VOA标准英语2008年-Rock 'n' Roll Guitar Legend Bo Diddley Dies

By Doug Levine
Washington
02 June 2008

Early rock 'n' roll guitar wizard Bo Diddley died near Jacksonville, Florida, Monday, 2 June, of heart failure. He was 79 years old. One of the most primitive¹ of the early rockers, Bo took the blues² and folk music of his native Mississippi and combined them with Latin American and African rhythms to come up with his trademark³ "hambone" beat. VOA's Doug Levine tells us more about the career of Bo Diddley.
　

Bo Diddley (2003 file photo)

Along with the legendary⁴ Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley was considered one of the most influential⁵ guitarists of the early rock era. His powerful rhythm, which became known as the "Bo Diddley beat" has been imitated by countless⁶ musicians.

Born Otha Ellas Bates in Mississippi in 1928, Bo was sent to Chicago to live with an aunt, Gussie McDaniel, who later adopted him. He dropped his first and last names to become Ellas McDaniel. His stage name Bo Diddley came from two sources; the diddley bow, an African stringed instrument, and the slang expression for a mischievous⁷ boy.

Bo studied violin at age seven and became a virtuoso⁸. In the early-1940s, while he was in his teens, he taught himself to play guitar, drawing on the influences of jazz artist Louis Jordan and bluesman John Lee Hooker. Bo explained how he developed his trademark sound after his sister bought him his own guitar.

"I took it home and learned how to play on one string, 'When The Saints Go Marching In.' The other strings⁹ didn't make a difference," he said. "Then I accidentally tuned¹⁰ it one day the way that I'm tuning¹¹ it now. I say I'm playing backwards¹². I don't play like the average guitar player, the cats [musicians] who move their fingers all around like this. I do it in chords, and basically, do almost the same thing."

At age 13, Bo Diddley became a street musician, eventually joining with others to form a street corner band. Driven by maracas, congas and bass¹³, Bo played his infectious, hypnotic guitar phrases. When the band was ready to perform in Chicago nightclubs, he bought an electric guitar so he could get more volume. Bo attracted enough attention to get an audition¹⁴ with Chess Records, the same Chicago label that launched the careers of blues artists Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon, and rocker Chuck Berry.

Bo signed a recording¹⁵ contract with Chess in 1955, and released two songs, "Bo Diddley" and "I'm A Man." Both went to Number Two on the national R&B charts. An appearance on a nationally-televised variety show earned him a spot on a national tour. Bo's next break came in 1959 when "Say Man" appeared on the pop charts.

Bo Diddley's career had a lull¹⁶ until the mid-1960s, when British rock bands such as The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones, and The Animals started releasing their versions of Bo Diddley's songs. Bo said, at first, he wasn't happy about the young rock bands who "copied" his sound.

"At that time, I was a little bit upset about it because I wasn't educated to accept that, " he said. "I figured if I went and got mine [style], why shouldn't you go and get yours and leave me alone. But then, after a while I started thinking, 'Hey, that's pretty good. I must be doing something right.'"

With renewed interest in his music, Bo continued to release albums throughout the 1960s and 1970s. A series of custom-made guitars were crafted for him, which included oblong, triangular¹⁷ and star shapes, often covered in fur or carpet material.

Like many of the R&B performers from the 1950s and 1960s, Bo was paid a flat fee for his recordings¹⁸, and said he received no royalty¹⁹ payments on record sales. He also said he was never paid for many of his performances.

"I am owed. I've never got paid," Bo said. Referring to concert promoters and record executives, he added, "A dude with a pencil is worse than a cat with a machine gun."
　

Bo Diddley holds his Grammy award for Lifetime Achievement at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York in 1998

The ultimate honor came when Bo was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He had a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998 at the Grammy Awards. In recent years, he also played for the Presidents George H. W. Bush and Clinton. Diddley appreciated the honors he received, but added, "It didn't put no figures in my checkbook."

Bo continued to play in clubs and concert halls throughout the United States until being hospitalized in May 2007, following a stroke during a concert in Iowa. Three months later, Bo suffered a heart attack. The health issues affected²⁰ his ability to speak. Bo later returned to his Florida home to continue his recovery.

As early as the 1950s, Bo Diddley recorded unusual jazz-flavored instrumental pieces, and experimented with sound effects that made him one of the true innovators of rock guitar.

1 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

2 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

3 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

4 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

5 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

6 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

7 mischievous   

adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的

参考例句：

• He is a mischievous but lovable boy.他是一个淘气但可爱的小孩。
• A mischievous cur must be tied short.恶狗必须拴得短。

8 virtuoso   

n.精于某种艺术或乐器的专家，行家里手

参考例句：

• He was gaining a reputation as a remarkable virtuoso.作为一位技艺非凡的大师，他声誉日隆。
• His father was a virtuoso horn player who belonged to the court orchestra.他的父亲是宫廷乐队中一个技巧精湛的圆号演奏家。

9 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

10 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 tuning   

n.调谐，调整，调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• They are tuning up a plane on the flight line. 他们正在机场的飞机跑道上调试一架飞机。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The orchestra are tuning up. 管弦乐队在定弦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

13 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

14 audition   

n.(对志愿艺人等的)面试(指试读、试唱等)

参考例句：

• I'm going to the audition but I don't expect I'll get a part.我去试音，可并不指望会给我个角色演出。
• At first,they said he was too young,but later they called him for an audition.起初，他们说他太小，但后来他们叫他去试听。

15 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

16 lull   

v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇

参考例句：

• The drug put Simpson in a lull for thirty minutes.药物使辛普森安静了30分钟。
• Ground fighting flared up again after a two-week lull.经过两个星期的平静之后，地面战又突然爆发了。

17 triangular   

adj.三角（形）的，三者间的

参考例句：

• It's more or less triangular plot of land.这块地略成三角形。
• One particular triangular relationship became the model of Simone's first novel.一段特殊的三角关系成了西蒙娜第一本小说的原型。

18 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

19 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

20 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。