Bo Diddley's $2,000 Barn Burner with The Numbers Band at JB's back in 1980

Before I go into this Kent history piece I want to tell everyone who is reading this to go and see The Numbers Band (15-60-75) play live! It is a privilege that after 4 decades we are still, as a community, able to see this fantastic and legendary band. Plus they still sound incredible and put on one hell of a show. You can check out their live schedule here.

• Friday, September 12, 1980, Bo Diddley backed by The Numbers Band (15 60 75) at JB's

So many of these pieces I write with the discovery of an image and a series of questions I have about the image. This piece is no exception to that method. Recently I was leafing through an old Chestnut Burr yearbook from the very early 1980's when I found this incredible photograph of legendary rock and roll architect Bo Diddley jamming with another guitar player somewhere in downtown Kent. The photograph had so many mysteries to it. What is Bo Diddley doing playing in Kent? Who is this other guitar player next to Bo? What is the date of this photo? Where specifically are they playing in town?

My first step in trying to answer these questions was to scan the image and throw it up on my Facebook wall, where I have many many Kent natives lingering. My post stated: Bo Diddley and unknown guitar player in Kent. My first comment on the photo was "wow cool!" the next comment to come in stated "man, looks like Kent used to be such a happening place." This was then followed by a comment that lead to my first real clue as to what was going on here: "Guy on the right used to play with The Numbers Band; I can't think of his name this second. Ask Terry Hynde!" About 10 minutes later I got another comment stating "Side guitarist may be Michael Stacey of the Numbers Band."

A quick Google search of "The Numbers Band" and "Bo Diddley" took me right to The Numbers Band's website, which had references to them playing with Bo Diddley though the images provided for this story (here on Patch) appeared nowhere on their site nor did their site refer to a specific date on this event.

Stumbling upon this photo is one of the catalysts that lead me to discover the music of the Numbers Band. Over time, the more I learned about this extraordinary Kent band, the more I learned about how much Bo Diddley meant to their music and to them personally. It's one thing to be influenced by one of your heroes, but it's a whole other game to be able play with one of them on your own turf.

It must be noted that the earliest incarnations of The Numbers Band were drenched in the influence of Bo Diddley and those awesome boogie blues sounds. Click here to check out this performance of The Numbers band from about 1973 inside The Kent Kove where the recording kicks off with a barn-burning performance of Bo Diddley's "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover." You can hear the audience getting pretty into it! Seriously, give this a listen. It's a rare window into those heady nights on that old North Water Street bar strip.

What makes the fact that The Numbers Band played with Bo Diddley in 1980 so interesting is that by the time the band had gotten to 1980, their sound had completely changed from Bo Diddley-esque boogie blues to a high intensity level of multilayered jazz fusion. It almost seems as if The Numbers Band had completely abandoned their boogie blues roots by the time they actually got to play with their hero. Click here to listen to a highly intense performance of The Numbers Band playing at The Cleveland Agora in 1980, and keep in mind that this would have been around the time they played with Bo. Note that they sound nothing like that boogie blues version of The Numbers Band that played at The Kent Kove just 7 years earlier.

Also, I found a clip on YouTube showing Bo Diddley playing on the Sha Na Na television program from approximately the same time period he played with The Numbers Band. Click here to see the clip. Aside from the cheesy posturing from Sha Na Na, this was about what Bo Diddley would have looked and sounded like on the night he played with The Numbers Band.

As to be expected, The Daily Kent Stater was all over this show. Several preview ads and a small article appeared in those Kent Staters leading up to the show as well as a full review with photos appearing in the issue immediately following the performance. Click here to read the original Daily Kent Stater review from that night.

I had the great pleasure recently to talk to most of the prominent members of The Numbers Band who played with Bo on North Water Street on that September night back in 1980, and all of them still glowed when recounting the experience. One constant to all the stories they each told me was Bo not allowing their then drummer Dave Robinson to play Bo Diddley's signature beat. Jack Kidney's anecdote on the evening gives the best details on the story, so for repetition's sake I kept that story out of the others recollections. Oh, and that Bo Diddley Beat — click the following links to hear classic examples of the famous Bo Diddley beat utilized by Bo Diddley, U2, The Rolling Stones and Bow Wow Wow.

Numbers Band vocalist and multi instrumentalist Jack Kidney wrote this incredible anecdote about his experiences handling and playing with Bo Diddley for his September 1980 appearance here in Kent:

"I must have been 6 years old when I saw my first Bo Diddley album cover. It belonged to my 16-year-old cousin. The red plaid jacket and the rectangular box guitar left an indelible mark on my consciousness. By the time I hit my twenties I was copping harp parts off the same recording and had listened to just about everything he'd recorded for the Chess Brothers in Chicago. I thought I knew Diddley.

