Diddley, Bo - Where It All Began - New LP

reissue of 1972 album.  

Review by Bruce Eder: Johnny Otis and Pete Welding produced this surprisingly successful soul effort by Bo, which succeeded in reshaping his sound, not as a Sly Stewart wannabe or a lounge act covering Creedence Clearwater Revival hits. Bo sounds comfortable and natural doing songs like "Look At Grandma" and "Woman," and the latter is a pretty damn good song -- Bo finally emerged as a soul singer in his own right, and it worked, artistically at least. "Hey Jerome" even recalls tracks like "Say Man" in a not-unflattering light. Unfortunately, none of this mattered to the people who still cared about Bo Diddley -- they wanted the beat and the old sound, which was present here on "I've Had It Hard," and the extraordinary "Bo Diddley-itis," but not in the kind of quantity they craved. He gave them his classics in concert, but not on this album. Where It All Began vanished from sight, leaving scarcely a trace or a ripple on the charts.

GH