On July 14, 1912, folksinger-songwriter Woodrow Wilson Guthrie -- better known as Woody -- was born in Oklahoma, USA. While his music isn't as popular as it really ought to be today, some of the people he inspired are now revered as the world's most influential musicians.
During the American Depression, Woody travelled the length and breadth of America, recreating the image of the wandering minstrel, writing and singing about all he saw in order to pay for his meals. One of his most famous songs, This Land Is Your Land, was written during this period. His lyrics were often critical of the status quo, and leaned towards the liberal. Among the singers most inspired by his work were a young Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.
When Guthrie lay dying in a New York hospital in the sixties, Dylan visited him and helped introduce his work to a new generation of Americans. Today, Dylan is looked upon as an icon. If there were a god of rock and roll, however, he or she would prefer putting Guthrie's name on top.
In the picture: Folk singers Joan Baez and Bob Dylan perform during a civil rights rally in 1963 in Washington DC.
Photograph: National Archive/Newsmakers/Getty Images
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