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Hillbilly-Music.com—The People. The Music. The History.
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About The Artist
During World War II, Riddle enlisted with the Navy in Chicago, Illinois on December 21, 1941. He served aboard the U.S.S. Adair in the Pacific Theatre. After an honorable discharge / release on July 28, 1945, he returned to Detroit and found a booming country music nightclub scene waiting for him; a result of thousands of new migrants from the South who moved north to build Detroit’s “Arsenal of Democracy.” Riddle pursued the life of a singing cowboy in earnest, writing songs and performing in nightclubs and showcases, sitting in with other entertainers and headlining his own shows. In 1949, Drake’s Record Shop, located on 11500 East Jefferson Avenue, sponsored appearances by Hank Williams, Cowboy Copas and others at the convention center on Woodward Avenue. (On March 27, 1958, the Detroit Free Press reported that a fire of unknown origin destroyed the record shop.) When Riddle’s friend, singer Eddie Jackson, was hired to open for Williams, Riddle shared the stage with him. Riddle was probably living in Nashville, Tennessee, by then.
 
 
Dave Dreyer formed two new firms "for an invasion of the hillbilly music market" in early 1954. The publishing firms, Barnhill Music and Tennessee Music were affiliated with BMI. The Tennessee Music firm was associated with the Tennessee record label. At that time, he had signed two writers, Vic McAlpin and Ricky Riddle. McAlpin was said to be the Nashville representative for the publishing firm. Billboard gave Ricky a decent review of that first Tennessee release. He was backed by the Hal Bradley Band on the recordings. "Second Hand Heart" - "Standout side on a hiterto unheard from label. Song has the makings, warbler projects impressively, and organ-string backing is top notch." b/w "Somebody's Stealin' My Baby's Sugar" - "Ballad in medium bounce is quite up to high standards of flip in all respects and tune has fine novelty potential to boot."
Riddle recorded Robbins’ “Heartsick” for another Tennessee release. He attempted to present Robbins with a recording contract, but the company’s artists and repertoire man passed on the deal. Robbins went on to launch a storied career with Columbia Records in May 1951.
In June of 1953, Billboard readers learned that Ricky was playing a stint at the Swingtown Club in Chicago and also doing guest spots on radio station WLS. The tall, easygoing Riddle persevered, and cut a single for Decca’s subsidiary Coral Records in 1953. Billboard reported that Ricky starred on the Grand Ole Opry on June 27, 1953; Anita Carter was the featured guest. Cash Box reported that Ricky appeared on the Prince Albert portion of the Opry that same time period with Little Jimmie Dickens as the guest star. In the fall of 1953, Hoedown magazine (published by Thurston Moore) was telling readers that Ricky had moved on from Chicago and his WLS appearances and was appearing at the Village Barn in New Market, NJ. His single on Coral (64157) was reviewed by Billboard. "What Would You Do?" - "Riddle sings this novelty-weeper pleasantly, tho he could have got more into the spirit of the tune"
In 1956, Riddle cut two releases for Decca Records. The first featured
“Drivin’ Down The Wrong Side Of The Road,” backed with “I’m A Whip Crackin’ Daddy.”
The single sounded like it was recorded at Owen Bradley’s Quonset hut in Nashville.
The Cash Box magazine gave the two sides a B+ and B rating in March of 1956. Billboard's reviewer
gave the sides a 74 / 73 review score. Cash Box: "Drivin' Down The Wrong Side Of The Road" - Ricky Riddle displays his smooth and polished chords as he debuts for the diskery with a most appealing reading of a delectable romantic bouncer. Could step out. Billboard: "Drivin' Down The Wrong Side Of The Road" - "We better stop and neck or we'll end up in a wreck." Riddle develops this theme in forthright style. A nice side for deejays.Riddle’s second Decca single featured the Anita Kerr Singers for a country-pop production, “The House I Used To Live In,” and a song with religious content (he had cut similar material for the Tennessee label) called “If Jesus Had To Pray (What About Me?).” Billboard's review gave the two sides a 68 and 63 rating. "The House I Used To Live In" (Decca 30280) - A nostalgic ballad. Singer is very much at home in this idiom and this rendition could get some jockey attention. During the 1950's, while living in Nashville, Riddle performed as a guest at the Renfro Valley Barn Dance in Kentucky, and as a guest on the Grand Ole Opry. His parents moved from Michigan to Tempe, Arizona, and Riddle travelled the country, visiting friends and family while singing in nightclubs along the way.
