POP MUSIC / THOMAS K. ARNOLD : Bo Diddley Finally Getting the Acclaim He Deserves

Until recently, Bo Diddley, appearing Thursday night at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, was one of the forgotten fathers of rock music.

As he complained in an interview with The Times after his belated January, 1987, induction into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, “I was first with the whole darn thing, but I never got the recognition I was due. . . . (After) me, everybody began copying my rhythms and doing my songs, and I never got any credit.”

Indeed. The syncopated “hambone” beat of the singer-guitarist’s 1955 recording debut, “Bo Diddley,” is perhaps the most basic and famous riff of the rock era, shamelessly copied in later years by the likes of the Who (“Magic Bus”) and Bruce Springsteen (“She’s the One”).

Moreover, a bevy of famous rock bands have enjoyed chart success with covers of early Diddley originals, including the Rolling Stones, with “Not Fade Away”; the Yardbirds and Aerosmith, with “I’m a Man”; and George Thorogood and the Destroyers, with “Who Do You Love.”

Yet, aside from a single Top 40 hit--”Say Now” in 1959--Diddley’s repeated attempts to cast himself in the spotlight proved fruitless. Rock fans refused to buy his records or attend his concerts; rock stars refused to acknowledge his influence. And for a time in the 1970s, he even gave up music entirely to serve as sheriff of Los Lunas, N. M.

In recent years, however, the man rock ‘n’ roll forgot has suddenly found himself remembered.

Aside from his Hall of Fame induction, Diddley has been remembered on the concert trail, with sold-out tours of the United States and Europe and performances at the 1985 Live-Aid concert in Philadelphia and, a year later, at the Chicago Blues Festival.

He’s been remembered on national television, with appearances on “Late Night with David Letterman,” the Fox network’s “The Late Show” and “Dick Clark’s 33rd Anniversary of American Bandstand” special.

And, perhaps most significantly, Diddley was remembered in the 1986 rock anthology “Where’s Bo Diddley?” as having “influenced everyone from the Stones to Springsteen with his whipping, hell-fire blues (that can turn any place he appears) into a rocking, Bible Belt Gospel house.”

Certain things take the fun out of going to concerts. Here’s a subjective Top 10:

1. Ticket scalpers. They buy up all the best tickets as soon as the box office opens, then resell them for as much as 10 times the face value.

2. The high cost of concert parking (specifically at the San Diego Sports Arena). Not too long ago, the average ticket price to a pop concert was about $3. Now it costs that much just to park your car.

3. Getting searched on your way in. No, sir, that’s my wallet--I left the Uzi at home.

4. Finding someone in your seat. Apparently, one side effect of loud music is the inability to read tickets.

5. People who are constantly standing up. They’re always in the seat right in front of you.

6. People who are constantly screaming. They’re always in the seat right behind you.

7. Rock stars who yell out to the crowd, “Are you ready to party?” No, dude, we came here because the library was closed.

8. Rock stars who yell out to the crowd, “How’re you all doin’ tonight?” We’ll be fine as soon as you shut up and sing.

9. Overzealous bouncers. Is it really necessary to deck young girls who rush the stage with an armload of flowers?

10. Oldies concerts by impostors. You paid to see the Guess Who because you wanted to see the Guess Who--not the original bass player and four new guys who were still in diapers when “These Eyes” topped the charts.

LINER NOTES: Scott Pedersen, right-hand man for concert promoter Bill Silva, left town Sunday for a two-week talent search in the Soviet Union. He’ll be checking out rock bands in Moscow and Leningrad for possible local bookings this fall during San Diego’s Soviet Arts Festival.

Tickets go on sale May 13 for pop singer Jody Watley’s June 11 concert at Symphony Hall downtown. . . . Former Ultravox lead singer Midge Ure’s Friday night concert has been switched from the Spreckels Theater to the Soma dance hall. . . . Just added to the Concerts by the Bay series at Humphrey’s on Shelter Island: one show by singer-songwriter Laura Nyro, Aug. 13.