Bo Diddley

With Bo Diddley's various hits and anthology packages all out of print and the multi-disc deluxe box set out of pocketbook reach for most casual consumers, MCA finally comes up with a 20-track compilation that hits the bull's-eye and makes this rock pioneer's best and most influential work available to everyone. The song list reads like a primer for '60s British R&B and '90s blues bands: "Bo Diddley," "I'm a Man," "Diddley Daddy," "Pretty Thing," "Before You Accuse Me," "Hey! Bo Diddley," "Who Do You Love," "Mona," and "Roadrunner" are the tracks that made the legend and put his sound on the map worldwide. The transfers used on this set are exemplary, the majority of them utilizing masters that have a few extra seconds (or more) appended to the fades, which will cause even hardliners to hear these old standards with fresh ears; especially revelatory are the "long versions" of "I Can Tell" and "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover."

This is easily a "super super blues bust." Power trios, of course, were hip in the late '60s – even at down-home Chess Studios, where ad hoc "supergroups" were assembled for 1967's Super Blues and its sequel, Super Super Blues Band. (No one ever accused Chess Records of being subtle.) The band on Super Super Blues Band included two-thirds of the original Super Blues headliners – Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley – with Howlin' Wolf replacing Little Walter to round out the trio. Unlike Walter, who was willing to cede the spotlight to Diddley and Waters on Super Blues, Wolf adamantly refuses to back down from his rivals, resulting in a flood of contentious studio banter that turns out to be more entertaining than the otherwise unmemorable music from this stylistic train wreck.

Two Great Guitars (1964). Two Great Guitars is a studio album by Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry, released in August 1964. It was the first studio album issued by Berry after his release from prison. The two men were friends, and both recorded for Chess. The album consists of two lengthy spontaneous instrumental jams plus a couple of recently recorded instrumentals by the two guitarists. The album cover shows a Gibson ES-350T owned by Berry and a guitar created by Diddley.
The Super Super Blues Band (1968). This is easily a "super super blues bust." Power trios, of course, were hip in the late '60s - even at down-home Chess Studios, where ad hoc "supergroups" were assembled for 1967's Super Blues and its sequel, Super Super Blues Band…

Bo Diddley - Drive by Bo Diddley: Tales From the Funk Dimension 1970-1973 (2004) {Raven Records ‎RVCD-196}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 497 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 180 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 63 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1970-73, 2004 Raven Records ‎| RVCD-196
Rock and Roll / Funk / Rhythm and Blues / Electric Chicago Blues

In the first half of the '70s, Chess tried to relaunch Bo Diddley's career by making his material and production more in line with contemporary rock and soul trends, as it had with several other of the label's rock & roll and blues stars of the '50s and early '60s. Tales from the Funk Dimension 1970-73: Drive by Bo is a compilation of no less than 76 minutes of music from the four albums he recorded during this period, all of which were received pretty poorly by both critics and the marketplace. Sadly, this anthology doesn't reveal Diddley's output from the era to be underrated, or worthy of revisionist assessment.

Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley's Beach Party (1963) {Hip-O Select B0015214-02 rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 174 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 79 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 15 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1963, 2011 Checker / Geffen / Hip-O Select | B0015214-02
Blues / Rock & Roll / Early R&B

A blistering live album, especially in mono, cut by Bo Diddley and company in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on July 5 and 6, 1963. This album contains 30-plus minutes of the best live rock & roll ever issuedd on record. Diddley and company are "on" from the get-go with a killer instrumental erroneously credited as Chuck Berry's "Memphis" (which it isn't), that's a showcase for Diddley's attack on his instrument and a crunching assault by the rest of the band (all in that shave-and-a-haircut-two-bits beat), cymbals on top of an overloaded bass, and what sounds like every rhythm guitar in the world grinding away.