

The essence of his art can be found on the rock 'n' roll records he made between 1955 and 1962, before the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, who worshiped him, commercially buried him. He was a 45-r.p.m. singles artist, and ''The Chess Box,'' a two-disc, 45-track collection released in 1990, demonstrates his genius pretty well, from his canonical boasts and schoolyard chants (''Bo Diddley,'' ''I'm a Man,'' ''Hey Bo Diddley,'' ''Who Do You Love'') to his more mysterious masterpieces (''Mona,'' ''Dearest Darling'' and the slow instrumental violin-blues shuffle ''The Clock Strikes Twelve''). His early black-and-white television appearances, which you can see on YouTube, are essential too.

But he also has to be understood through his beat, which anchored ''Bo Diddley'' as well as so many of his other songs. Popular musicians of many kinds have heard bomp-ba-domp-ba-domp, ba-domp-domp as swing or primitivism, as the graceful three-beat, two-beat sequence of Afro-Cuban clave or as garage-rock tom-tom stomp. All kinds of rock 'n' roll and rhythm-and-blues musicians have used it, and will continue to. (Latin music didn't need it because it already had the mighty clave; hip-hop has had little use for its rolling rhythmic feel.) Here is a partial list of songs since the late 1950s that have used the Bo Diddley beat, or a variation of it.

Buddy Holly, ''Not Fade Away''

Johnny Otis, ''Willie and the Hand Jive''

Elvis Presley, ''(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame''

The Who, ''Magic Bus''

Bruce Springsteen, ''She's the One,'' ''Ain't Got You''

U2, ''Desire''

The Strangeloves (and later Bow Wow Wow), ''I Want Candy''

The Smiths, ''How Soon Is Now?''

The Stooges, ''1969''

George Michael, ''Faith''

The Electric Prunes, ''Get Me to the World on Time''

The Clash, ''Hateful''

The Pretty Things, ''Rosalyn''

The Pretenders, ''Cuban Slide''

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, ''Mickey's Monkey''

Ace Frehley, ''Back in the New York Groove''

Dick Dale, ''Tribal Thunder''

Neil Sedaka, ''Bad Blood''

David Bowie, ''Panic in Detroit''

The Supremes, ''When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes''

Vanity 6, ''Nasty Girl''

Shirley & Company, ''Shame, Shame, Shame''

The Byrds, ''Don't Doubt Yourself, Babe''

The White Stripes, ''Screwdriver''

Elvis Costello, ''Lover's Walk''

The Cramps, ''Call of the Wighat''

PHOTO: A pioneer of rhythm: Bo Diddley performing in 2005. (PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS)