Seven Song Spin: Bo Knows
It's one of the most imitated beats in rock, a variation of a Latin clave that Ellas Otha Bates, a.k.a. Bo Diddley, made famous with his eponymous song (and that may not even be his most important contribution to the sound of rock—there's a strong argument that it was his tremolo-drenched guitar tone that really stuck). I've already noted David Bowie's fondness for this iconic beat; below I've included another example from his catalogue, and from the oeuvre of 6 other artists, including yours truly.
This whole playlist can be found here.
Let me hear the choir sing: It's only fair that we start with a song by the beat's progenitor and namesake; he employed many other beats but certainly didn't shy from the one he was known for. This sweetly heartfelt proposal of marriage has a killer harmonica riff that forms a kind of counterpoint to the clave.
With a red guitar on fire: U2's catchy "Desire" is notable not only for its endearingly over-eager sampling of Americana, including a harmonica solo and the Bo beat, but also for its almost manic chord progression—whereas most versions of the beat stay on one chord or alternate between two at most, U2's goes Db-Ab-Eb, Ab-Eb (or VII-IV-I, IV-I). I heard it at the time as an implicit response to the oft-heard criticism that their songs only seemed to have two chords (a criticism you never hear of Lou Reed's "Heroin," to give one example). Listen to all these chords, this song seems to say—a change on every beat!
Three's a crowd: I've written about the tensile, unlikely coherence of Elvis Costello's great album Trust in this space, but I hadn't quite clocked before what an odd Diddley beat he uncorks with the menacing mono-chord quasi-rap, "Lover's Walk," in which both Steve Nieve's piano and Bruce Thomas's bass positively hammer the beat. (A later song on the same side, "Strict Time," opens with a guitar doing a variation on the beat, but it's quickly supplanted by fast piano figure that's also a kind of clave but not of the Diddley variety.)
The whirling wooden floor: Bowie's Space Oddity album cites the Diddley beat not only on the balls-out blues jam of "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed," but on a folky narrative song about a "tired old woman" caught shoplifting, crying as her defense the title line, "God Knows I'm Good." I've got a soft spot for a lot of this underrated record, but this one in particular.
The prettiest green eyes anywhere: Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman's "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" was first recorded by Del Shannon, in a very emphatic, almost downbeat rendition, but Elvis Presley's hit version is almost breezy, sounding closer to the swagger of the cheater than the cheated on.
The senses being dulled are mine: If the Smiths' "Rusholme Ruffians" bears a striking resemblance to "Marie's the Name," this doesn't seem to be a coincidence: They would sometimes mash up the two songs live. The throwback beat isn't even the most interesting thing about this musically: It is instead the almost atonal yodel Morrissey throws in on the word "devout" and "mine" (at 1:35 and 2:00, respectively, and once more at 4:03), a jump of a fourth from a D to G...but over a D chord, a just strikingly odd suspension. (Another notable tidbit: A Diddley beat lies behind the Smiths's "How Soon Is Now.")
How many people know truth: "Happy to Say," an early pop/punk tune from my old L.A. band Millhouse, has a few change-ups in its tempo, but there's no mistaking the Bo quote.
With a red guitar on fire: U2's catchy "Desire" is notable not only for its endearingly over-eager sampling of Americana, including a harmonica solo and the Bo beat, but also for its almost manic chord progression—whereas most versions of the beat stay on one chord or alternate between two at most, U2's goes Db-Ab-Eb, Ab-Eb (or VII-IV-I, IV-I). I heard it at the time as an implicit response to the oft-heard criticism that their songs only seemed to have two chords (a criticism you never hear of Lou Reed's "Heroin," to give one example). Listen to all these chords, this song seems to say—a change on every beat!
Three's a crowd: I've written about the tensile, unlikely coherence of Elvis Costello's great album Trust in this space, but I hadn't quite clocked before what an odd Diddley beat he uncorks with the menacing mono-chord quasi-rap, "Lover's Walk," in which both Steve Nieve's piano and Bruce Thomas's bass positively hammer the beat. (A later song on the same side, "Strict Time," opens with a guitar doing a variation on the beat, but it's quickly supplanted by fast piano figure that's also a kind of clave but not of the Diddley variety.)
The whirling wooden floor: Bowie's Space Oddity album cites the Diddley beat not only on the balls-out blues jam of "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed," but on a folky narrative song about a "tired old woman" caught shoplifting, crying as her defense the title line, "God Knows I'm Good." I've got a soft spot for a lot of this underrated record, but this one in particular.
The prettiest green eyes anywhere: Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman's "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" was first recorded by Del Shannon, in a very emphatic, almost downbeat rendition, but Elvis Presley's hit version is almost breezy, sounding closer to the swagger of the cheater than the cheated on.
The senses being dulled are mine: If the Smiths' "Rusholme Ruffians" bears a striking resemblance to "Marie's the Name," this doesn't seem to be a coincidence: They would sometimes mash up the two songs live. The throwback beat isn't even the most interesting thing about this musically: It is instead the almost atonal yodel Morrissey throws in on the word "devout" and "mine" (at 1:35 and 2:00, respectively, and once more at 4:03), a jump of a fourth from a D to G...but over a D chord, a just strikingly odd suspension. (Another notable tidbit: A Diddley beat lies behind the Smiths's "How Soon Is Now.")
How many people know truth: "Happy to Say," an early pop/punk tune from my old L.A. band Millhouse, has a few change-ups in its tempo, but there's no mistaking the Bo quote.
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