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.

For other people with similar names, see Richard Justice (disambiguation).
Dick Justice
Birth nameHenry Franklin Justice
Born(1903-04-02)April 2, 1903
East Lynn, West Virginia, U.S.[1]
DiedSeptember 12, 1962(1962-09-12) (aged 59)
Yolyn, West Virginia, U.S.[1]
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Coal miner
  • Musician
Instrument(s)
Years active1929
LabelsBrunswick Records

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. Haddox, Chris (May 2021). "Dick Justice". wvu.edu. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  2. Bush, John. "Dick Justice". AllMusic.
  3. "Dick Justice". Music to Blow. Archived from the original on 2014-08-08.
  4. Simpson, Brent (11 March 2012). "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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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