Lyrically, the song makes mention of the mythical town of Diddy Wah Diddy. It was not unusual in the early part of the 20th century for African Americans in the southern states (particularly in Florida) to speak of various mythical cities and countries such as Beluthahatchie, Ginny Gall,[9] Diddy Wah Diddy and West Hell as if they were real.[10] Of all the imaginary locations that were in common usage at the time, folklorist and ethnomusicologistBenjamin A. Botkin has noted that Diddy Wah Diddy was "the largest and best known of the Negro mythical places."[11] It was commonly believed that in Diddy Wah Diddy food could be found in abundance, the townsfolk did not have to work, and people and animals had no concerns.[12] Dixon and McDaniel's song is sung from the point of view of a man whose lover lives in this mythical location, as evidenced by such lines as...
She loves her man, just is a pity
Crazy 'bout my gal in Diddy Wah Diddy
Ain't no town, and it ain't no city
But oh, how they love in Diddy Wah Diddy
The song is often confused with Blind Blake's similarly titled 1928 song, "Diddie Wa Diddie", which was also covered by various bands and artists mostly under the name "Diddy Wah Diddy".[13][14]
Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band recorded a blues rock version of the track, produced by David Gates (later the leader of Bread), in January 1966 at Sunset Sound Recorders studio in Hollywood, California.[15][16][17] The song was the band's first single, released on the A&M label in March of that year.[15][16] Some copies of the single incorrectly credit the songwriter as "A. Christensen".[17] The song soon gained interest and became a regional hit, with the band promoting it in May, on the TV show Where the Action Is, in a mimed segment filmed on a California beach.[16][18]
The first known cover of the song was by the Colorado-based rock band The Astronauts, on their RCA album The Astronauts Orbit Kampus, in 1964.[15][19]
Around the same time as the Captain Beefheart version, in mid-1966, the Remains, from Boston, released a garage rock version of the song which became a hit in the East Coast charts.[16]
The Sonics covered the song as a garage rock version around 1966, and it was included in the 1991 release of Maintaining My Cool and the 2004 Sundazed reissue of the album Introducing the Sonics.[14][20][21]
Two Australian bands, The Twilights, and Mike Furber and the Bowery Boys, covered the song, again in 1966. Another Australian band, Running Jumping Standing Still, recorded a version in 1967, which charted #13 in Melbourne.[14]
Indianapolis post-punk electronic band Last Four (4) Digits covered the song on a local sampler Red Snerts,[25] released in 1981.
Other mentions
Blind Blake's earlier, same-titled song "Diddie Wah Diddie" (see above) is referenced on the first issue cover of Robert Crumb's Zap Comix, where a woman quotes the song's racy chorus "I wish somebody would tell me what diddy-wah-diddy means" to Crumb's Mr. Natural, who responds, "If you don't know by now, lady, don't MESS with it!"
The version by Ty Segall Band is featured on the soundtrack of Grand Theft Auto V on Vinewood Boulevard Radio.
In "Mad Dogs and Servicemen", a third-season episode of M*A*S*H, Radar refers to "Diddy Wah Diddy" as one of his favorite records. This is an anachronism, as the Korean War ended in 1953 and "Diddy Wah Diddy" was not recorded until 1955.
^Mencken, H. L. , "Hell and Its Outskirts," The New Yorker, October 23, 1948
^Weisberger, Bernard A. (1985). The WPA Guide to America: the Best of 1930s America as Seen By the Federal Writers' Project. Pantheon Books. p. 228.
^Botkin, Benjamin Albert. (1976). A Treasury of Southern Folklore: Stories, Ballads, Traditions, and Folkways of the People of the South. Crown Books. p. 479. ISBN0-9529540-1-X.
^Jones, Sharon Lynette. (2009). Critical Companion to Zora Neale Hurston: a Literary Reference to Her Life. Infobase Publishing. p. 58. ISBN978-0-8160-6885-2.
