Bo Diddley – Have Guitar Will Travel (Mono, Acoustic Sounds Series)

Bo Diddley’s Have Guitar, Will Travel arrived in 1959 as his third studio album, and it makes a strong case for how far his beat, guitar attack, and sly vocal style were already pushing rock ’n’ roll forward before the 1960s properly began. Built around a mix of key singles and new material, it includes “Cops and Robbers” and “Mona (I Need You Baby),” alongside fresh cuts recorded for the LP.

What makes this record especially rewarding is how many sides of Diddley it catches in one place. There’s the clipped drive of “Cops and Robbers,” the rough-edged groove of “Run Diddley Daddy,” and the more melodic pull of “I Love You So,” all tied together by the crunch and swagger that made his Chess recordings so durable. Contemporary notes around the album rightly point to its afterlife in the British Invasion: songs here were later taken up by groups including The Rolling Stones, Wayne Fontana, and The Downliner Sect.

This edition also matters because Have Guitar, Will Travel has had a comparatively patchy vinyl history, so its return through the Acoustic Sounds Series gives one of Diddley’s key late-’50s albums the kind of presentation it deserves. For anyone tracing the route from Chicago rhythm and blues into the tougher, more stripped-back language of early rock, this is a very easy record to recommend.

Features

• LP, 180g, Mono, Acoustic Sounds Series
• Remastered from the original analog tapes
• Pressed at Quality Record Pressings (QRP)
• Tip-on gatefold sleeve printed on high-grade board

Reviews

• This record is every bit as raunchy as Diddley's first two albums. - AllMusic.com