"Here's the scoop. In the early 1980s for $2,000, a round trip ticket from somewhere in Florida and one night in a hotel you too could have Bo for the night. We were the house band at JB's and JB's had acquiesced to fork over the cash. The Numbers Band would open, then back up Mr. Diddley. Unbeknownst to Bo, we were ready to kick ass behind him. We'd been covering him for years. 'Can't Judge a Book', 'Who Do You Love', 'Mona' and 'You Don't Love Me' were some of our most requested songs. We had single-handedly kept his name alive in our neck of the woods. Our Drummer, David, could have written a doctoral thesis on how to employ the nuance and give life to the world famous 'Bo Diddley Beat.'

"David and I went down to pick up Bo at the airport. We're standing there watching these people walk up the stairs after de-boarding when I asked 'how will we recognize him?' David laughed. 'He'll be the one that's Bo Diddley.' About a minute later there he was. No doubt, David was right. The black fedora was a dead give away, not to mention the huge guitar case he was hauling. We drove him back to Kent, OH. We went directly to the club for a rehearsal — after all he was slated for a two-hour show. That's a lot of songs.

"Bo was all business. He'd been through this routine at least a thousand times with every little podunk band across the country who had single-handedly kept his name alive in their neck of the woods. He plugged in, tuned up and started playing the rhythm that had put him on the map more than 30 years ago. It oozed out of the amp. I was captivated. It was the essence of rock and roll. It stood on it's own, no accompaniment needed.

"He told me exactly what he wanted from my harmonica. 'Just the beat man.' I could have played it in my sleep. David started playing the drum part he'd been playing since late adolescence. Bo came to an abrupt stop, turned to David and said 'I don't play that old s*** no more.' That comment hung in the air for an amount of time that's immeasurable. What he wanted out of the drums was Rock Drum Beat 101. Kind of a boomp, bop, boomp, bop thing. I was disappointed. David was, well, I don't know what David was, but it wasn't good. Then Bo played a little three-note figure and told us, 'When you hear this one, two, three, the song ends.' He meant EVERY song. Rehearsal was over. It had taken about 15 minutes. I drove Bo to his hotel.

"JB's was packed that night, wall to wall, a fire marshall's nightmare. All the boys and girls had come to see us kids make good while backing up the legend. Included in our opening set was a tip of the hat to Bo, yet another version of 'You Don't Love Me.' He stood and watched us from behind the bar, with a slight hint of appreciation in his eye. The crowd was beside itself.

"My brother Bob got down off the stage (and) Bo took his spot. It was time. 'If that diamond ring don't shine, Bo Diddley take it to a private eye.' It was heaven. I was playing music next to a guy who'd been staring at me from album covers since I was 6. I lunged into the harp and played exactly what he'd told me, that's all. Beautiful. I was there to soak it in, just like everybody else. We were cranking out his hits, one after the other, one, two, three, same beat, new song. About three tunes in, Bo caught my eye. He looked at me and rolled his index finger. He was throwing me a solo. I couldn't believe it. I took the verse. The crowd went nuts. Crowds are apt to do that when one of the locals gets called off the bench. He rolled his finger at the end of the verse, so I took another and another. He was having me solo on every song. The crowd was loving it and I was out there, in that land somewhere, never wanting to return. David, on the other hand, was not having a good time. When he would try to demonstrate that he could play the drums or make a contribution to the proceedings, Bo would turn around and snarl at him and toss off some discouraging words. The show eventually came to an end. I was exhausted and perplexed.

"The next day I took him back to the airport for his flight home. We were alone in the car. We made small talk and then I said 'so, you heard the band, what advice would you give us?' He said, 'Well if I was you boys I'd learn some country music, its coming back and its gonna be big.' I asked for it, couldn't believe it, and if we had taken it, ya'all could be line dancing in front of us.

"I did have a realization on the way home after dropping him off. While I was playing my ass off the night before, Bo was just killing time. One more thing. He flew up from Florida about a year later (and) David managed to be out of town. I hope he had a good time."

Numbers Band saxophonist Terry Hynde gave me this recollection of the night:

"I remember it seemed awfully bright in there. I don't know if they were taping or what but I could see everybody's faces. Everything was really well lit and I just remember everybody all packed in together, not really moving around or anything just sort of stuck solid because it was so packed.

"There was an incident with Bo Diddley that I can remember. The first time we played down there, the whole band set up before I came in, and neither Bo nor the band knew what exactly to expect out of each other, so before the performance I went up to Bo and said 'is it ok if I sit in?' And he said 'Sure.'

