Crackin' Up

Album: Go Bo Diddley (1959)
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Songfacts®:

  • Bo Diddley's woman is driving him crazy in this song, so much so that he's crackin' up. He spoiled her long ago, and now she expects royal treatment - he even does her laundry! It's quite a contrast from his 1955 his "I'm A Man."
  • Musicians on this track include Willie Dixon on upright bass and Jerome Greene on maracas.
  • This is a very tricky song to figure out on guitar, according to Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Gibbons, who included it on his second solo album The Big Bad Blues in 2018, told Songfacts: "Bo's upside down/inside out guitar intro required many hours of figuring. When finally accomplished, there was much cause for celebration. You may think you know Bo but you've got to be severely analytical to really know, know, know Bo."
  • Paul McCartney included this on his 1988 covers album CHOBA B CCCP ("Back in the USSR"), which was issued in the Soviet Union. The Rolling Stones included a version performed at a concert in Toronto on their 1977 album Love You Live.

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