© Copyright Somebody Productions Don’t You Worry Ricky Riddle Biography Compiled By Craig Maki, 2010  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, Mich., 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 “Rock Around The Clock”  Haley’s earliest efforts. The flip side, “A Brand New Heart,” was written by Riddle as  a follow-up to “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, Ariz., and Riddle traveled 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  “My Father, James Riddle and Ricky Riddle were inseparable in the day, often times passing themselves off as brothers, when in fact they were actually cousins. I remember Ricky visiting our family often in Florida, when I was a child, I always called him; Uncle Ricky. When I was Three years old, I recall Ricky teaching me to write my name. I will always treasure the memories that I have of “Uncle” Ricky. Danny Riddle Click Photos to enlarge BUCK COGHLAN  In the summer of 1955  here in Phoenix I received a phone call from Buddy Wheeler a great steel guitar player.  Ricky Riddle and Buddy needed an upright bass player to play at an old night club on South Central Ave. in Phoenix, AZ known as Seven Sea's Nightclub.  Buddy and Ricky dropped by my apartment to hear me play.  Ricky broke out his rhythm guitar and began to sing Second Hand Heart.  After singing one or two lines of the song he quietly returned his guitar to its case.  After a few moments of silence he said, "I'll see ya tonight at 9:00 pm.    Ricky was a big fan of Marty Robbins and sang many of Marty's songs during our performances.  Ricky was a very handsome cowboy style guy and usually there were more than two or three women fighting for his attention at each performance.  Ricky was very quiet and slow moving and a very kind person.  We became close friends.  As usual Ricky moved on without saying a word to me as to where he was headed.   Ricky returned to the scene around 1968 and began performing at Reata Pass Steakhouse in North Scottsdale, AZ.   At that time the featured act was the Western Gentlemen, Johnny Dakota on vocal, Slim Forbes, fiddle and yours truly on bass.  Ricky worked at Reata Pass as a single act during our nights off.  Again, Ricky drifted off to some unknown location.  I last heard from him by phone in 1976 or 1977.  He explained that he was located in Detroit, Michigan and sounded as if he was there with Jack Daniels.   I have wondered many, many times about the rest of the story concerning Ricky.  Your website told us the story.   Buck Coghlan MIKE SEITTS Ricky used to play at my dads bar in N Scottsdale AZ., called “Rustlers Rest”. We were just down the road from Reata Pass. We have some great stories from all the different owners who loved Ricky. Ricky was big to the people that heard him, as you said I think he was just happy playing in the Honky Tonks. He knew that people loved him... it is a tough biz, it seems like he had some shots at it, but the competition was tough in those days. I saw where he was in Nashville and played many venues. Arizona at the time was putting some talented people out there, Waylon Jennings, John Denver, Duanne Eddy. and many more. Ricky may have come back here to try and catch that wave. When Ricky would play “Streets Of Laredo” or  “Cattle Call” there was nobody better. Even the song “Ghost Riders In The Sky”,  to this day ... I have never heard anybody sing those songs better. I know that he would be happy that he made a mark on you. Mike Seitts BILLY COLE I am now pastor of a small church in Camilla TX.  I've been  here 22 yrs now, and I think the church is going to keep me!  They know that I was a country musician, and that I still like the oldies. As for Ricky and I, I  was working at the Yo-Yo Club in Calumet City. I knew that Ricky was a musician from the western suit that he was wearing. I got him up to perform and Lord, the voice that I heard that night was perfect! Ricky and I became friends. Each time he was headed back to Detroit, Ricky Riddle  would always stop by for visit. I cherished those times. Later I was offered a job at (of all places) The Sail Inn, on Central, at the bridge crossing  the Salt River. This was in the fifties. One night I heard that Ricky would be performing at either The Silver Spur or The Golden Saddle on East Van Buren. [its been a long time] I had someone fill in for me at work  so that I could go see him, and WOW what a reunion! Like I said, we were friends! Bro Art Gillinger aka Billy Cole