Dick Justice
American musician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Henry Franklin "Dick" Justice (April 2, 1903 – September 12, 1962)[2] was an American blues and folk musician, who hailed from West Virginia, United States.
April 2, 1903
- Coal miner
- Musician
Dick Justice | |
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| Born | Henry Franklin Justice April 2, 1903 |
| Died | September 12, 1962 (aged 59) |
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| Years active | 1929 |
| Label | Brunswick Records |
Biography
Born Henry Franklin Justice,[3] 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.[4] Justice's "Cocaine" is a verse-for-verse cover of the Jordan track of the same name recorded two years earlier.[5] The song "Brownskin Blues" is also stylistically akin to much of Jordan's work but stands on its own as a Justice original.[6]
Justice is musically related to Frank Hutchison (with whom he played music and worked as a coal miner in Logan County, West Virginia),[7] 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.[8] Justice recorded four sides ("Guian Valley Waltz" and "Poor Girl's Waltz", "Muskrat Rag" and "Poca River Blues") with the fiddler Reese Jarvis.[9]