Black Gladiator (Jpn)

Digitally remastered edition of this 1970 album from the Rock 'n' Roll pioneer. While the '60s came to a close, Diddley may have been working at a less prolific pace than during his earlier heyday, but the man was certainly charged up and ready to drop a full-blown musical bomb. In an attempt to fit in with the current youth oriented scene (Sly And the Family Stone, Rare Earth, the Rolling Stones) and recent Acid Rock audience targeted albums by label mates Muddy Waters (Electric Mud) and Howlin' Wolf (The Howlin' Wolf Album), Bo would further push the boundaries with the release of the Black Gladiator. The album would modernize his Blues-Rock sound with a rugged Funk edge, while retaining the spirit and humor of his finest work, and feature an album cover of the man donning a bodacious leather belt/pseudo S&M get up that would put Isaac Hayes' chain link vestments to shame.