Blues Trail Marker #4

Originally born in McComb as Ellas Bates (and later Ellas McDaniel), Bo Diddley was raised mostly in Chicago by his adoptive family, from whom he took the last name McDaniel. When recording he took the name Bo Diddley, which is likely a reference to an instrument popular amongst black blues musicians in the Delta, known as the Diddley Bow.

Taking influence from the syncopated beat popularized by a few big-band rhythm-and-blues charts of the 1940s, Bo Diddley stripped it down and beefed it up. He made it, with its obvious African roots, one of the irresistible dance sounds in rock and roll, which he would greatly influence and arguably invent. However, in spite of influencing everyone from fellow 1950s rockers, 1960s garage bands, and budding superstars such as the Rolling Stones, Diddley hit the pop charts just five times and the Top 20 only once, even though his 1955 debut single, "Bo Diddley," backed with "I'm a Man," was number one on the rhythm-and-blues charts.

After playing for several years on Chicago's legendary Maxwell Street, Diddley signed with Chess subsidiary Checker in 1955. The lyrics to his songs were rife with African-American street talk, bluesy imagery, and raunchy humour. He used tremolo, fuzz, and feedback effects to create a guitar sound on which only Jimi Hendrix has expanded. His stage shows - featuring his half sister the Duchess on vocals and rhythm guitar and Jerome Green on bass and maracas - made an art out of bad taste. Commonly dressed in a huge black Stetson and loud shirts, Diddley no doubt influenced the dress of British Invasion, while the odd-shaped guitars that he played reinforced his arresting look. 

 Summit Street was a thriving African American business district during the era of segregation, and as such brought a wealth of performers. Blues, jazz, and rhythm & blues bands entertained at various businesses, and many musicians lived nearby. In McComb and many other cities, commerce in areas such as Summit Street began to decline when much of the African American trade dispersed to other parts of town after the coming of integration in the 1960s.

 It was a historic center of African American culture, entertainment, and politics, formerly a dirt road lined with dozens of businesses, including several cafes and clubs that featured blues music. During the 1960s, when bombs destroyed nearby homes and businesses, club owners who supported the civil rights movement were among those beaten and arrested. Four decades later, McComb elected a man who grew up on Summit Street, Zach Patterson, as its first African American mayor. The Harlem Nightingale, which later became the Elk Rest Club, and Brock's Mocombo No. 2 (formerly the Club Rockett) were McComb's primary venues for touring acts. Ralph Bowsky operated the Nightingale, while Van Brock called his club the McCombo in honor of McComb, although the name was usually spelled Mocombo.

 As the primary stop on the "chitlin circuit" between Jackson and New Orleans, McComb drew national talent such as B. B. King, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins, Roy Brown, Ivory Joe Hunter, Solomon Burke, Marvin Gaye, Little Milton, Bobby Rush, Archie Bell & the Drells, Lucky Millinder, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Dave Bartholomew, Lloyd Price, Roy Milton, The Bar-Kays, Groove Holmes, Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Redd Foxx, and McComb's most famous native, Bo Diddley. McComb also developed its own rich musical heritage, with Wakefield Coney, better known as "Big Moody," a longtime local blues favorite.