Lesley “Esley” Riddle (June 13, 1905[1] – July 13, 1979)[2] was an African American musician whose influence on the Carter Family helped to shape country music.
Lesley Riddle: The Life and Legacy
Early life and Beginnings
Lesley Riddle was an African American singer song writer through the early 1900's and continued his legacy into present day. Riddle has left an outstanding impact on Appalachian culture and helped to curate the specific sounds that are produced from folk and blues music. Born in Burnsville, North Carolina on June 13th, 1905, Riddle grew up with mostly just his mother as his father was not in the picture past 1910.
On the 1910 census it states that Riddles' mother, Maggie B. Martin, was widowed at the time. There is no definitive record of Riddles father, Edward Riddle, showing as whether he died or simply left the household, but around the same time as his "death" the family moved out of Burnsville and into a home with Riddle's grandparents in Kingsport, TN. There is, however, an alleged report in a 1924 news article that speaks of seeing Edward Riddle in a gambling dispute that later turned into a reported shooting at the Clinchfield Cement Plant. From Kingsport, Riddle lived in a household with 11 other individuals and was surrounded by working class Appalachian citizens.
Later down the years, Riddle started working at a cement plant in Kingsport. He spent every day working just as the rest of his family members did and tried to continue to make a living wage to support them. However, Riddle got into a terrible accident at work, tripping over an Auger, and having to get his right leg amputated from the knee down. This was catastrophic to Riddles' current career, but a blessing to his musical talents. Once in recovery, Riddle was able to sit down and learn his greatest achievement: the guitar. His mother's brother, Ed Martin, was an undiscovered contributing factor to Riddles' legacy. Martin was the set foundation of Riddle's musical career and helped him to understand the basics of guitar playing.
Once Riddle had finally gotten his routine down and almost finished his lengthy recovery of his leg, another catastrophic incident occurred. Riddle got into a family dispute, allegedly with his uncle and grandfather, that inevitably led to him losing his middle and ring fingers on his picking hand. The gun had been discharged while Riddle's right hand gripped the barrel. However, this tragedy was not a setback for Riddle. This incident led him to become even more innovative by creating his very own style of fingerpicking called bottle neck slide style. Building on what Ed Martin had previously shown him, Riddle chose to play with a pocketknife in place of a glass or metal slide, creating a truly unique sound to the region at the time.
Nearing the end of Riddle's early legacy, before he met A.P. Carter, he found a small group of other small artists at the time travelling from porches to parties to inside homes. Alongside him was Steve Tarter, Harry Gay, and Brownie McGhee playing all sorts of different instruments affiliated with blues at the time. This tour of the region led to Riddles' name becoming more and more known throughout the region. Allegedly, Riddle even played with Blind Lemon Jefferson, one of the most influential recording artists of the time.
Leslie riddle and the Carter family
Lesley “Esley” Riddle (June 13, 1905 – July 13, 1979) was an African American guitarist, singer, and song collector whose collaboration with A.P. Carter played a significant role in shaping the Carter Family’s repertoire and, by extension, early folk music.
Riddle met A.P. Carter in Kingsport, Tennessee, in December 1928, after Carter visited the home of musician John Henry Lyons. Impressed by Riddle’s guitar style and extensive knowledge of African American blues and gospel songs, Carter invited Riddle to accompany him on song‑collecting trips throughout southwest Virginia, eastern Tennessee, and western North Carolina.
During these trips, Riddle served as what he later called Carter’s “human tape recorder,” memorizing melodies while Carter wrote down lyrics. Riddle then taught the songs to Sara and Maybelle Carter at the Carter home in Maces Spring, Virginia. Many songs the Carter Family recorded during the late 1920s and early 1930s such as “Cannonball Blues,” “Hello Stranger,” “Let the Church Roll On,” and “March Winds Goin’ Blow My Blues Away” were either composed by Riddle or shared and performed through him.
Riddle also influenced Maybelle Carter’s guitar playing. His picking and slide techniques contributed to the development of the “Carter Scratch,” a style that became foundational in country guitar and was later adopted by musicians such as Chet Atkins and Doc Watson.
Although Riddle never appeared on stage or recordings with the Carter Family, largely due to Jim Crow segregation, his contributions were central to their musical development. His collaboration with A.P. Carter continued until the early 1930s, when the Great Depression reduced recording opportunities, and Carter could no longer afford to pay him.
Riddle’s role in the Carter Family’s music was largely forgotten until the 1960s, when folklorist Mike Seeger located him in Rochester, New York, and recorded a series of sessions that highlighted his influence. These recordings were later released as Step by Step: Lesley Riddle Meets the Carter Family.
Today, Riddle is recognized as an important figure in American roots music, particularly for bridging African American musical traditions with the emerging genre of country music through his collaboration with the Carter Family.
The Legacy of Leslie Riddle
Throughout Riddle's life, he faced many hardships that led him down many different paths. Luckily, the worst hardship he went through led him to his destiny of becoming a guitarist. Because of his amputation, he found sanctuary in his guitar which led him to meet many great artists like Brownie Mcgee, Mike Seger, and even the Carter Family. From there, he became one of the foundational artists in the music we all know and love. Despite Lesley Riddle never having his name in lights, he still was widely known thanks to a woman otherwise known as Maybelle Carter. She is credited for his discovery because of her fame and connection to other big names such as Mike Seger. Her guitar picking style was heavily influenced by Lesley Riddle and his style, otherwise known as the “pick and slide”. After being adopted by the Carter Family, the “pick and slide” method transcended into what was known by many different names such as, “Carter Scratch”, “Carter Lick”, “Thumb Brush”, or “Church Lick”.
After that, Riddle left the Carter Family to start a new life with his wife in New York. 20 years later, Mike Seger set out to find Riddle after hearing about him and his incredible musical talent from Maybelle Carter. Once Seger found Riddle, he convinced him to record more music. From 1965-1978, Riddle made a series of studio recordings.
“John Henry” was one of the popular studio recordings that Riddle made during this time. His recordings were within the Library of Congress Archive of Folk Culture, specifically found in the “Close to Home” collection. “Step by Step” is another famous album that many people associate with Lesley Riddle because of the famous picture shown on the cover. Some other recordings included, “Red River Blues” and “Motherless Children”.
He also was a guest singer at the Canadian Music Exhibition called the Mariposa Folk Festival. Along with the Mariposa Folk Festival, Riddle also performed at the Smithsonian Folk Festival. After his death, Jeff Douglas Messer's "The Life and Music of Lesley Riddle premiered in Burnsville, North Carolina in 2009. This production featured biographical details of his life and his picking style. He also received a legacy award from Folk International in 2024. Also, there was a novel made in his honor that was published on October 1, 2012. Lesley Riddle is also known indirectly from some hit songs by the Carter Family that he either composed or transmitted. As a “human tape recorder” Riddle helped A.P. Carter compose many hit songs like, “Let the Church Roll On”, “Bear Creek Blues”, “Lonesome for You”, “March Winds Goin Blow My Blues Away”, “Cannonball Blues”, and “Hello Stranger”. Lastly, a North Carolina Organization known as Traditional Voice Groups created an annual festival called “RiddleFest” to honor Lesley Riddle and his legacy. “RiddleFest” includes exhibitions of Riddle’s work as well as concerts celebrating his music.
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