The first and only time I saw Diddley play was in 2004, at Little Steven’s Underground Garage Festival in New York. He was frail, sitting in a chair throughout the set, but his voice still boomed and he strummed his “Twang Machine” with gusto. There were 40 bands on the bill, spanning 40 years of rock history. And none of them would have existed were it not for him.
“Simply put: no other person in the history of music has a rhythm named after him,” says Entrain drummer Tom Major, who pounded the skins in Diddley’s band for most of the ’90s. “He taught us all how to groove. He was like the walking jungle, this guy. I’m a better drummer and a better person because of the time I spent with Bo Diddley. He was just a massive influence on everybody he touched.”
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