"It was pretty exciting, and when it came time for the actual show everything was just fantastic! I played the whole night. I took all kinds of solos here and solos there. He was cueing me for solos It was really fun. The whole night was just so fun.

"So then eight months later, which would have been that following spring, we had Bo back again at JB's. So I set up like last time and as the show begins I jump up onstage with my sax and start playing and Bo looks at me and says 'Get the f*** out of here, I don't want any of that s*** up here!' He threw me off stage! He didn't know who this guy was with a saxophone coming up! He wasn't going to play with me! Yet I was the same guy who played with him all night eight months before."

Michael Stacey, who was the rhythm guitarist in The Numbers Band from 1974 to 1989 and is the sole member to be photographed with Bo on this night, gave me this recollection:

"I don't remember how this show came to be actually but I do remember that we were always interested in getting blues acts into town. I can't remember if we were directly involved in getting him booked or not, but I do remember being aware that if he was in fact booked into JB's that he would need a backup band.

"Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry both used to travel with just a guitar. If you booked them to play your club you had to supply them with an amp and a backup band. I remember the first time seeing him in the basement at JB's Down, and I remember he had this cowboy hat and was wearing this red polyester jump suit. We were all excited to play with him and once we all met up down there he said 'Well come on stage, we're gonna have a rehearsal.'  So we all get up there and he just really quickly starts running us through some different beats, and before we could even get a feel of how to play with him he says 'Ok sounds good. We'll be fine.' So we didn't actually rehearse anything!

"We already had a couple of Bo Diddley tunes in our repertoire anyway, so we were familiar with his signature beat. Plus we also did lots of blues, so if he wanted to play straight blues we could do that too. The band was pretty well versed in those rhythms and stuff so it wasn't like we had to have special rehearsals for this show because we were already doing it.

"I thought he was a genuinely nice guy and he was talking about living in Florida. We talked about that he made lamps. I remember him saying 'Yeah, I make lamps and mosaics and stuff.' I remember that he really liked one of the guitars that I had and I almost talked him into trading me one of his square ones, but in the end he said he just couldn't do it since he was the only one in the world who plays those things and he just couldn't let one go.

"But he was a real nice guy. The thing that struck me is that I've also met Chuck Berry and Chuck was like the opposite side of the coin. Chuck was very bitter and both Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley were sort of screwed over by the business. Both of them had their signature rhythms stolen out from under them and other artists made millions of dollars off of their signature sounds. Bo Diddley though just shrugged his shoulders at this and said 'That's the way it goes, you know?' He was still playing as much as he wanted to and by then he was getting recognized a lot more.

"I remember JB's was packed. It was like shoulder to shoulder and people were really looking forward to him. Plus it was sort of the height of our popularity too. So we opened for him and played a set of our stuff and people were really into it and then when he came on everything went up a level. I just remember that it was really high energy in the room and playing with him was great. I was always more of a basher rhythm player than a soloist. I can play solos but I was a good rhythm player, and I sort of had the feeling he wasn't used to that — being onstage with someone who could play rhythm strong. I think he was having a good time too. It was really a nice night. I remember it fondly.

"I have that photograph hanging up in my cube at work. It sort of reminds me that I wasn't always a cube geek, you know? Sometimes people come into my cube and they look at that picture and they say 'Who is that?' And I say 'well, that's Bo Diddley.' And they say 'No, the other guy,' and I say 'that's me 30 years ago!(laughs)' It was a great, great night."

Numbers Band frontman and leader Bob Kidney gave me this recollection of that evening:

"I think it was the manager of JB's at the time who set up the show. I can't remember who that might have been. In that period they were trying to bring in some out-of-town people based on the history of The Kove, which had burned down by then.

"I just remember that ... we do "Mona," which is a Bo Diddley song, and we do "Not Fade Away," which is a song that has that Bo Diddley Beat. We also used to do "Who Do You Love" and (Numbers Band drummer) David loved that beat, and he studied that beat and he had that beat down and he was all excited about Bo Diddley.

"A distinct memory I have from that night is being in the back room with him and he was getting his guitar out and stuff, and I just talked to him for a little bit ... that's where he told me that he made lamps and that he lived in Florida. I wasn't talking to Bo Diddley though, I was talking to Ellas McDaniel. I said 'Yeah I do one of your songs, it's one of my favorite songs,' and he said 'Oh yeah, which one is that?' and I told him 'You Don't Love Me (You Don't Care)' and he looked at me weird and he didn't even remember that song. And then I reminded him that Little Walter played on that song and he said 'Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Really, you like that song?' (laughs) That was his reaction and I went 'yeah i like it, it's a f******* killer song.' I still play that song, it's a great song! And the original version is incredible."

