McComb Gets Diddley

The Depot Pavilion will be rechristened “The Bo Diddley Pavilion” in honor of the late rock ‘n’ roll legend.

The Enterprise-Journal reports (http://bit.ly/1sdFcHR) the McComb Creative Economy Partnership, which produced the recent McComb Blues & Heritage Festival, has secured permission from the Diddley estate to use his name.

Diddley, a McComb native, died in 2008.

The partnership’s president, Vickie Webb, appeared before the McComb city board last week to update it on her group’s efforts to rename the pavilion. The new name will be officially announced during a concert in the pavilion June 4, when almost a dozen acts who were cut from the schedule of the April 30 Blues & Heritage Festival because of severe weather will have makeup performances.

Webb said the Diddley family was enthusiastic about the idea when they heard it, in part because June 4 is close to the June 2 anniversary of Diddley’s passing.

The pavilion also was the site of Diddley’s last public performance, in November 2007, when he played for the unveiling of the marker bearing his name on the Mississippi Blues Trail.

Webb said the Diddley estate offered to send Diddley-themed T-shirts, car tags and other items to sell on June 4, and to donate proceeds to the Creative Economy Partnership.