nick manho

bo diddley released this song in 1962: You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover, but if you lived in england at the time you were never going to hear it.

if, however, you lived in a big city and there were cool groups playing in local clubs you might just get to hear a decent facsimile.

the bo diddley number - it was actually written by willie dixon, but that's another story - was covered by every group worth its salt in newcastle, belfast and london. and if you lived in liverpool you may have caught these guys:



doing this version: The Merseybeats, 1963, You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover


if you listen carefully you'll hear them having problems with the cane/man rhyme.

some things you just cain't copy.