'In Philadelphia it's worth $50'

That line was my first exposure to Bo Diddley, delivered via his role as a pawn broker in 1983's Dan Akroyd/Eddie Murphy film Trading Places. Later, I was exposed to his music: “Bo Diddley,” “Who Do You Love?” “Mona,” “I’m a Man.” As a music photographer, I've always tried to shoot aging legends. This one never toured through wherever I was living until 2004, when I shot Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival in Dallas.

The lineup had some of the greats I'd been hoping for and some that I thought, “Why are they here?” Bo Diddley was definitely in the former group. He came out and took a seat, already a bit frail at 75. Behind him stood a guy I recognized but didn’t know where from. Later I realized it was the guitarist from the Blues Brothers, Steve Cropper. Okay, I know my musical education is lacking and have since learned that the STAX mainstay wrote many hits with Otis Redding including “Dock of the Bay” and has helped power Booker T & the MGs since the early 1960s. That day, however, Cropper was just the guy behind Bo Diddley.

We were only given about two minutes to shoot the pair, but I got the shots I needed and went off to the side of the stage and watched the rest of his performance. That day in the Cotton Bowl was over a 100 degrees and miserable. I always wanted to see Bo again in a nice setting like the Paramount Theater, but given his death on Monday at the age of 79, that's not going to happen. All the more reason I hold that day in Dallas dear.