James Lawrence Riddle (September 3, 1918 – December 10, 1982) was an American country musician and multi-instrumentalist best known for his appearances on the country music and comedy television show ''

Hee Haw ''Hee Haw'' is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with the fictional rural "Kornfield Kounty" as the backdrop. It aired first-run on CBS from 1969 to 1971, in syndication from 1971 to 1993, and on TNN from 199 ...

''. He was primarily known for the vocal art of

eefing Eefing (also written eeephing, eephing, eeefing, eefin, or eefn') is an Appalachian (United States) vocal technique similar to beatboxing, but nearly a century older. NPR's Jennifer Sharpe describes it as "a kind of hiccupping, rhythmic wheeze that ...

Biography

Riddle was born in Dyersburg, Tennessee and got into show business in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

at age 16 by passing the hat in a local beer joint. He moved to Texas in 1939 where he later met

Roy Acuff Roy Claxton Acuff (September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992) was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the "King of Country Music", Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown ...

. He joined Acuff's Smokey Mountain Boys group in 1943 and became a regular member of the band. playing harmonica, piano, and accordion, until his death. Riddle was a featured performer on ''

'' in the late 1960s and early 1970s. One day in 1970 he and guitarist Jackie Phelps were fooling around backstage, Phelps doing the rhythmic knee-slapping known as hambone while Riddle . Co-star

Junior Samples Junior Samples, born Alvin Samples Jr. (April 10, 1926 – November 13, 1983) was an American comedian best known for his 14-year run as a cast member of the television show ''Hee Haw''. Early years A sixth-grade dropout, Samples was a stock car ...

was so impressed he encouraged the two to perform the routine for the producers. "The Hambone Brothers" became a semi-regular feature of the show. In the early 1980s Riddle joined Boxcar Willie's touring band, playing the harmonica solos, but remained in Acuff's band on the Opry. Riddle died of cancer in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

in 1982, aged 64.

External links

Biography
at

* * 1918 births People from Dyersburg, Tennessee Musicians from Tennessee Deaths from cancer in Tennessee 1982 deaths {{US-tv-actor-1910s-stub