Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Series: Bo Diddley Quiz

Answer: Mississippi

Like so many innovators of the blues genre, Mr. Diddley was born in the delta state of Mississippi. McComb, Mississippi is also the birthplace of pop star Brandy and blues legend King Solomon Hill.

Answer: Ellas Bates

Although many consider his real name to be Ellas McDaniel, he was born with the name Bates. He did not take the name McDaniel until he was adopted by his mother's cousin, Mrs. Gussie McDaniel. Otha Ellas Bates McDaniel, as his name eventually became, moved to Chicago when he was only 6 or 7 years old.

It was at the Willard Elementary School in Chicago that his class mates gave him the name Bo Diddley.

Answer: violin

Although Diddley played the trombone in the church choir, it was his studies of classical violin that really motivated him to pursue a career in music.

Answer: Chess/Checkers Records

Bo Diddley had originally recorded the "A" side as "Uncle John", but the Chess brothers convinced him to retitle it to reflect his own personality. The record was eventually released on the Checkers label, which was a subsidiary holdings to Chess Records.

Interestingly enough, Vee-Jay records turned down Bo Diddley because they were unsure of how the American public would respond to the sound that has been dubbed as the "diddley beat".

Answer: Say Man

"Say Man" was the only Bo Diddley song to reach the top twenty on the pop charts. It barely made it, reaching number 20 in 1959.

Answer: Rectangle

Diddley has worked with Gretsch to produce his box-shaped guitars. Originally he designed and built them himself. By the way, some say Bo Diddley's name is quite like the African instrument called a diddley bow, a box-shaped, one-stringed instrument. The African word for the diddley bow is "umakweyana".

Answer: pawnbroker

Bo Diddley is the pawn broker that Dan Akroyd's character (Louis Winthorpe III) meets when he tries to pawn a watch and ends up buying a handgun.

Answer: Cadillac

All these songs were covered by The Kinks on this album. Only "Cadillac" belonged to Bo, however. Both "Beautiful Delilah" and "Too Much Monkey Business" were written by his Chess label mate, Chuck Berry. "Long Tall Sally" was a Little Richard composition.

Answer: Lady Bo

Peggy Jones was born July 19, 1940 in New York City. When she was seventeen, she had a chance meeting with Bo Diddley and he was mesmerized by her guitar prowess. When Diddley's original guitarist, Jody Williams, was drafted into military service, Bo knew that recruiting Peggy to play in his band would not only be a sound move based on her playing ability, but also a little bit of a gimmick.

The relationship was one of the most amicable pairings ever in blues music.

Answer: Bo Meets the Monster

"Bo Meets the Monster" originally appeared on the "Chess Master, Vol. 2" compilation. The Doctor Demento CD also featured songs by Warren Zevon, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince and Weird Al Yankovic.