Bo Diddley's 1955 Rock n Roll Song -" I'm A Man" (From "Legends of Rock 'n' Roll") with YouTube comments

Eagle Rock, Aug 29, 2008

Bo Diddley - I'm A Man (From "Legends of Rock 'n' Roll") **** Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision - April 23, 2024 This pancocojams post presents information about Bo Diddley's 1955 mega hit song "I'm A Man" and showcases a clip of the 1989 film of the "Legends Of Rock 'n' Roll" concert that features Bo Diddley performing his 1955 hit song "I'm A Man".

This post also documents selected comments from two discussion threads of YouTube sound files of Bo Diddley singing "I'm A Man". The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes. All copyrights remain with their owners. Thanks to Bo Diddley for his musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of this showcases video and this featured sound file on YouTube. -snip- Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/07/bo-diddleys-im-man-information-examples.html for a 2015 pancocojams post entitled Bo Diddley's "I'm A Man" (information, examples, lyrics, & comments). That post includes information about Bo Diddley and his I'm A Man song and lyrics for that song. That 2015 pancocojams post also features two sound files other of Bo Diddley performing this song other than the one that is included in this post. Selected comments from various YouTube discussion threads other than the one featured in this 2020 post are also included in that post.

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INFORMATION ABOUT BO DIDDLEY
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaC5ZKRjLUM&ab_channel=John1948TwoA2 "Bo Diddley - I Am A Man"; published by John1948TwoA2, Jan 28, 2011
"He only had a few hits in the 1950s and early '60s, but as Bo Diddley sang, "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover." You can't judge an artist by his chart success, either, and Diddley produced greater and more influential music than all but a handful of the best early rockers. The Bo Diddley beat -- bomp, ba-bomp-bomp, bomp-bomp -- is one of rock & roll's bedrock rhythms, showing up in the work of Buddy Holly, the Rolling Stones, and even pop-garage knock-offs like the Strangeloves' 1965 hit "I Want Candy." Diddley's hypnotic rhythmic attack and declamatory, boasting vocals stretched back as far as Africa for their roots, and looked as far into the future as rap. His trademark otherworldly vibrating, fuzzy guitar style did much to expand the instrument's power and range. But even more important, Bo's bounce was fun and irresistibly rocking, with a wisecracking, jiving tone that epitomized rock & roll at its most humorously outlandish and freewheeling.

Before taking up blues and R&B, Diddley had actually studied classical violin, but shifted gears after hearing John Lee Hooker. In the early '50s, he began playing with his longtime partner, maraca player Jerome Green, to get what Bo's called "that freight train sound." Billy Boy Arnold, a fine blues harmonica player and singer in his own right, was also playing with Diddley when the guitarist got a deal with Chess in the mid-'50s (after being turned down by rival Chicago label Vee-Jay). His very first single, "Bo Diddley"/"I'm a Man" (1955), was a double-sided monster. The A-side was soaked with futuristic waves of tremolo guitar, set to an ageless nursery rhyme; the flip was a bump-and-grind, harmonica-driven shuffle, based around a devastating blues riff. But the result was not exactly blues, or even straight R&B, but a new kind of guitar-based rock & roll, soaked in the blues and R&B, but owing allegiance to neither. "...

SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD

These comments are given in relative chronological order except for replies. Numbers were added for referencing purposes only.  

Excerpt #1
From the discussion thread for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaC5ZKRjLUM&ab_channel=John1948TwoA2 "Bo Diddley - I Am A Man"; published by John1948TwoA2, Jan 28, 2011

1. mangledinalm 2011
"1928-2008 Birth name: Ellas Otha Bates 5' 7" Bet your didn't know Bo took violin lessons from Professor O.W. Frederick at the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago. He studied the violin for 12 years, composing two concertos for the instrument.

This is the man who put the rock in rock and roll. Sometimes called the Black Gladiator.

Mmmmmm, what a man! A frustrated drummer, Bo said: "I play the guitar as if I'm playing the drums." Am so glad he did, too."

