Sunday, May 2, 2010

Bo Diddley and the Duchess

Bo Diddley w/the Duchess, Hollywood Au-Go Go, 1965 From the same show. This clip is new to me.
It's been a few months since my last Bo Diddley posting (Bo Goes Guitar Shopping) but while checking around Youtube I found four clips I hadn't seen posted before, all featuring the Duchess (Norma Jean Wolford), Bo's incredible second guitarist. I can't think of a better way to waste time than watching vintage Bo Diddley. For more check the archives. BTW it looks like"Story Of Bo Diddley" documentry is coming out on DVD legally, so for all those fans who've been hunting for it for all these years, Bo's estate will be releasing the thing legit, finally. It's got some of the best Bo footage I've ever seen.

44 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
The Hound said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Donna Lethal said...

Fantastic!

Bo said...

"When you are young, you got to have your fun, 'cause when you get old, the body's done!"

Mr Twang said...

Not to be confused with PEGGY JONES aka LADY BO (http://members.tripod.com/~Originator_2/ladybo.html), who played second guitar on many classic Bo sides. I know I confuse them...

frenchie25 said...

I think it's pretty funny that you post some obscure photo of an orchestra and underneath write "copyright Hound Archive," yet YOU DO NOT RESPECT RIGHTS OF BO DIDDLEY OR HIS FAMILY.

Hound, you are another (albeit far less intelligent) Leonard Chess.

Keep on rippin' ol' Bo off...WE NO LIKE

The Hound said...

"Hound, you are another (albeit far less intelligent) Leonard Chess.

Keep on rippin' ol' Bo off...WE NO LIKE"

And what part of the post would Bo's estate be getting paid from? Not the photos or the video clips, those are out on Youtube for anyone to see...I haven't posted any of his tunes....where exactly is Bo getting ripped off on this post?

frenchie25 said...

Uh, the documentary, dufus.

You write on this page that you have been advised to take it down before...even tell others to "hurry up" before it gets taken down again.

The documentary has copyright protections that no doubt belong to Bo Diddley's estate and family. Did it ever dawn on you that maybe the documentary isn't on YouTube because the Estate has other plans for it-- which you are now interfering with?

Protecting the copyright of an orchestra photo on your site is ludacris when you take it upon yourself to VIOLATE and DISRESPECT the rights of tbh MIGHTY BO DIDDLEY.

That makes you

frenchie25 said...

That makes you no better than Leonard Chess (ie, disrespect and disregard to the property of others for your own self importance)

AND THAT SUCKS

The Hound said...

"The documentary has copyright protections that no doubt belong to Bo Diddley's estate and family. Did it ever dawn on you that maybe the documentary isn't on YouTube because the Estate has other plans for it-- which you are now interfering with"

The famly has no rights to The Story Of Bo Diddley doc. which is actually owned by Universal, it's unlikely they'll see a penny of it since Bo sold even the writing part of his song writing a long time ago, taking the short money ($60,000). If it were available I'd buy it and so would most readers of this blog.

frenchie25 said...

"The family has no rights to "The Story of Bo Diddley."

You are really ignorant, man!!!

If Bo Diddley sold the writer's share of his publishing -- or as you put it: the "writing part of his song writing" -- that
would have been by agreement with ARC, the music publisher, not Chess or Universal (record companies). IT WOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH HIS RIGHTS TO ANY AUDIO VIDEO RECORDINGS OF HIM! Those rights remain with Bo's estate.

You have admittedly been stopped before from posting the documentary and any link to it, yet you continue to do so. By your own admission, you are in violation of the DMCA.

If Bo Diddley's family loses ANY opportunity to make a dollar from this documentary because if your actions, I hope they get you for all you're worth!

You can now count yourself among the many who ripped Bo off. SCUMBAG

peterrocker said...

Frenchie, you are a fuckwit.
You would not no shit if you swallowed
it.

Get your effing facts straight.

frenchie25 said...

@peterrocker - Another dumbass heard from.

Facts:

1. Bo Diddley sold the writer's share of his publishing to ARC between 1968 and 1971 for FAR LESS THAN $60K

2. Bo Diddley NEVER sold the rights to his master recordings or his name and likeness, or any other Intellectual Property rights.

