Bo Diddley's Beach Party

 

On July 5th and 6th of 1963, Bo Diddley along with Norma-Jean "The Duchess" Wofford on rhythm guitar, backing vocals, and Jerome Green on drums, maracas, backing vocals, played two late night shows at The Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  Chess/Checker recording engineer, John Brooks was there to recorded it.

The results were… 

The cover looks like a one of those squeaky-clean American International Pictures' "Beach Party" movies where Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello (both with no natural sense of rhythm whatsoever) do the Frug on Malibu Beach.

But this was Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, after midnight.  So instead of squeaky-clean suburban types, it was 1%er Bikers, weekend warriors, parole violators (and god only knows who else), with their girlfriends.  All are "hopped up" on beer 'n' bennies, hell-bent on having a great time.
And why not?

I can easily picture the early 60s scene…it's after midnight, but the heat and humidity still lingers from a blistering day.  Except for a small bonfire, the dark is all-enveloping, and couples vanish into it (don't look—mind your own business).  At the fire, a 1%er is carving his girlfriend's initials onto his forearm with a genuine made in Italy stiletto switchblade, while his girlfriend and another woman dance to the waves, or maybe just the music in their amphetamine fueled heads.

Some music is needed…

But then, a cloud of dust materializes at the far end of the boardwalk, it's heading their way, getting closer by the minute.  As it approaches, you can just make out the silhouette of a rather large man atop a motor scooter, with some crazy looking guitar slung over his shoulder.
 
A customized 1957 Cushman Step-Thru Scooter ("The Bo-Mobile") chugs to a stop, and off steps the only musician in the known world who could play to 1%er bikers without having the crap kicked out of him for showing up on a scooter: and that musician is Mr. Bo Diddley.

Bo plugs in, kicks off a scorching guitar riff, the "The Duchess" and Jerome Green fall in.  The beach goes totally batshit crazy, and who could blame them?

Bo rips through self-referencing cuts such as "Hey! Bo Diddley" and "Bo Diddley’s Dog", but it’s the rendition of "I’m All Right" that signalled an era of all-out rave rock (crossed with R'n'B charisma) to groups such as the Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds. Then there's the closing "Roadrunner", which might be the most unhinged live performance from rock’s first decade, with Bo Diddley in crazed Wile E. Coyote mode. He even makes a little "Beep Beep" sound with his guitar to kick off the chase.

In 2026, 'Bo Diddley's Beach Party' sounds like a Proto-Garage/Punk/ Grunge masterpiece.  AND, you just know this was David Johansen and Johnny Thunders' blueprint.  Sound quality is "Distort-O-Phonic Mono".  This was never meant to be an audiophile document, and mastering engineer Erick Labson didn't do anything to clean it up or modernize it.  It's not been limited, and I hear no evidence of noise reduction.  It's raw, rockin', and oozes gritty power.

The liner notes by Chris Morris are brief but excellent.  Morris says the album "bristles with almost punk-like energy."  I couldn't agree more.

For the freeload, what are some of your favorite songs, not by Bo Diddley, but with that Bo Diddley beat?