You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover

"You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" is based on a sixteen-bar blues structure that "boasts a beat that's utterly compulsive and primordial, but closer to a way-speeded up walking rhythm than to the standard Diddley pattern", according to Richie Unterberger in a song review. Percussionist Jerome Green added maracas to the recording, which Unterberger calls "an utterly entrancing rhythm that does much to add to the power of the song". Dixon's lyrics describe a variety of situations to illustrate that one should not judge them by their appearance, before repeating the title phrase: Diddley's original recording breaks the fourth wall by encouraging the listener to turn his or her radio up after the first verse. ==Releases and charts==

Checker Records, one of the Chess brothers' record labels, released "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" as a single in July 1962. A review in Billboard magazine gave the single's flip-side "I Can Tell" four stars, while noting "the backing [single side] is a stomping groove", which it gave three stars. Later, the song appeared on several Diddley compilations, such as the comprehensive Bo DiddleyThe Chess Box (1990) and the single CD His Best (1997). Diddley's recording is also included the box set Chess prepared for songwriter Willie Dixon. ==Legacy==

In his biography, Unterberger includes "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" as one of Diddley's "stone-cold standards of early, riff-driven rock & roll at its funkiest". The song has been recorded by numerous artists in a variety of styles. ==References==