3. The Estate of Bo Diddley has ownership interest in and to "The Story of Bo Diddley" documentary (filmed in Chicago, circa 1966).

4. Although he has been told previously to take down the documentary, and/or links to it, for reasons of copyright infringement to the Estate of Bo Diddley, he not only continues to defy DMCA rules, but MORE IMPORTANTLY, he is having a negative financial impact on Bo's children and heirs.

5. YOU CAN CONTACT THE ESTATE'S REPS TO CONFIRM EVERYTHING I'VE SAID.

6. Neither The Hound nor peterrocker knows DIDDLEY!

The Hound said...

"You have admittedly been stopped before from posting the documentary and any link to it, yet you continue to do so. By your own admission, you are in violation of the DMCA."

Actually I never posted it myself, only pointed out that others had. I did know some folks that were interested in attempting to lease it for DVD release and they were lead to Universal who at the time were claiming they owned it. However they seemed uninterested in doing anything with it. If Bo's estate aquired the rights that's great, I'll buy one, and encourage others to do the same, it's a great film, and I hope they see some money, but if they don't own it, the only financial interest they'd have in it is in the songwriting mechanicals, which Bo sold ages ago.
I actually saw a contract dated 1974 with the figure mentioned above for his "writer's share", yes, the Chess Bros/Arc music pretty much beat him out of the publishing half as you stated. I'm pretty much going to take you word on this, that the estate will be releasing the Story Of Bo Diddley documentry and will not ever attempt to step on their feet again, sorry if I did, I was under the impression I was stepping on Universal's feet, and they weren't going to pay the McDaniels squat. Since you're in touch with the estate, you might want to point out to them that Bo's home movies that he took on tour in the 50's and 60's would be worth quite a bit and they should think about bringing in someone to sort through it with an eye to producing a collection of Bo's home movies (Etta James' book has a description of Bo's filming on a package tour in the 50's). That's another one I'd buy.

frenchie25 said...

@Hound: I can tell you used to be in radio 'cause you think you know everything and you just can't shut up!

"Songwriting mechanicals"...do you even know what they are?

Bo Diddley did not sell any interest in and to his master recordings (for which his estate receives mechanical royalties). That is why you should not promote all of the bootlegs and other unauthorized recordings like you do, b/c the royalties he gets from Universal is the only money his family receives from his old Chess recordings. TRUST ME

Anyone here who thinks it's COOL to rip ol' Bo off is the opposite of cool...and is shaking hands with Leonard Chess, the devil himself

The Hound said...

""Songwriting mechanicals"...do you even know what they are?
Bo Diddley did not sell any interest in and to his master recordings (for which his estate receives mechanical royalties). That is why you should not promote all of the bootlegs and other unauthorized recordings like you do, b/c the royalties he gets from Universal is the only money his family receives from his old Chess recordings. TRUST ME"

I know exactly what they are, and trust me, songwriting mechanicals come to a lot more money than simple royalties as a recording artist. Had Bo not had his publishing ripped off, and sold his songwriting share he'd be getting 6.5 cents per song per side on his discs which is alot more than whatever Universal is paying out these days (Chess was probably paying 3% but most companies have upped it). Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters were both able to sue and get their songs back (and think Jimmy Reed's heirs did the same), they both died millionaires. That said, I'll shut up now.
I really don't want to do anything to hurt Bo's heirs, so I'll promise never to mention him again. Of course Bo had no probem with me when I was the only one in the NYC area playing his records and plugging his gigs on the radio.....

Alex said...

I've never been on radio (except the time my friend and I found a live chicken by the highway), but I got to say - right or wrong, frenchie you an asshole.

The Hound said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

"I assume it will be available on DVD soon, so go buy yourself one."

But if the jerks "managing" Bo's estate have their way no one will even know when it becomes available.

Mitchhz said...

"But if the jerks "managing" Bo's estate have their way no one will even know when it becomes available."

The least they could do would be to send the Hound a complimentary copy for him to advertise on his blog...

frenchie25 said...

@Hound - any true Bo Diddley fan should have a sense of wanting to protect whatever rights his family still has. It's great to see you post videos, but we should be careful about asserting facts that are not correct.

What has been proven here? Bo's estate DOES INDEED own "The Story of Bo Diddley." you and your friends can call me whatever names you wish. But the fact remains, I was right and you were not. Next time, don't be so defiant. It's Bo's interests that are important here...not yours or mine.

