Lesley Riddle

Lesley Riddle. . African-American musician Lesley Riddle exerted an influence on country music through his association with A.P. Carter of the Carter Family. Riddle introduced Carter to songs of African American origin, which Carter reconfigured and brought into the family's repertoire. Riddle also helped Carter transcribe and adapt songs and hymns that they collected across southern Appalachia. The Carter Family's repertoire is now acknowledged as one of the foundational blocks of American music., Nicknamed “Esley,” Lesley Riddle was born in Burnsville, North Carolina, on June 13, 1905, but grew up with his paternal grandparents near Kingsport, Tennessee. Working at the Penn-Dixie cement plant, he tripped on an auger, causing an injury that resulted in the amputation of his right leg at the knee. During his recovery, he began playing guitar and socializing with other African American musicians, including Brownie McGhee, who became a blues star in the 1940s and later introduced blues to folk music audiences worldwide., In 1928, Riddle was introduced to A.P. Carter, who was sourcing songs for the Carter Family's recording sessions. Riddle played Carter some songs, and the two struck up a friendship and working relationship. Carter and Riddle embarked on “songcatcher” trips that would sometimes extend for weeks. The traveled through southwest Virginia, eastern Tennessee, and western North Carolina. When they found someone with a song that appealed to Carter, he would taken down the lyrics while Riddle was charged with remembering the melody. Riddle then taught the songs to the other members of the Carter Family, Sara and Maybelle. Sara later remembered “The Cannonball” (AKA “Cannonball Blues”) as one song that came directly to the Carter Family repertoire from Riddle himself., Riddle recalled to musicologist Mike Seager that Carter would often drive 90 miles or more on unpaved roads if he heard of someone who had a song or a piece of sheet music that he though might work for the Carter Family. Segregated accommodations were a problem at the time, and Riddle would stay at Carter's house in Maces Spring, Virginia, if they were sourcing songs nearby., After the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, record sales slumped dramatically, and by the early '30s, Carter could no longer afford to pay Riddle to accompany him. In 1937, Riddle married, and in 1942, he moved near his wife's family in Rochester, New York. He worked as a clothes presser, shoe-shine parlor operator and school crossing guard., By the early 1960s, the Carter Family's repertoire was heralded as foundational American music. A.P. had died and Sara was in retirement, but Maybelle Carter was still performing and told Mike Seeger about Riddle. In 1965, Seeger found Riddle through Brownie McGhee, who had kept in contact with him. Seeger interviewd and recorded Riddle at length, and brought him to several folk festivals., After Riddle fell ill, he returned to the South, living with his brother in Asheville, North Carolina. He died on July 13, 1979.