 
With a broad, toothy smile, Riddle had a likeable personality and visited Michigan often, to see his siblings and their families, and check up on musician friends he grew up with in Detroit. While in town, he made the rounds of local radio stations and sat with country music disk jockeys for on-air interviews. At some point during the 1970s, Riddle moved back to Michigan and took a job as a security guard in Hamtramck. Late one night, Riddle walked out the door of a Detroit bar and was mugged. When police found him, he stank of liquor and the officers mistook his condition for simply being drunk. They placed the unconscious Riddle in a jail cell for the night. When he didn’t respond to attempts to wake him in the morning, Riddle was admitted to the Veterans Administration hospital. Doctors found that Riddle had suffered a stroke resulting from a blow to his head; he was paralysed on his right side. Riddle’s brother, E. Marvin Riddle, arranged for him to live at the Clintonview Care Convalescent Home in Clinton Township. Relatives and friends visited regularly. Mentally, Riddle was the same person, but he was unable to sing and play guitar. To cheer him up, a niece often called a local country music station to request Riddle’s records, and they played them late at night when he enjoyed listening to his radio. Research reveals that he married Helen M. Nawrocki on July 7, 1941 in Fulton, Ohio. However, as noted earlier, Ricky enlisted in the U. S. Navy in December of 1941. However, records show that the couple divorced on March 12, 1943. On April 6, 1944, he married Betty Brown in Detroit, Michigan. Riddle passed away on August 8, 1988. His ashes were interned at the top of the hill in St. John’s cemetery in Fraser, Mich. Credits & Sources
Sound Sample—(YouTube Video Format)
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Recordings (78rpm/45rpm)
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With a mellifluous, deep voice often compared to western singer Rex Allen, Ricky Riddle was an
Arkansas-born, Detroit-bred vocalist who gravitated to the western side of country music.
His surname was apt, as he was a restless character, always on the go and never satisfied
with life in one place for very long. Born Arvin Doyle Riddle on Aug. 22, 1920, in Rector, Arkansas.
His parents were Enoch and Bertha (Albright) Riddle. The 1930 census records show the family
was living with bertha's brother and his family in Hinds, Mississippi.
His parents moved him, two brothers and one sister to Hamtramck, Michigan, around 1933.
The Riddle family eventually settled in a house on McClellan Street in Detroit.
Jackson visited Riddle in Nashville during 1949, and Riddle took him to witness his new
buddy Clyde Julian “Red” Foley record what became a major hit for Decca Records,
“Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy.” Compared to the size to which it grew a decade later, the
country music business in Nashville was small, thriving through the projects of independent
record labels, music publishers and promoters who tapped local artists working at
Nashville clubs and radio stations; particularly members of the Grand Ole Opry barn dance
at clear-channel WSM.
In January 1950, Riddle's first commercial recording appeared as the premier issue
of the Tennessee label, a record company created by three Nashville businessmen,
including a jukebox serviceman. Riddle’s “Second Hand Heart” on Tennessee no. 711
(numbered for luck, no doubt) was a good seller, and a hit in Detroit. Riddle cut
several more releases for Tennessee over the next two years. “Second Hand Heart” and
the song on the record’s flip side, “Somebody’s Stealin’ My Baby’s Sugar,” were both
covered by several artists, including Houston’s Benny Leaders (4- Star), Bill Johnson and
the Casanova Boys (London) and, more than a decade later, Everett “Swanee” Caldwell
remade “Second Hand Heart” for King.
By 1950, Riddle was operating a nightclub in Nashville. He befriended Arizona singer
Marty Robbins, whose first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry occurred in early 1951.
Probably in 1950, Riddle bought author rights to Robbins’ song “Ain’t You Ashamed,”
which became Riddle’s second release on Tennessee. (Detroit musician and
Capitol Records distributor Bob McDonald purchased a share in the song from Riddle.)
Cowboy singer Bob Atcher covered the song for Capitol.
Among other releases on Tennessee, Riddle sang a duet with Anita Kerr, leader of
the Anita Kerr Singers, on a heart song called “The Price Of Love,” again attributed
to Riddle and McDonald. After the label’s biggest hit played out
in 1951-52 (Del Wood’s “Down Yonder” of 1951), the Tennessee label closed its doors.
In early 1954, he recorded the bouncy “Steamboat Boogie” for
M-G-M Records, with steel guitarist Don Helms and Chet Atkins on electric guitar.
Framing the clever lyrics of the song was the refrain: Steamboat Boogie / Rock, Rock,
Rockin’ Along. But for the fiddles, the song rocked like
Bill Haley’s “Rock Around The Clock” earliest
efforts. The flip side, “A Brand New Heart,” was written by Riddle as a
follow-up to his song, “Second Hand Heart.”
Around 1968 Riddle settled in Arizona for a spell. There he recorded the finest
vocal performances of his career for the Rio Grande label, based in Glendale.
For starters, he cut a version of the traditional cowboy song, “Streets Of Laredo,”
as well as “Reata Pass,” his own western composition. Riddle reprised
“Ain’t You Ashamed” and “Second Hand Heart,” besides coming up with some swinging
shuffles like “Don’t You Worry,” a cheeky ode to overdoing it at the
bar, and “There's Something In Your Future.” The band was top-notch, delivering
punchy performances with quality production and arrangements, including a stellar steel
guitarist.