Dick Justice

Henry Franklin "Dick" Justice (April 2, 1903 – September 12, 1962) was an American blues and folk musician, who hailed from West Virginia, United States.

Dick Justice
Birth nameHenry Franklin Justice
BornApril 2, 1903
West Virginia, United States[1]
Died(1962-09-12)September 12, 1962
GenresBlues and folk
Occupation(s)Coal miner
Years active1929
LabelsBrunswick Records
Associated actsLuke Jordan, Frank Hutchison

Biography

Born Henry Franklin Justice,[2] he recorded ten songs for Brunswick Records in Chicago in 1929. Justice was heavily influenced by black musicians, particularly Luke Jordan, who recorded in 1927 and 1929 for Victor Records.[3] Justice's "Cocaine" is a verse-for-verse cover of the Jordan track of the same name recorded two years earlier.[4] The song "Brownskin Blues" is also stylistically akin to much of Jordan's work but stands on its own as a Justice original.[5]

Justice is musically related to Frank Hutchison (with whom he played music and worked as a coal miner in Logan County, West Virginia),[6] Bayless Rose and The Williamson Brothers.

His recording of the traditional ballad "Henry Lee" was the opening track of Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music.[7] Justice recorded four sides ("Guian Valley Waltz" and "Poor Girl's Waltz", "Muskrat Rag" and "Poca River Blues") with the fiddler Reese Jarvis.[8]

References

  1. "Illustrated Dick Justice Discography". Wirz.de. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
  2. Bush, John. "Dick Justice". AllMusic.
  3. "Dick Justice". Music to Blow. Archived from the original on 2014-08-08.
  4. Simpson, Brent. "Cocaine Blues". Down Under Delta.
  5. Millward, David Hatch ; Stephen (1987). From Blues to Rock : An Analytical History of Pop Music (Pbk. ed.). Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 56. ISBN 9780719023491.
  6. Wolff, written by Kurt (2000). Country Music : the Rough Guide. London: Rough Guides. p. 26. ISBN 9781858285344.
  7. "Anthology of American Folk Music". Smithsonian Folkways.
  8. Byrd, Ivan M. Tribe; foreword by Robert C. (1996). Mountaineer Jamboree : Country Music in West Virginia. Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky. p. 37. ISBN 9780813108780.
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