Bo Diddley: I'm a Man: The Chess Masters, 1955-1958

Bo Diddley purists will be glad to be able to trade in several of their old compilations at once, historians will rejoice at hearing the birth of "The Originator," and newbies can cheaply and easily get into the back catalog of one of rock's most unique characters. Also essential for Chicago blues fiends.

No one doubts that Bo Diddley helped lay the foundation of rock and roll by taking Chicago blues and doing... well, no one knows exactly what to it. Indeed, it's his very iconoclast nature that has ironically ensured he rarely gets mentioned in the first pantheon of rock architects. Sure, Chuck and Jerry Lee and Little Richard and Elvis blazed their own trail, but with a square guitar? Covered in fur? Playing a hambone beat? With maracas and a female guitarist? You get the picture.

This new 2-CD set, therefore, limited to 5000 non-numbered copies, is a good place for anyone to hear the genre's birth pangs, despite the limited edition gimmick. The release of this set makes at least four Bo comps obsolete, and while you don't get his less-celebrated and sadly underrated early-Sixties gems like "Road Runner," "500% More Man," and especially "You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover," the presence of eight unreleased takes and a dozen alternate versions -- including formative takes of his signature song, "Bo Diddley," and his biggest Top 40 hit, "Say Man," are more than enough to make up for it. (This is not even to mention the album tracks most fans of Fifties rock should know but don't, like the eerie ballad "The Clock Strikes Twelve," featuring Diddley on violin, or "Bo Meets The Monster," a novelty that's at least as authentic and chuckle-worthy as "Monster Mash.")

As befits a collectors' package like this one, the documentation on these 48 tracks is extensive, and there's even a free guitar-shaped magnet lurking in the packaging. But anyone who's casually heard and loved his theme song is gonna love the blues-fried groove on display here: Bo was not only one of the era's most innovative musicians, he was also one of its most consistent. Which means maybe the Originator isn't just boasting out of primitive rockstar hubris. He earned this one.