Dick Justice

For other people with similar names, see Richard Justice (disambiguation).
Dick Justice
Birth name Richard Justice
Born 1906
West Virginia[1]
Died September 12, 1962(1962-09-12)
Genres Blues and folk
Occupation(s) Coal miner
Years active 1929
Labels Brunswick Records
Associated acts Luke Jordan, Frank Hutchison

Dick Justice (1906 – September 12, 1962) was an American blues and folk musician, who hailed from West Virginia, United States.[2]

Biography

Born Richard Justice, he recorded ten songs for Brunswick Records in Chicago in 1929. Unlike many contemporary white musicians, he 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] As Jordan hailed from around Lynchburg, Virginia it is perhaps worth speculating that the two may have been associates. Justice is also 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 also 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.
  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.]. ed.). Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press. p. 56. ISBN 9780719023491.
  6. ↑ Wolff, written by Kurt (2000). Country music : the rough guide : [the complete guide to country music, the artists, the songs, and the stories behind them]. 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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