Some more notes here...if you noticed both Jack and Terry made references to Bo Diddley coming back to Kent the following Spring. That show took place eight months later on Saturday, May 9, 1981. Click here to see the advert for that second Spring JB's show and click here to read the Kent Stater review for that second show. I have also been told that The Numbers Band played with Bo Diddley for a third show some time later at The Cleveland Agora.

It also must be noted that playing with Bo Diddley wasn't the first flirtation that The Numbers Band had with the great musical artists/icons of our time — not even close. When you really dig back into the history with The Numbers Band you will see that in their very earliest days they were the band to play with when you rolled through Kent. Click the following links to see the original advertisements showing The Numbers Band (15-60-75) sharing the same bills with Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits.

In the early 1970s when some of the great forgotten old blues artists became notable again it was The Numbers Band who embraced those guys and presented them on North Water Street down at the Kent Kove.

The earliest days of this band had Bob Kidney hosting Mississippi Fred McDowell and playing with him as a duo at The Kent Kove around 1971. An incredible story about this experience recently surfaced here. One more aside on this story. Check out the greatness of Mississippi Fred McDowell here and check out The Rolling Stones cover of his song You Gotta Move from their legendary album Sticky Fingers by clicking here. Of note is that Sticky Fingers would have been The Rolling Stones' blockbuster album of the moment at the very time that Bob Kidney tended to Mississippi Fred McDowell's visit to The Kent Kove.

In this same early period The Numbers Band also served as Johnny Shines' backup band at The Kove. Check out a photo from that night and note that that's Bob Kidney's Traynor amplifier directly behind Johnny. Feel free to check out a vintage Johnny Shines performance here.

Also, many people around town still talk about some legendary nights with a double bill of The Numbers Band and Hound Dog Taylor at The Kent Kove. Click here to see the original 1971 advertisement from one of those early shows and click here to see a photo of Hound Dog at The Kove from one of those nights. Also click here and here to see some incredible and smokin' live footage of Hound Dog Taylor to give you a feel of the authentic sounds heard and witnessed in The Kove on those nights.

Even internally the Numbers Band had some quite notable musicians. In the early 1970s Gerald Casale, who would later co-found DEVO, played drums and then moved to bass guitar. You can see him in this band picture (taken at Orvilles/Walters) second to the left with the aviator sunglasses. Casale actually replaced a guy named Rod Reisman on drums who would later become DEVO's first drummer.

I don't even need to mention Terry Hynde's sister Chrissie, whose band The Pretenders later covered the Numbers Band song "Rosalee." Click here to check out a killer performance of the Pretenders rendition of this beautiful song.

In the mid 1980s Sex Pistols' frontman Johnny Rotten and Cream vocalist-bassist Jack Bruce both covered "The Animal Speaks," which Bob Kidney wrote and performed with The Numbers Band for years. "The Animal Speaks" appears on The Numbers Band's most notable album Jimmie Bell's Still In Town. Click here to listen to the Original Numbers Band version. Now click here to hear the version sung by Johnny Rotten and then click here to hear The Jack Bruce version.

Actually, while you're at it, take a look at this reference to a 1986 12-inch single that includes a song with R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe called "Boy (Go)" on one side and Johnny Rotten doing "The Animal Speaks" on the reverse side. Also check out the 12-inch sleeve for Johnny Rotten's "The Animal Speaks."

And something else just as cool? In 2006 Jack Kidney got to be a session musician for alt-rock pioneer and Pixies frontman-founder Frank Black for his 2006 roots album Fast Man Raider Man! How cool is that? Check out the long A-list of the greatest studio musicians of our time who got to play on this thing. You can hear him blowing harp on this track but check him out here playing on the Conan O'Brien show while on tour with Frank Black in 2006!

But really, these are just footnotes (albeit incredible footnotes) to the 41-year legacy of The Numbers Band and the absolutely fantastic music and powerful live shows that have helped create a soundtrack for so many people in the greater area, and especially in the city of Kent.

Again, don't miss seeing them live. As I said before it is an absolute privilege to be able to still see such fantastic artistry combined with an unbelievable legacy.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with some classic Bo Diddley and some iconic Numbers Band!

Images for this story are courtesy of The Burr, Kent State Student Media (reprinted with permission,) The Daily Kent Stater and the Department of Special Collections and Archives, Kent State University Libraries, Mark Hughes Archive, Robert Kidney, Scott White and John Neitzel. And a special thanks to and Byrun Reed.

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