Bo Diddley needs no introductionâhe's done that himself throughout his career, name-dropping himself into songs such as "Bo Diddley Is Crazy," "Bo Diddley's Hootenanny" and "Bo Is a Lumberjack." The savage jungle thump of "Who Do You Love" and "I'm a Man" rattled teenage cages hard enough for the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds to fall out, and hapless rockers plagiarize Diddley's trademark ham-bone rhythm to this day. As a rock 'n' roll pioneer, Diddley's legacy is secure, but most know him for these golden oldies and little else. In this post-Gories millennium, when raw R&Bâflavored garage rock enjoys an audience with a taste for distortion and full-bore rhythm, the styles of acknowledged progenitors sometimes sound quaint and antiquated; Diddley's primitive 1950s hits seem downright sedate compared to current noisemakers such as Black Lips or the Fucking Eagles.
Enter The Black Gladiatorâthis 1970 LP isn't easy to find, but it's the record where Bo lets it all hang out, leading a blazing distorto-soul band and indulging all his most eccentric qualities. Released on Chess Records' subsidiary Checker, The Black Gladiator remakes Diddley as a funk artist, and to these ears, it works like crazy.
Like This Is Howlin' Wolf's New Album and Muddy Waters' Electric Mud, The Black Gladiator was a ham-fisted attempt to bring a traditional artist to the psychedelic rock audience. Roundly derided at the time, these records have earned cult appreciation in this noisier, punk-damaged era. The Black Gladiator is the most successful, simply because Diddley sounds completely in control. While Waters and Wolf wander lost in the cacophony of wah-wah guitar and lead-footed drumming, Diddley leads the band in the direction of his choice. Nothing on The Black Gladiator sounds out of place, there's just moreâmore boasting, more fuzz, more energy, more everything.
The Black Gladiator comes on strong with the opening cut, "Elephant Man," which rides a primitive three-note riff into gale-force funk as Diddley proceeds to explain how he invented the elephantâthat's right, invented the elephantâconstructing the animal piece by piece. After that, Diddley throws up his fist for black power, contemplates the word of God, brags about his sexual prowess, and lays down the law for his wife, telling her "you ain't going nowhere, put those shoes back under the bed."
Like the best parties, the LP bulges with energy for the first half as everyone's spirits are high, declines slightly as the night progresses, and ends with a boozy fistfight everyone will gossip about the next day. "I Don't Like You" concludes The Black Gladiator with a hilarious bout of trash-talking, as Diddley and an unnamed lady trade playground insults. "If a bird had your brains, it would fly sideways," he taunts, then launches into a round of faux-operatic vocalizing that he follows with a laugh and a satisfied, "Can you dig it?" The only answer is yes.
