(1898-11-21)November 21, 1898 Cleburne County, Arkansas, U.S.
Died
June 30, 1986(1986-06-30) (aged 87) Heber Springs, Arkansas
Genres
Folk
Occupation(s)
Singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)
Vocals
Years active
1959–1984
Labels
Rounder, Prestige, Atlantic
Musical artist
Almeda Riddle (November 21, 1898 – June 30, 1986)[1] was an American folk singer. Born and raised in Cleburne County, Arkansas, she learned music from her father, a fiddler and a teacher of shape note singing.[2] She collected and sang traditional ballads throughout her life, usually unaccompanied. Introduced to a wider public by folklorist John Quincy Wolf and musicologist Alan Lomax, Riddle recorded extensively, and claimed to be able to perform over 500 songs.
She was born Almeda James and was a first cousin twice removed of the outlaws Frank and Jesse James. On a recording of the song "Jesse James" she noted, "I'm sure you've read of Frank and Jesse James. Well, my father's grandfather and their father (Robert S. James) was brothers. I never was ashamed of the James boys was my cousins, but neither was I proud of it."[citation needed] In old age, she was often known as Granny Riddle.[3]
In October 1959, on Wolf's recommendation, Lomax and Shirley Collins recorded Riddle at her home in Heber Springs in The Ozarks. The 23 songs reflected Lomax's interest in traditional ballads and songs for children.[4] Collins recalls:
She was a singer of such composure and quiet intensity, that you were compelled to listen. ... There was such clarity in her style, and she had that rare and admirable quality of serving the songs, rather than the songs serving her.[5]
Children's songs from this session were issued on American Folk Songs for Children in the Atlantic Records' Southern Folk Heritage series of LPs and was reissued as the Atlantic Records box set Southern Folk Heritage. In 1964 she recorded Songs and Ballads of the Ozarks for Vanguard Records. Several of her ballads were issued on various albums in the Prestige Records Southern Journey series of LPs, and reissued on CDs in the Rounder Records series Southern Journey: The Alan Lomax Collection. These records made Almeda Riddle widely known to participants in the American folk music revival. From 1962 onward she accepted invitations to perform at folk festivals and college campuses. She toured extensively for twenty years until prevented by ill health.
In 1970 Riddle co-authored with folklorist Roger D. Abrahams an autobiography titled A Singer and Her Songs that included many of her songs.[6] In 1972 and 1978, she made studio recordings for Rounder Records, which were issued on two solo LPs.
Riddle was a recipient of a 1983 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.[7] In 1984 she was filmed by George West for Folkstreams. In the film titled Almeda Riddle: Now Let's Talk About Singing (released in 1985),[8] she sang and spoke about her life and songs.
In December 1984 she moved into a nursing home in Heber Springs, where she died on June 30, 1986. She is buried next to her husband at Shiloh Cross Roads Cemetery.[1]
The introduction to the 1997 cult film Gummo features Riddle's rendition of "I Love My Rooster".
^ abWest, George (March 9, 2016). "Almeda James Riddle (1898-1986)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Central Arkansas Library System. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
^Govenar, Alan, ed. (2001). "Almeda Riddle: Anglo-American Ballad Singer". Masters of Traditional Arts: A Biographical Dictionary. Vol. 2 (K-Z). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio. pp. 532–534. ISBN 1576072401. OCLC 47644303.
^"Almeda Riddle: Ballad Singer". www.arts.gov. National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
^Collins, Shirley (2007). America Over the Water. Middlesex, England: SAF Publishing. pp. 215–217. ISBN 9780946719914. OCLC 851973736.
^Collins, Shirley (2007). America Over the Water. Middlesex, England: SAF Publishing. pp. 158–162. ISBN 9780946719914. OCLC 851973736.
^Riddle, Almeda; Abrahams, Roger D. (1970). A Singer and Her Songs: Almeda Riddle's Book of Ballads. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 9780807100219. OCLC 141470.
^"NEA National Heritage Fellowships 1983". www.arts.gov. National Endowment for the Arts. Archived from the original on September 20, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
^"Almeda Riddle". IMDb.com. n.d. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
AlmedaRiddle (November 21, 1898 – June 30, 1986) was an American folk singer. Born and raised in Cleburne County, Arkansas, she learned music from her...
Almeda may refer to: Almeda C. Adams (1865 – 1949), American musician AlmedaRiddle (1898 – 1986), American folk singer Almeda, Houston, Texas Almeda...
revival. He arranged for appearances at the Newport Folk Festival by AlmedaRiddle, Fred McDowell, Hobart Smith, Ed Young, and Bessie Jones and the Georgia...
Memorial Library website. Many traditional Ozark singers including AlmedaRiddle and Ollie Gilbert whose recording can be heard via the Max Hunter collection...
Gladden of Virginia singing a version in 1941, and traditional singer AlmedaRiddle of Arkansas performed a version in 1972. Jean Ritchie and her sister...
ballad. During the 20th century, a version of the ballad was sung by AlmedaRiddle under the title "Young Carlotta". Springfield Mountain, another cautionary...
Tender Ladies"/"The Little Sparrow". An older version described by AlmedaRiddle was dated to around 1850, but with texts that differ substantially after...
resulted in many hours of recordings, featuring performers such as AlmedaRiddle, Hobart Smith, and Bessie Jones, and is noted for the discovery of Mississippi...
soundtrack paints a wide canvas of American pop-culture, ranging from AlmedaRiddle's field recording of the traditional children's song "My Little Rooster"...
resulted in many hours of recordings, featuring performers such as AlmedaRiddle, Hobart Smith, Wade Ward, Charlie Higgins and Bessie Jones and culminated...
recordings in the Ozarks, "discovering" several notable musicians including AlmedaRiddle, Ollie Gilbert, and Jimmy Driftwood. He also recorded Bukka White, Gus...
sometimes performing duets with his sister or other singers such as AlmedaRiddle and Bessie Jones. Smith experienced a resurgence during the folk music...
"Slingblade," and from a traditional song called "Little Rooster" sung by AlmedaRiddle. To listen to the original recording click here [1] "2 Bullets" is a...
family versions of the ballad, as did many Ozark performers such as AlmedaRiddle of Arkansas (1972). Helen Hartness Flanders collected several versions...
skills. Over his career, he recorded hundreds of singers, including AlmedaRiddle, Ollie Gilbert, Fred High, May Kennedy McCord, Raymond Sanders, Jimmy...
Watson and his son Merle, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Mississippi John Hurt, AlmedaRiddle, Mance Lipscomb, Alice Stuart, and folklorists Charles Seeger and Archie...
Martínez, accordionist and composer Lanier Meaders, potter from Georgia AlmedaRiddle, ballad singer Simon St. Pierre, French American fiddler from Maine...