Know Your Roots

Aka - The return of "Heavy Rotation". Albums I'm listening to.

An abbreviated timeline that has a lot to do with my current listenings. Those current listenings being 60's garage/punk and more obscure British Invasion stuff. Bo Diddley was a gunslinger and a lot of British cats(Stones, Pretty Things, Yardbirds and on and on) dug his trip and paid tribute to the sound. American teens try to imitate these British cats and a ridiculous amount of bands start playing with more enthusiasm than talent. Original punk rock, or garage if you like. Listen to the Back From the Grave comps and the Bo Diddley beat is prominent.

Fast forward. Late 60's into the 70's and rock gets bloated. Masturbatory solos are de riguer. Some New York dudes aren't buying what's selling and decide to bring back the 3 minute song. To them it's just rock and roll, to everyone else, it becomes "punk". The New York Dolls cover a Diddley tune...Pills. The Clash bring Bo with them on their '79 Pearl Harbor tour as an opener. Noone gets it. Noone gets that what they came to see, came from this(which is pretty damn punk rock):



So...I recently picked up Bo Diddley's Beach Party(apropos, neh?). The album came from a live set that Bo and his band did in 1963 down in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I have read criticisms of the sound for being kind of muddy or that Bo's studio output is as raw and sounds better. To me, that's missing the point. This is a blistering set that is raw and rollicking as hell and lends credence to Bo's sobriquet of "The Originator". The album opens strong with "Memphis"(Chuck Berry tune?), "Gunslinger" and "Hey Bo Diddley" and barely lets up from there. My only criticism is that it's too damn short. Hunt it down and give it a spin.