Bo Diddley Said The Beatles Weren’t ‘Really Rock ‘n’ Roll’ Like Elvis Presley
TL;DR:
- Bo Diddley said The Beatles’ songs weren’t rock ‘n’ roll but Elvis Presley’s were.
- Diddley said Elvis was one of the artists who “built” rock ‘n’ roll.
- Diddley had a handful of hits.
Bo Diddley was one of the pioneers of classic rock. Notably, he didn’t think The Beatles were really rock ‘n’ roll artists like the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley. In addition, he revealed whether he thought The Rolling Stones were a rock ‘n’ roll band.
Bo Diddley said 2000s rock artists sounded nothing like Elvis Presley or The Beatles
During a 2005 interview with Uncut, Diddley was asked about the evolution of R&B. The interviewer said modern R&B was nothing like Diddley’s music. “You’re the first one I ever heard that put it that way,” Diddley replied. “It’s nothing like the R&B or the rock ‘n’ roll as we called it.”
Diddley decried “screaming geetars.” “The cats today claim that they’re rock ‘n’ roll with all their screaming geetars and stuff like that,” he said. “Well that’s not rock ‘n’ roll! That don’t sound like Elvis Presley, that don’t sound like The Beatles … well, The Beatles wasn’t really rock ‘n’ roll.”
Bo Diddley said Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and others ‘built’ the genre of rock ‘n’ roll
Diddley tried to describe The Beatles’ genre. “I don’t know what you’d call it but I don’t accept the word ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ with The Beatles,” he opined. “They don’t belong in the list of rock ‘n’ rollers. They was like, more or less, folk country or sumthin’. I don’t know what it was.”
Subsequently, Diddley was asked if The Rolling Stones were a rock ‘n’ roll band. “The Rolling Stones is definitely rock ‘n’ roll,” he replied. “They’re right up there with myself, Chuck Berry, Elvis, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, all these people.”
Diddley described himself, Elvis, and others as the originators of the genre. “This is sumthin’ we built, and a lot of the cats came along who didn’t know what they were playin’, they tried to sneak in and say ‘We’re rock ‘n’ rollers,'” he said. “No way, José!”
How Bo Diddley’s songs and albums performed on the charts in the United States
Diddley was never as popular as Elvis or The Beatles, but he had several hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Five of his songs reached the chart: “You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover,” “Ooh Baby,” “Road Runner,” “Crackin’ Up,” and “Say Man.”
Only “Say Man” reached the top 40. It peaked at No. 20, staying on the chart for 12 weeks. Meanwhile, none of Diddley’s albums charted on the Billboard 200.
Diddley was one of rock ‘n’ roll’s pioneers — even if he had an unorthodox view of The Beatles.
