy Arnold on the harmonica. His band may also have been the first to feature a woman on guitar, first Peggy Jones, then known on stage as ``Lady Bo,'' in the late 1950s, and then when she left, Norma Jean Wofford, a.k.a. ``the Duchess.'' He also invented two well-known guitar designs, the square guitar, and the Flying V. And he may have been the first to build his own home recording studio, right here in Washington, DC. As the preeminent rock historian Robert Palmer observed a few years ago, and I quote, ``If the musical copyright laws of the United States more accurately reflected the way American vernacular music is created and disseminated, Bo Diddley would be a wealthy man today.'' But Bo Diddley never did become a wealthy man. Despite all his hard work and his invaluable cultural contributions, he had to stay on the road right up until the time a stroke forced him to retire last year at age 78. The fact that he reaped so little from all that he had sowed helped spur him in later years to become a tireless advocate for educating musicians on their rights. As he explained in a 2005 interview in Rolling Stone magazine, ``I tell musicians `Don't trust nobody but your mama.' '' Good advice for many of us. Mick Jagger spoke for many when he said last week that Bo Diddley was ``a wonderful, original musician who was very generous to the Rolling Stones in our early years.'' Although Bo Diddley himself is now gone, he has left an indelible mark on American music. And this resolution is before us today to honor that uniquely American contribution to music, rock and roll. I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. KING of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution honoring Bo Diddley, the great guitar player and rock and roll musician. He was born Ellas Otha Bates, but he came to be known by the nickname Bo Diddley. It came to be an ironic nickname indeed, and refers to ``nothing at all,'' as in, ``he ain't bo diddly,'' or in my neighborhood, ``you don't know bo diddly.'' Well, far from becoming nothing at all, Bo Diddley started playing in Chicago's South Side and rose to become one of the greatest rock and roll musicians of all time. His song ``Bo Diddley'' became a number one rhythm and blues hit as far back as 1955. Through songs such as ``Who Do You Love,'' he established the now famous Bo Diddley beat, a rumba like sound that mimics the sounds made by street musicians who would pat beats to songs by slapping their arms, legs, chest and cheeks. Bo Diddley headlined above the Rolling Stones. He appeared with the Clash and the Grateful Dead and wrote many crossover hits that appealed to music lovers everywhere. And he was one of the first major male musicians to include a woman in his band. He was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. In 1996, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, and in 1998 from the Grammy Awards. Rolling Stone magazine listed him at Number 20 on their list of the Greatest Artists of All Time. When Bo Diddley passed away on June 2 at the age of 79, he was surrounded by his friends and family, who sang the gospel song ``Walk Around Heaven.'' Mr. Speaker, I never knew Bo Diddley, but I know he touched my life and that of all of us. Walk around heaven, indeed, Bo Diddley. Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong supoprt of H. Res. 1251 ``A resolution regarding the passing of Bo Diddley.'' I am proud to join my colleagues in cosponsoring this timely legislation. I would like to thank my colleague, Chairman Conyers of the Judiciary Committee, for introducing this bill, and for providing leadership on this important issue. Bo Diddley was a musician par excellence. He was a singer, guitarist, songwriter, music pioneer, and actor. He was born December 30, 1928, and recently passed on June 2, 2008. He was an American rock and roll singer. In fact, he was the progenitor of the genre. He was a guitarist, songwriter, and more. He was the key figure that transitioned from blues to rock and roll. Bo Diddley gave America hard rhythms, hard guitar, and his characteristic rectangular guitar. He was born in McComb, Mississippi, as Ellas Otha Bates. He was adopted and raised by his mother's cousin, Gussie McDaniel, whose surname he assumed, becoming Ellas McDaniel. His family moved to Chicago when he was the tender age of seven. There, he took violin lessons, but was inspired to become a guitarist after seeing John Lee Hooker. He worked as a carpenter, mechanic, and began his musical career with his friends in the 40s and 50s. In 1955, he released his #1 R&B hit, called ``Bo Diddley.'' He appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on November 20, 1955. During that appearance, he sang his hit ``Bo Diddley.'' He continued to have hits through the late 1950s and the 1960s. In 1963, he starred in a U.K. concert tour with the Everly Brothers and Little Richard. The Rolling Stones, still unknown at that time, appeared much lower on the same bill. He would play with the Rolling Stones years later in 1979. He would play with the Grateful Dead, The Clash. His music was covered by countless American musicians ranging from Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen, U2, The Who, The Police, David Bowie, George Michael, and the Animals, to name a few. His music is timeless. Diddley's song ``Who Do You Love'' can be heard in the intro credits to the movie La Bamba. He appeared on a 2003 episode of the sitcom