Rock & roll music was born from the chaos and rebellion of the 1960s. From the civil rights movement to women's rights to the Vietnam War, the 1960s were filled with demonstrations, rallies and concerts. The music reflects the youthful and rebellious attitude that developed throughout the decade. Rock & roll music was born in the 1950s, when Bo Diddley contributed to its success and evolution. He played an important role in pioneering the crossover between blues and rock & roll, inspiring many rock & roll bands. Famous elements of rock music can be traced back to Bo Diddley and his well-known song "Who Do You Love." The band Quicksilver Messenger Service covered this song, adapting it to their original style while respecting Diddley's music. This created a rock dialogue with Bo Diddley by incorporating similar rhythms and musical styles. However, the musical divergences between QMS and the Diddley version echo the cultural transformation of the sixties; Quicksilver Messenger Service highlights this shift from conformity to counterculture by using wild distortion, dynamic changes, and strange structure instead of rhythmic, uniform sounds. Bo Diddley was a rhythm and blues artist who used this original style and his inventions to cross over into rock & roll. . What Diddley brought to his music were rhythmic pulses, a new harsh guitar sound, and distortion. In his song "Who Do You Love", released in 1956, Diddley features what is known as the "Diddley beat" which can be heard throughout the song. The “Diddley beat” is made up of three beats, a silence, then two beats. In this song, there are no chord changes; it stays dynamically at the same level throughout, never becoming loud or soft. Diddley relies on driving rhythms instead of middle of paper harmonic chords......and dynamic changes so their version doesn't sound at all like the song Bo Diddley once sang. Yet Diddley's sound and influence could still be heard as QMS expanded his ideas of rhythmic dynamism and guitar distortion to suit their generation. The rock dialogue between QMS and Bo Diddley in the song "Who Do You Love" is filled with the unique history of the 1960s and the many social changes that occurred. Works Cited Bo Diddley (Ellas McDaniel), “Who Do You Love (1956), on BO DIDDLEY's 16 All-Time Greatest Hits (Checker LP 2989), 1964. Negus, Keith, Popular Music in Theory, Wesleyan University Press, 1997. Quicksilver Messenger Service, Happy Trails (Capitol Records ST-120), 1968.Townsend, David, “Changing the World: Rock 'n' Roll Culture and Ideology,” accessed February 15, 2012, http://www.dntownsend. com/Site/Rock/rcksum.htm.