As to the other comments, Bo's management are jerks protecting
his rights? You're not true fans, you're vultures.

Peace

Anonymous said...

Jim,
I'm sorry you got jerked around on this. There is a right way to resolve this sort of thing, and Frenchie and the estate didn't do so. I know that you wouldn't rip of rightous royalities, but after seeing this, I'll boycott anything that pays royalties to Bo's people. If Elias were still here, it might be a different story. There are lots of used medifloating around. Besides, Bo wouldn't have gotten anywhere without the Chess bros. Etta James notes how Leonard Chess saved her house for her, in her book.

flamingo said...

"Folks, I had to pull the comment with the link to the Bo film after recieving the following:"

Hound: I hate to see you disappear because some lawyer is after you. The link is still there in the next comment, maybe you want to remove that as well...

And keep doin' what you're doin', cause you are simply the best rock n roll blogger there is!

Anonymous said...

hey, don't be like FoxNoise...get the facts straight.

Frenchie tried to tell Hound that Bo's estate owned the promo film, Hound argued that they did not.

We love you Hound but you should have checked your sources.

Lastly, I'm glad that someone is finally looking after Bo's interests...aren't you?

Now, c'mon and take a little walk with me, Arlene, and tell me "Who Do You Love"...

Anonymous said...

Hound,
You have done more to publicise the music of Bo Diddley than anybody on the net. I'm sorry to see you get so much crap from some short sighted minions allegedly guarding Bo's legacy. That's not much payback for a labor of love. Hell, they ought to pay you for promoting Bo's music.

The Hound said...

Folks, please don't post the url for the download of the bootleg copy of Story Of Bo Diddley here, I'll just have to remove it again (I've done so twice). I assume you mean well, but the thing does indeed belong to Bo's Estate as French has made clear (my info was two years out of date, my fault), and they indeed have plans to make it available, be patient and you'll be able to buy a much better copy than any 5th generation bootleg you can download. Can we now just drop the subject?

Anonymous said...

Bad day in journalism class today, ehh?

Nunz

Unknown said...

with all of this folderol and legalese no wonder the pioneers (and others) got screwed out of what was owed them.

If you want to make money in rock and roll be a manager or a lawyer.

Anonymous said...

glad to see that someone is finally taking care of Bo instead of taking advantage of him. Good stuff.

Anonymous said...

I'm baffled that those claiming to represent his interests seem so intent on antagonizing the very people who are among Bo's biggest fans - the people who'll be first in line to buy this when and if it ever becomes available, in part because they've been made aware of it on sites like this.

With Bo gone, the line between taking care of his interests and taking advantage of him gets very thin indeed.

Anonymous said...

Some of the comments here really are choice. The Hound admitted that he made a mistake by not checking his sources before posting the film, yet you blame Bo's reps for stepping in and protecting the film before it went viral? Damn, tough crowd.

Btw, the Duchess's name is Norma Jean Wofford (not Wolford).

Anonymous said...

Y'all are two faced, phoneys. Don't look back and say poor Bo - one if the most ripped off artists in history - then put down the peole who are here trying to help him and his kids while he's in rock + roll heaven.

Grow up. You think that If it was an unreleased film of Clapton from back in the day that he or his people wouldn't step in if they owned the footage? Y'all are phoney blow holes who just like to flap their lips but don't know ass from elbow

RIP, Ellas. You da man

Anonymous said...

Frenchie might very well be right, as The Hound has very clearly and very contritely acknowledged. Yet one can't help but come away with the strong suspician that Frenchie, regardless of his intentions, is one big blue veiner.

Keep up the great work, Hound. Best blog around!

Will

Anonymous said...

Does anyone else have the strong **suspicion** that Will rather choke the chicken than learn to spell???

Anonymous said...

Reality does not reside here, just idle musings as Frenchie has stated.

Anonymous said...

"Does anyone else have the strong **suspicion** that Will rather choke the chicken than learn to spell???"
-- Anonymous

Oh, the irony! Anonymously criticizing someone's spelling and leaving a verb out in the process. My how the douchebaggery abounds in this thread.

Will

Gramercy7 said...

