Jerome Green was a mainstay of the Chess Records label from the mid-'50s onward -- best known for playing maracas on the recordings of Bo Diddley, he also played on the records of Chuck Berry, Billy Boy Arnold, Billy Stewart, and Willie Dixon, among others. Green was, according to some sources, a tuba player who preferred jazz, but when he and Bo Diddley ended up in their first group -- the Langley Avenue Jive Cats -- at the start of the 1950s, he switched to percussion. He didn't want the hassle of moving a drum kit to their performances, however, and so chose the maracas as his instrument, and he developed a mean and distinctive sound with them. His work with Bo Diddley included a shared vocal appearance on the latter's biggest-selling pop single, Say Man, as well as performances as a member of Bo's touring band. He was sufficiently well-known to earn a place in the narrative of the Animals single The Story of Bo Diddley. Jerome Green's work with Bo Diddley ended in 1964 when Green married and decided to get off the road. He passed away sometime during or around 1973. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi