Almeda Riddle
Musician · 1898–1986 · Cleburne County, Arkansas
Almeda Riddle was an Ozark traditional singer from the Arkansas hill country whose unaccompanied ballad singing carried hymns, children's songs, and centuries-old narrative ballads of British and Irish descent. Recorded by folklorists John Quincy Wolf and Alan Lomax, she became a touchstone of the 1960s folk revival.
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- Born Almeda James on November 21, 1898, near Heber Springs in Cleburne County, Arkansas; died June 30, 1986.
- Learned shape-note singing and ballads from her father, a fiddler and singing-school teacher.
- “Discovered” and recorded by folklorist John Quincy Wolf beginning in 1952; later recorded by Alan Lomax.
- Recorded Songs and Ballads of the Ozarks (1964) for Vanguard.
- Performed at the Newport Folk Festival, sharing stages with Doc Watson and Pete Seeger.
- Received a National Heritage Fellowship from the NEA in 1983.