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Bo Diddley, also known as Ellas McDaniel, was one of the most distinctive and influential artists in the transition of popular music from blues and R&B through to rock ‘n’ roll during the 1950s. His music was best-known for his use of the guitar riff based on the 3/2 clave, sometimes known as “shave and a haircut, two bits”, and it was a motif taken up by many artists after he popularised it with his early hits. Although he did not have a huge number of hits, his songs, such as “I’m A Man”, “Pretty Thing”, “Who Do You Love” and “Mona” have inspired and been recorded by a huge number of artists. This great value 84-track 3-CD collection comprises the A & B sides of all his singles for the Checker label from his 1955 debut through to 1962, plus the tracks which were not included on his singles from his first seven albums - “Bo Diddley”, “Go Bo Diddley”, “Have Guitar Will Travel”, “In The Spotlight”, “Bo Diddley Is A Gunslinger”, “Bo Diddley Is A Lover” and “Bo Diddley Is A Twister”. It’s thorough overview of his crucial first few years of recording, which established his unique position as one of the pioneers of the genre.

Born in Cuba in 1934, raised in Kingston, Jamaica, and passed away in London in 2015, trumpeter Rico Rodriguez was an icon of ska and reggae, musically active from his apprenticeship at the Jamaican Alpha Boys School with Don Drummond until his old age.