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, Ark., his parents moved him, two brothers and one sister to
Hamtramck, Mi., around 1933. The Riddle family eventually settled in a
house on McClellan Street in Detroit.
During World War II, Riddle enlisted with the Navy in Chicago, Ill. He
served aboard the U.S.S. Adair in the Pacific Theatre. After an honourable
discharge in 1946, 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 East Jefferson Avenue,
sponsored appearances by Hank Williams, Cowboy Copas and others at
the convention center on Woodward Avenue. 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.
Jackson visited Riddle in Nashville during ’49, 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.
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.
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.
The tall, easygoing Riddle persevered, and cut a single for Decca’s
subsidiary Coral Records in 1953. 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.”
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. 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?)”
During the 1950s, 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, Az., and
Riddle travelled the country, visiting friends and family while singing in
nightclubs along the way.
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.
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. Riddle passed away on Aug.
8, 1988. His ashes were interned at the top of the hill in St. John’s cemetery
in Fraser, Mich.
© Craig “Bones” Maki, 2010