Amazon.com He's celebrated for the syncopated beat bearing his name that has spanned rock & roll's entire history. Unfortunately, his namesake also gets him mislabeled as a one-trick pony. This two-disc set does much to remedy the situation, tracking 1955 through 1968 and featuring all the hits. However, The Chess Box also displays Diddley's rock and blues versatility, from the reggae-ish (before there was reggae) "Crackin' Up" and the Who's onstage hard-rock anthem "Roadrunner" to the wonderful formerly U.K.-only "Greatest Lover in the World" and rock's first song about a junkie ("Pills," later revived by the New York Dolls). Most surprising is Diddley's beautiful yet previously unreleased doo-wop classic, "You Know I Love You." The excellent liner notes by MCA's primo compiler, Andy McKaie (with Diddley himself), and the late Robert Palmer add extra value to the package. --Bill Holdship Review The extraordinary rhythmic sense of Ellas "Bo Diddley" McDaniel is evidenced on forty-five songs (classics and obscure gems alike) recorded between 1955 and 1969, one of the all-time peaks of creativeness in rock 'n' roll. The sides filling two discs in this handsome boxed set also show that the Mississippi native who was raised on Chicago's South Side has a guitar and voice acute in blues intonation and a penchant for lyrics that are barbed-wire sharp with irreverent humor. The accompanying twenty-two-page booklet includes a Robert Palmer essay, sessions details, and remembrances by Diddley. -- © Frank John Hadley 1993 -- From Grove Press Guide to Blues on CD