7 The 100 Most Influential Musicians of All Time 7

joints, and lumber camps and on the street. In 1936 –37 he
made a series of recordings in a hotel room in San Antonio,
Texas, and a warehouse in Dallas. His repertoire included
several blues songs by House and others, but Johnson’s
original numbers, such as “Me and the Devil Blues,”
“Hellhound on My Trail,” “Sweet Home Chicago,” “I
Believe I’ll Dust My Broom,” “Ramblin’ on My Mind,” and
“Love in Vain” are his most compelling pieces. Unlike the
songs of many of his contemporaries—which tended to
unspool loosely, employing combinations of traditional
and improvised lyrics—Johnson’s songs were tightly
composed, and his song structure and lyrics were praised
by Bob Dylan. Despite the limited number of his record-
ings, Johnson had a major impact on other musicians,
including Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Eric Clapton,
and the Rolling Stones. Johnson died of poisoning after
drinking strychnine-laced whiskey in a juke joint.

Woody Guthrie

(b. July 14, 1912, Okemah, Okla., U.S.—d. Oct. 3, 1967, New York, N.Y.)

T

he songs of prolific American folksinger and songwriter
Woodrow (“Woody”) Wilson Guthrie chronicled the
plight of common people, especially during the Great
Depression.
Guthrie, the third of five children, was the son of a
onetime cowboy, land speculator, and local Democratic
politician who named him after Pres. Woodrow Wilson.
His mother, who introduced her children to a wide variety
of music, was thought to be mentally ill and was institution-
alized when Guthrie was a teenager. Her erratic behaviour
was actually caused by Huntington’s disease, a hereditary
neurological disorder about which little was known at the
time and which would later afflict Guthrie too. The family
lived near the relocated Creek nation in Okemah, Okla., a