If I’m not mistaken, his nickname came from the diddley bow, which consisted of a wire attached to the side of a barn and strung to a wood plank. To play it, you step on the plank to vary the wire tension while you bang out a rhythm on the wire with a stick, kinda like a washtub bass: “bomp-bomp-bomp–bompbomp.”
Video from the TNT Show 1966. Here’s to the Bo Diddley Beat.
Tacky Raccoons 