The Animals - The Story of Bo Diddley: Ukulele Chords

Learn to play "The Story of Bo Diddley" on your ukulele with our detailed chord guide and lyrics. This page provides everything you need to play this song on the ukulele, including lyrics integrated with chords, chord diagrams, and a key transposer to match your vocal range.

Learn The Story of Bo Diddley ukulele chords and lyrics

This section will guide you through each part of the song, providing the ukulele chords placed directly above the lyrics for easy playing. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced player, these elements will help you perform "The Story of Bo Diddley" smoothly on your ukulele.

F
Now let's hear the story of Bo Diddley
And the rock 'n' roll scene in general
Bo Diddley was born Ellis McDaniels
In a place called McCoom

Mississipi about 1926
He moved to Chicago about 1938
Where his name was eventually changed
To Bo Diddley

He practiced the guitar
everyday and sometimes into the night
Till his papa's hair began to turn white
His pa said, "Son, listen hear, I know
You can stay but that guitar has just gotta go"

"So he pulled his hat down over his eyes
Headed out for them western skies"
I think Bob Dylan said that
He hit New York City

He began to play at the Apollo in Harlem
Good scene there, everybody raving
One day, one night,
came a Cadillac with four head lights
Came a man with a big, long, fat, cigar

Said, "C'mere son, I'm gonna make you a star"
Bo Diddley said, "Uh, what's in it for me?"
Man said, "Shut your mouth son
Play the guitar and you just wait and see"
Well, that boy made it, he made it real big
And so did the rest of
the rock 'n' roll scene along with him
And a white guy called Johnny Otis
took Bo Diddleys rhythm
He changed it into handjive
and it went like this

F
In a little old country town one day
                                     C
A little old country band began to play
      F                            A#
Add two guitars and a beat up saxophone
           C
When the drummer said,
                           F
"Boy, those cats begin to roam"

         A#       F
Oh, baby oh we oh oh
C                         F
Ooh, la la that rock 'n' roll
Ya, hear me oh we oh oh
Ooh, la la that rock 'n' roll

C                 F
Then in the U.S. music scene there
     C              F C
was big changes made
Due to circumstances beyond our control,
such as payola
The rock 'n' roll scene died after
two years of solid rock

And you got discs like ah
"Take good care of my baby
Please don't ever make her blue", and so forth

About, ah, one year later in
a place called Liverpool in England
Four young guys with mop haircuts
began to sing stuff like, ah
"It's been a hard days night and
I've been workin' like a dog", and so on
In a place called Richmond in Surrey,
 way down in the deep south
They got guys with long hair down
their back singin'
"I wanna be your lover baby,
I wanna be your man yeah", and all that jazz

Now we've doin' this number,
Bo Diddley, for quite some time now
Bo Diddley visited this country last year
We were playin' at the club
a Gogo in Newcastle, our home town

And the doors opened one night and to our surprise
Walked in the man himself, Bo Diddley
Along with him was Jerome Green, his Maraca man
And the Duchess, his gorgeous sister

And a we were doin', doin' this number
Along with them came
the Rolling Stones, the Mersey Beats
They're all standin' around diggin' it

And I overheard Bo Diddley talkin'
He turned around to Jermone Green
And he said, "Hey, Jerome
What do you think these guys doin' our,
our material?"

Jerome said, "Uh, where's the bar man,
please show me to the bar"
He turned around the Duchess
And he said, "Hey Duch
What do you think of these
 young guys doin' our material?"
She said, "I don't know
I only came across here to see
The changin' of the guards and all that jazz"
Well, Bo Diddley looked up at me and he said

With half closed eyes and a smile
He said, "Man...," an' took off his glasses
He said, "Man, that sure is
the biggest load of rubbish.
I ever heard in my life"

Hey, Bo Diddley
Oh, Bo Diddley
Yeah, Bo Diddley
Oh, Bo Diddley
Yeah, Bo Diddley
Oh, Bo Diddley

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Ukulele Chord Diagrams

A

Ukulele chord A

A#

Ukulele chord A#

C

Ukulele chord C

F

Ukulele chord F

Here you can see detailed diagrams for each ukulele chord used in the song. Utilize our key transposer to adjust the chords to a key that better fits your singing range. Simply select the desired key, and the chords throughout this page will update automatically, ensuring you can play and sing comfortably.

If you are also interested in learning how to play "The Story of Bo Diddley" on the guitar, check out the chords on our sister site: Guitar Chords for "The Story of Bo Diddley" by The Animals.

The Animals Song List