Say Man

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"Say Man"
Say Man single cover.jpeg
Single by Bo Diddley
B-side"The Clock Strikes Twelve"
Released1959
RecordedChicago, January 29, 1958
GenreRhythm and blues
Length3:09
LabelChecker 931
Songwriter(s)Ellas McDaniel
Bo Diddley singles chronology
"Crackin Up"
(1959) 		"Say Man"
(1959) 		"Say Man, Back Again"
(1959)

"Say Man" is a song by American musician Bo Diddley. Written under his real name of Ellas McDaniel, it was recorded by Bo Diddley in 1958 and released as a single in 1959 on Checker 931.

The recording became his biggest US pop hit, reaching number 20 on the Hot 100,[1] and number three on the R&B chart.[2] It arose from a jam session between Diddley and his maracas player Jerome Green, and featured Diddley and Green trading insults in the style of the word game known as The Dozens.[3]

Bo Diddley said of the song: "A lot of the things I did in the Chess studios, we were just goofin' around... They played it back, and it shocked all of us! Of course, they cut out all the dirty parts."[4] Music critic Maury Dean, while rejecting the idea that the track is "the first rap song", says that it is "the first major soul tune to feature a total spoken patter of pal put-downs to a rockin' beat.... Bo's lightning right hand chops chords like sugar cane. The incessant beat throbs into the hot American evening nocturne of streetwise savvy. Rap - with a side of ghetto-blast humor."[5]

The recording also appeared on the album Go Bo Diddley.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2003). Top Pop Singles 1955-2002 (1st ed.). Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 193. ISBN 0-89820-155-1.
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-1995. Record Research. p. 114. ISBN 0-89820-115-2.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Overview: Go Bo Diddley by Bo Diddley". Allmusic. United States: Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
  4. ^ Richie Unterberger, "Say Man", Rolling Stone, June 8, 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2017
  5. ^ Maury Dean, Rock and Roll: Gold Rush, Algora Publishing, 2003, p.59
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