Judith Allen Roderick (December 14, 1942 – January 22, 1992) was an American

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

singer and songwriter, described by

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

as: "One of the finest white folk/blues singers of the early to mid-'60s."

Biography

She was born in

Wyandotte, Michigan Wyandotte ( ) is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 25,058 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Wyandotte is located in southeastern Michigan, approximately south of Detro ...

to Howard and Emily Roderick, and grew up in

Elkhart, Indiana Elkhart ( ) is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The population was 53,923 at the 2020 census. The city is located east of South Bend, Indiana. It is the most populous city in the Elkhart–Goshen metropolitan area, which in tu ...

. She attended the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

, and began singing blues, folk and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

and playing guitar in clubs there and in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. Biography by William Ashford at Allmusic.com
Retrieved April 10, 2014 Dick Weissman, ''Which Side Are You On?: An Inside History of the Folk Music Revival in America'', Bloomsbury Publishing, 2006, p.113
/ref> After moving to New York City in the early 1960s, she was heard by manager Lee Silberstein, who secured her a record deal with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. Biography at ''www.judyroderick.com''
. Retrieved April 10, 2014 Her first album, ''Ain't Nothin' But The Blues'', produced by Bobby Scott, was released in 1964. Described at

as "an eclectic mix of traditional acoustic folk tunes and large arrangements of blues tunes", it featured John Hammond Jr. on harmonica. She performed at the 1964

Newport Folk Festival The Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. The festival was founded by music promoter and Jazz Festival founder Geor ...

, and at many leading club venues in the eastern United States, developing a loyal following, but a second album for Columbia was never completed after Roderick and Scott disagreed on the direction it should take.Dick Weissman, Richard Carlin, Craig Morrison, ''American Popular Music: Blues'', Infobase Publishing, 2005, p.184
/ref> She was signed for

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the so ...

by Maynard Solomon, and recorded her second and best-regarded album, ''Woman Blue'', released in 1965. Again a mixture of blues and folk material, from a variety of sources, it featured musicians

Artie Traum Arthur Roy Traum (April 3, 1943 – July 20, 2008) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. Traum's work appeared on more than 35 albums. He produced and recorded with The Band, Arlen Roth, Warren Bernhardt, Pat Alger, Tony Levin, ...

, Dick Weissman,

Russ Savakus Russell Savakus (May 13, 1925 – June 26, 1984) was an American session bass player (both electric and stand-up), violinist and singer. Savakus recorded with numerous artists in and around the 1960s folk and folk-rock movement in New York. Earl ...

, Todd Sommer and Paul Griffin. The song "Woman Blue" was a folk song recorded by many artists, usually titled "

I Know You Rider "I Know You Rider" (also "Woman Blues" and "I Know My Rider") is a traditional blues song that has been adapted by numerous artists. It has appeared in folk, country, and rock guises. Blues origins Modern versions can be traced back to Blind Lemo ...

", and made more popular by the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

. The album was issued by

Fontana Fontana may refer to: Places Italy *Fontana Liri, comune in the Province of Frosinone *Fontanafredda, comune in the Province of Pordenone * Fontanarosa, comune in the Province of Avellino *Francavilla Fontana, comune in the Province of Brindisi ...

in the UK in 1966, and Roderick went to Britain to promote the record. She was also featured on an album of Newport Folk Festival performances issued by Vanguard. However, by the time of the Vanguard releases, her style of music was being overtaken by the emergence of

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

, and sales of her records were disappointing. She began writing songs in collaboration with Bill Ashford, and returned to

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

in 1969, forming a new band, 60,000,000 Buffalo. Their album of original material, ''Nevada Jukebox'', produced by

Bill Szymczyk William Frank Szymczyk (; born February 13, 1943) is an American music producer and recording engineer best known for working with rock and blues musicians, most notably the Eagles in the 1970s. He produced many top albums and singles of the ...

, was released on the

Atco Atco or ATCO may refer to: Businesses * ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies ** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company * Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing com ...

label in 1972. Review of ''Nevada Jukebox'', "Female-fronted rock from Colorado, 1972", ''Record Collector''
Retrieved April 10, 2014 However, the band broke up the following year. Roderick moved to

Hamilton, Montana Hamilton is a city that serves as the county seat of Ravalli County, Montana, United States. The population was 4,659 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Hamilton was founded by Copper Kings, copper king Marcus Daly in the la ...

, where she continued to perform, often with partner Dexter Payne in his swing band, The Big Sky Mudflaps; she sang some of the songs on two of the band's albums. In 1982, she and Payne formed a new band, Judy Roderick & The Forbears, and recorded a self-titled album with musicians including

Mac Rebennack Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. His music combined New Orleans blues, jazz, R&B, soul and funk. Active as a session mus ...

(Dr. John). The album received a limited independent release on cassette only in 1984. A

diabetic Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

since childhood, Judy Roderick died of a heart attack from complications due to the disease in 1992 at the age of 49.

Legacy

The album ''Woman Blue'' was remastered and reissued by Vanguard in 1993. One of Roderick and Ashford's songs, "Floods of South Dakota", was later recorded by Tim and Mollie O'Brien; their performance was nominated for a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

. The cassette album ''Judy Roderick & The Forbears'' was remastered for digital release and issued on CD by Dexofon Records, in 2008.

Discography

Source: * ''Ain't Nothin' but the Blues'' (Columbia, 1964) * ''Woman Blue'' (Vanguard, 1965) * ''Nevada Jukebox'' (with 60,000,000 Buffalo, Atco, 1972) * ''Judy Roderick & The Forbears'' (Raw Deal, 1984)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roderick, Judy 1942 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American singer-songwriters American blues singer-songwriters People from Elkhart, Indiana People from Hamilton, Montana People from Wyandotte, Michigan Singer-songwriters from Michigan University of Colorado Boulder alumni Singer-songwriters from Indiana