According to Jim entitled ``Bo Diddley,'' had a small role in the film Trading Places, starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd, and appeared in George Thorogood's ``Bad to the Bone'' video. The song ``Bad to the Bone'' is a rework of Diddley's ``I'm A Man.'' Eric Clapton's 1992 ``Unplugged'' included a cover of Diddley's ``Before you accuse me.'' On his music Bo Diddley once said ``I don't like to copy anybody. Everybody tries to do what I do, update it,'' he is quoted as telling the Associated Press. ``I don't have any idols I copied after.'' ``They copied everything I did, upgraded it, messed it up. It seems to me that nobody can come up with their own thing, they have to put a little bit of Bo Diddley there,'' he said. He has left an indelible mark on American music. The founder of rock and roll. He was a tremendous musician and he had over a half-century of experience in the music business. He was a mastermind, a genius, he was Bo Diddley. We honor him and his tremendous contribution to American music. Heaven [[Page 11844]] is a sweeter place now that Bo Diddley is there. And, the angels are surely singing. Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to draw attention to the life and legacy of a man whose work in Rock 'n' Roll has been called ``ground breaking.'' Bo Diddley was born Ellas Otha Bates in McComb, Mississippi, on December 30, 1928 and passed away on June 2, 2008 at the age of 79. Diddley was raised by his mother's cousin, Gussie McDaniel, whose surname he legally adopted. The family moved to Chicago when Diddley was seven. Bo broke new ground in rock and roll's formative years with his unique guitar work, indelible African rhythms, inventive songwriting, and larger-than-life persona. He will forever be known for popularizing one of the foundational rhythms of rock and roll: the Bo Diddley beat. He employed it in his namesake song, ``Bo Diddley'' (which earned him a rightful place in the Grammy Hall Of Fame). This African-based rhythm pattern was picked up from Diddley by other artists and has been a distinctive and recurring element in rock and roll through the decades. His beats have influenced the music of artists such as Buddy Holly, the Rolling Stones, Johnny Otis, the Strangeloves, the Who, and Bruce Springsteen. Diddley is the author of a body of songs--including ``Who Do You Love?'' ``Road Runner,'' ``Mona,'' ``Before You Accuse Me'' and ``I'm a Man''--that are among the earliest examples of rock and roll rising out of rhythm and blues. Diddley married into his music two worlds he knew well--the Deep South and the streets of Chicago. He formed a band called the Hipsters while in high school and landed a regular spot at the 708 Club on Chicago's South Side in 1951. Diddley's earliest records were contemporaneous with those of label mate Chuck Berry. He signed with the Checkers label in 1955 and his debut single was a two-sided classic that paired ``Bo Diddley'' with ``I'm a Man.'' It was the first in a string of groundbreaking songs that walked the fine line between rhythm & blues and rock & roll. Others included ``Diddley Daddy,'' ``Pretty Thing'' and ``Road Runner,'' which were all Top Twenty R&B hits. Oddly, Diddley's only crossover success came with ``Say Man,'' a laugh-filled exchange of jive talk between Diddley and his maraca player, Jerome Green. Their verbal sparring derived from the African-American pastime of ``signifying' or ``doing the dozens'' and foreshadowed the battle rapping of the present day. Diddley was also an inventor, devising his own tremolo effect and playing a unique, rectangular ``cigar box'' guitar that he designed in 1958. His ever-fertile mind also inspired him to set up one of the first home studios. The prolific singer/guitarist released a string of albums whose titles--including Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger and Have Guitar, Will Travel--bolstered his self-invented legend. Diddley also traveled with the rock and roll revues of the day. He retained his iconic status as a rock and roll pioneer, steadily releasing albums on Checkers through the mid-Seventies. Meanwhile, Diddley continued to work the live circuit in tireless fashion. Bo Diddley was one of rock 'n' roll's true pioneers. He has been righteously outspoken on the subject of underpayment, bad contracts and other rip-offs that denied many early rock and rollers (he among them) what was due them and in 1987 he was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. A regular at Harlem's Apollo Theatre, Bo Diddley has indelibly stamped his mark on rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll and popular music. His innovative trademark rhythm, his electric custom built cigar box guitar, and his wild stage shows predate all others. Diddley leaves a permanent mark on American music and culture, and our deepest sympathies go out to his family, friends and fans. The 'Bo Diddley beat' surely will continue on. Mr. KING of Iowa. I urge adoption, and I yield back the balance of my time. Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of H. Res. 1251 and yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Sires). The question is on the motion offered by the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Zoe Lofgren) that the House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1251. The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to. A motion to reconsider was laid on the table. ____________________