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2. theonlywalrus, 2012
"Bo Diddley Beat is just a clave."
-snip-
Here's some information about clave [a Spanish word pronounced CLAH-vay] from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clave_(rhythm)
"The clave ... is a rhythmic pattern used as a tool for temporal organization in Afro-Cuban music. In Spanish, clave literally means key, clef, code, or keystone. It is present in a variety of genres such as Abakuá music, rumba, conga, son, mambo, salsa, songo, timba and Afro-Cuban jazz. The five-stroke clave pattern represents the structural core of many Afro-Cuban rhythms.[2]

The clave pattern originated in sub-Saharan African music traditions, where it serves essentially the same function as it does in Cuba. In ethnomusicology, clave is also known as a key pattern,[3][4] guide pattern,[5] phrasing referent,[6] timeline,[7] or asymmetrical timeline.[8] The clave pattern is also found in the African diaspora music of Haitian Vodou drumming, Afro-Brazilian music, African-American music, Louisiana Voodoo drumming, and Afro-Uruguayan music (candombe). The clave pattern (or hambone, as it is known in the United States) is used in North American popular music as a rhythmic motif or simply a form of rhythmic decoration.

The historical roots of the clave are linked to transnational musical exchanges within the African diaspora. For instance, influences of the African “bomba” rhythm are reflected in the clave. In addition to this, the emphasis and role of the drum within the rhythmic patterns speaks further to these diasporic roots.[9]

The clave is the foundation of reggae, reggaeton, and dancehall. In this sense, it is the “heartbeat” that underlies the essence of these genres."...

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3. karl brandt, 2016
"why when listening to this song i think of bad to the bone"

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Reply
4. Issac Lloyd, 2017
"karl brandt because Bo diddley was George thorogoods hero and main influence. "
-snip-
"Bad To The Bone" is a 1982 Blues / Hard Rock song that was recorded by George Thorogood & The Destroyers.

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Excerpt #2 
From the discussion thread for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYti8CIiOak&ab_channel=Choock5219 "Bo Diddley - I'm A Man - 1955", published by Choock5219  on Jul 10, 2014

1. Elisa Martin, 2014
"I'm Goin' back down, to Kansas To Bring Back The Second Cousin,
Little John The Conqueroo"  

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Reply
2. Choock5219, 2014
"Here's the story: The root known as High John the Conqueror or John the Conqueror root is said to be the root of Ipomoea jalapa, also known as Ipomoea purga, an Ipomoea species related to the morning glory and the sweet potato. The plant is known in some areas as bindweed or jalap root. It has a pleasant, earthy odour, but it is a strong laxative if taken internally. It is not used for this purpose in folk magic; it is instead used as one of the parts of a mojo bag. It is typically used in sexual spells of various sorts and it is also considered lucky for gambling. It is likely that the root acquired its sexual magical reputation because, when dried, it resembles the testicles of a dark-skinned man. Because of this, when it is employed as an amulet, it is important that the root used be whole and unblemished. Dried pieces and chips of the root are used in formulating oils and washes that are used in other sorts of spells."

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3. Jimmy J, 2015
"Bo Diddley is the REAL American Bad Ass... many of Rock's greatest musicians and singers owe him a lot of their success... only George Thorogood has truly acknowledged Bo's greatness. "Bad to the Bone" is his salute to Bo Diddley's I'm a Man..."

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4. kt1pl2, 2018
"I was just thinking that "Bad to the Bone" sounds just like it."

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Reply
5. Mike Stidham, 2020
"which serves to explain Bo's appearance in the "Bad to the Bone" music video..."

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6. thielees, 2018
"This song is definitive proof of just how creative an artist George Thoroughgood really was."

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Reply
7. LasVegasGames, 2019
"Yep. "Bad to the bone" is a direct copy"

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Reply
8. Winston Churchill, 2020
"thielees Even if that’s true, this is by no means proof of it. First of all, I do believe that Hoochie Coochie Man by Muddy Waters came out before this, which if you listen to it is very similar. Muddy Waters also released Mannish Boy, which sounds even more similar to this song. Does that mean Muddy was a bad musician? I don’t think so, he’s my favorite blues musician!"

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Reply
9. Wessel van Santen, 2020
"@Winston Churchill if you go the wikipedia page, you'll find the relevant info. Im a man was a response  to hoochie coochie man, and Mannish boy was a response to im a man. Just a bunch a blues and rock n roll artists poking fun at each other, so I agree with you"

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10. Bob Courboin, 2019
"This ( and the flip side named A Side) were both added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry list of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" American sound recordings In 2018,"
-snip-
The flip side of that record is Bo Diddley's song entitled "Bo Diddley".

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