[link to original on tumblr]
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Yester-day I listened (for the first time) to the first disc of a three-CD set of Bo Diddley. I'm listening to the second disc to-day, and I think I found a reference to Ray Charles' "Hallelujah I Love Her So" in "Don't Let It Go (Hold on to What You Got)." There's the line "She brings me my coffee in her favorite cup," which is very similar to Charles' "She brings my coffee in my favorite cup." According to the credits for the two compilation albums I have these songs on, "Hallelujah I Love Her So" is from 1955, and "Don't Let It Go (Hold on to What You Got)" is from 1959, so chronologically, that reference is possible, but since I don't know much about Bo Diddley (this is the first album of his material that I have, and this is only the first time I'm listening to it), I'm not sure if that's a viable connection.This is a sort of relevant post from my Collection Audit project.
I mentioned before that I'm pretty sure this line from Ray Charles' "Hallelujah I Love Her So" inspired the line "She bought you coffee in a special cup" in Argent's "The Feeling's Inside." But there might be something to this Bo Diddley connection too. The Zombies covered his "Road Runner," but I don't know how familiar they were with his other work.
I still think Charles is the main referent though because in this interview from a few years ago, Rod Argent specifically mentions Charles as one of the artists he still listens to twenty years later. In more recent interviews, I think he credited him as an influence for "Edge of the Rainbow" from Still Got That Hunger too.
