In Memoriam: Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley has passed away at the age of 79. He was one of the first great rock'n'roll artists, alongside people like Chuck Berry, who formed a new sound that wasn't quite blues and wasn't quite the cleaner white rock'n'roll. They gave the developing new music the rougher edge it needed to really, well, rock us.

Bo Diddley is one of those artists that I love and respect, but have never quite gotten around to listen to enough. I don't really know why that is. Even so, Bo Diddley was one of my favourite songs as a teenager and I was often playing it in those first years when I was learning to play guitar. It's still one of the best guitar riffs ever, in all its simplicity

The people who created rock'n'roll are a dying breed. I was lucky enough to see Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry in joint concert about a decade ago. And they still rocked an arena full of people. So catch the ones that remain, while you still can!