JULIUS DANIEL
Julius Daniels was an early Piedmont Blues singer with a rich, deep, clear voice who made some important records when field-recording units were combing the South in the 20s looking for talent. He recorded seven tracks for the Victor label during two sessions in Atlanta during 1927, with ’99-Year Blues’ being the best known and most covered by other artists. Julius did not play an instrument, and was accompanied by guitarists Bubba Lee Torrance at the first session, and by Wilbert Andrews at the second. The issues Julius addressed in his songs are familiar; the hard life of a sharecropper; the iniquities of racism; and the solace provided by religion, but his poetic vocal lines expressed an original mind, and his style was very influential on later Piedmont Blues performers. Little is known of Julius’ personal life; no photograph exists, but we know he was born in Denmark SC in 1901; he lived in Pineville between 1912 and 1930, when he relocated to Charlotte NC, and he passed away there aged 45. Although Julius could not be considered a major artist, he left a legacy of influential tracks, and his contribution to the music is celebrated by the Julius Daniel Memorial Blues Festival every February in Denmark SC.
