Rhythm and blues "Hearts of Stone" by the Charms made the top 20. At Chess Records in the spring of 1955, Bo Diddley's debut record "Bo Diddley"/"I'm a Man" climbed to number two on the R&B charts and popularized Bo Diddley's own original rhythm and blues clave-based vamp that would become a mainstay in rock and roll. At the urging of Leonard Chess at Chess Records, Chuck Berry had reworked a country fiddle tune with a long history, entitled "Ida Red". The resulting "Maybellene" was not only a number three hit on the R&B charts in 1955, but also reached into the top
Rhythm and blues other major British cities included the Animals from Newcastle upon Tyne, and Spencer Davis Group from Birmingham, and Them from Belfast. None of these bands played exclusively rhythm and blues, but it remained at the core of their early albums. The music of the British mod subculture grew out of rhythm and blues and later soul, performed by artists that were not available to the small London clubs where the scene originated. As a result, a number of bands emerged to fill this gap, including Small Faces, and most successfully the Who. The Who's early promotional material tagged them as