Didn't Bo Diddley leave behind, like, hours and hours of home studio recordings made since the late Fifties or early Sixties? Anybody know the legal status of this material, whose got the tapes, etc.?

Anonymous said...

I would think that everything Bo owned (including copyrights) went to his estate (I think I read that he had like 40 kids, grandkids, and great-grand kids)

JJ

The Hound said...

"Didn't Bo Diddley leave behind, like, hours and hours of home studio recordings made since the late Fifties or early Sixties? "

I'm not sure how much of it survived but there are some tracks on the old Charley box set that were recorded in the basement of his Washington D.C. home including a killer track called Hey Pretty Baby I used to play on the radio all the time. It shows up again on the new Chess Masters Vol. 3 in two different versions. There also exists a great tape of Bo and Jerome jamming in a garage w/some teenagers in '63 (the story that appeared in Bop comic book) but Bo's manager wouldn't let it be released as he was trying to sell a Bo hip hop record at the time it surfaced. A few collectors have a copy of the tape but I don't think it will ever come out. Perhaps more of the D.C. basement recordings will show up on the next volume of the Chess Masters series. These tracks can also be downloaded individually for .99 each from Amazon
if you only want to hear the un-issued tracks and don't need or want to buy the already issued stuff again.

Anonymous said...

"Bo Diddley Collectors Pack" (EP) was released on iTunes in June, 2009 to commemorate the one year anniversary of Bo's passing (great tribute article in Billboard 6/09).

There's a tune on the EP called "Straight From The Vault," that comes from those old tapes Bo had.

Vintage Bo. I mean his guitar sounds like a damn orchestra. It's all guitar, from a live gig. The crowd is clapping, Bo's thumpin those strings. I mean Diddley is Daddy!

JJ

The Hound said...

"There's a tune on the EP called "Straight From The Vault," that comes from those old tapes Bo had. "

Thanks for the tip, I actually just got it from Itunes, it's a nine minute jam, w/Bo and I assume the Duchess and the gang in support, well worth .99 cents. Maybe some label will lease it for a vinyl EP w/a picture cover some day, it would make a nice 45 RPM.

The Hound said...

"Didn't Bo Diddley leave behind, like, hours and hours of home studio recordings made since the late Fifties or early Sixties? Anybody know the legal status of this material, whose got the tapes, etc.?"

Latest update: The track From The Vaults which you can also get from Itunes for .99 (what else in this world can you buy for less than a dollar these days?) is the tip of what looks like an iceberg. They have around 150 unreleased tunes from Bo's home studio that they are currently working on getting released in an legal, honorable fashion from which Bo's family will see all the money. I think we'll be seeing some killer stuff judging from the couple of tracks that have come out so far.

Scooter said...

When Ellas was alive, he did his own promotion and applauded anyone who would and or could help. "Frenchie" is Faith Fusillo, one half of the "mis-managing partners" who are presently trying to reap their 30% AT EACH AND EVERY OPPORTUNITY. She is calling someone out? That is the richest shit I've heard since yesterday. Her and her partner and the executor wanted the family to sell rights to Ellas' biggest hits and when the family said "no", they pushed the executor to file a 'Petition for Authorization To Sell Estate Assets'
If they were going to go to court to override the offspring of Bo, why did they bother to ask? They don't give 1 fuck about Ellas' family so don't be fooled by that shitty talk by "Frenchie" (one of many fake names she uses around the net to sway public opinion). They were shocked when we came to court on Jan, 27 to stop them and I'll be in court again on March 14, 2011 to talk about their lies they told some attorney who is citing all of this case law in order to convince the judge to not waste time rendering his own decision, but to go with the status quo and fuck the family. The said that they were kind enough to make funeral arrangements when the truth is, they acted like the control freaks that they REALLY are and refused to let ANY family members do ANYTHING. "Frenchie" or "Tiffany Redmond" or "Gary Oaks" said in a recent newspaper article that the family lived in "..rural Bronson and Archer.." attempting to paint a racist image in the readers minds through the psychological manipulation of words. For the past two Sundays, gainesville.com and WCJB TV 20 have some of the facts straight. The family ain't gettin any money so they want the songs to stay....in the family.

Thr said...

Where is everyone?

Let's Hear It For The Orchestra

Let's Hear It For The Orchestra
copyright Hound Archive