Nervously checking for any news in Jerry Donahue* I came across this old fave which fair cheered me up. Peggy displaying some great mando chops and the drummer on bass, they make a fine cheery row. Love it when the groove kicks in at 1.11. A bit of riddly for a dull back to work week.
*no news. Is this good news?
Another one please sir. Another Jerry (Douglas this time) and Russ Barenberg getting worn out by Breda – who doesn’t even consider the whistle her first instrument (she’s a fiddler). Awesome. Love the looks on their faces as she speeds up then finally comes to an end. Knackered!
Is ‘riddly’ a widely used word? I’ve never heard it in relation to music. Is it some kind of variant of diddly-dee (an phrase used in Ireland for traditional instrumental music)?
Riddly diddly. Call yourself a folkie?
Nope, never heard it! Must be a Home Counties folkie phrase…
Fiddly-Diddly yes
riddly diddly no
I’ve checked the OED.* It says: ‘Riddly diddly: Obscure. Origin unknown. Used only by Twang.’
(* I didn’t.)
Riddly Diddly Scott. Mmm Hovis.
Here we are ‘getting Ridley’ on the South Circular Road. (This is guy I thought of when I saw the OP)
And, getting closer to the folk music Twang associates with this strange word, here’s Condra Ridley groovin’ on Ridin’ Hood, yo bubba…
And here’s JRR Tolkien, getting riddley in the dark…
And… zoning in EVEN closer to folk music than any of the above, here’s hillbilly Jimmie Riddle doin’ his thang…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcIegipgzt0
In fact, we MUST have more of Jimmie! This clip makes me think of Twang an’ the boys down at the mid-Berfordshire Folk Jamboree… 🙂
Possibly more well known as rhyming slang than for his musical career
Arnold Ridley
Between takes on Dads Army, would often perform close harmony sea shanties with Clive Dunn and John Laurie
(Ian Lavendar on Hurdy Gurdy and John Le Mesurier on Penny Whistle)
The prophet of Riddly Diddly.
This geezer owns dis shit.
What a splendid thread to wake up to. Here’s some apocalyptic Riddley.
https://youtu.be/9DAMpTK5PHY
Isn’t Riddley Walker that tousley flavour of the month John Martyny/Bert Janschy guy? I didn’t know his showbiz career went back to the Music Hall era.
I had no idea what you were talking about until I did a bit of googling. Pah, I diskard him utterly.
I was talking about Russell Hoban’s brilliant post-apocalyptic novel of the same name published in 1980.
Someone gave me a copy of the Ryley Walker CD insisting “You’ll love it. It’s just like John Martyn, Nick Drake and Tim Buckley”. Which it is, I suppose. But it’s not as good or as original as any of those people. So what’s the point?
Despite Mattacks gallantly fingering the bass, could anyone actually her it?
Yes, I could. Pretty basic, but it does the job.
Sure I can hear it no prob. He’s in the pocket for sure.
Dave Mattacks played bass on the Fairport Nine album version of that track The Brilliancy Medley/Cherokee Shuffle and on other odd occasions too. In fact there’s one Fairport track where they all swap instruments and despite sounding a bit wonky, it comes across really well. But I can’t remember what the track is now.
So much to love about that OGWT clip in the OP.
Swarb’s sombrero!
Peggy with a full head of hair!
Trevor Lucas with a beer mat stuck on his Gibson J50 guitar!
Jerry Donahue giving it plenty on that small bodied Martin!
I did something of a double take when Peggy first appeared. With that hair and tache, I at first thought it was Lindisfarne’s mandolin/harmonica man Ray ‘Jacka’ Jackson sitting in.
Squiddly Diddly?
I was more of a Secret Squirrel man (?) myself
Let’s get Gidleigh – the perfect place for your folk-rock festival…
Let’s get Middly (no, me neither…)
Let’s get Piddly… no, I’m not making this up. This man even seems to have his promotional pictures taken in toilets.
I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself Colin.
It’s getting a bit siddly now, isn’t it? 🙂
BO!
Getting back to the OP… here’s some riddling with a groove – Leo Kottke!
Always a good time to post this. Top riddly.
Via some circularish linkage have some fiddle-di-dee
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kKEPO_yB0fA
Well I like coffee and I like tea
But I just don’t like this fiddle-di-dee
Featuring on bass the recently departed and freakishly talented Pete Zorn, who could play just about any instrument to hand brilliantly.
But that’s not Pete Zorn on that version it’s Taras Prodaniuk.
Via some circularish linkage have some fiddle-di-dee
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kKEPO_yB0fA
Well I like coffee and I like tea
But I just don’t like this fiddle-di-dee
Pete Zorn! Of course, I knew Ned Flanders reminded me of someone. Sorry to speak ill of the dead but I never liked his ‘tache.