Ellas Otha Bates was an American guitarist and R&B singer who played a key role in transition from Blues to rock & roll, influencing many later rock & roll artists. His use of African and simple hambone rhythms with a signature beat was the cornerstone of rock and popular music His 1955 single was #1 on Billboards R&B charts. The single is unique because it is the only song in which the title of the song is also the name of the artist who also wrote and performed the song about himself. Does that help identify who he was and the title of the song?
Answer to last week’s Trivia: The #1 Elvis single in which he paraphrases a line from a Shakespeare play is: “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” (Nov., 1960). “You know someone once said the world’s a stage and each must play a part.” That’s from Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It: “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.”