Died On This Date (October 3, 1967) Woody Guthrie / Folk Music Icon
themusicsover Woody Guthrie
July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967
Woody Guthrie was arguably America’s most important folk singer and songwriter. Over a career that spanned a quarter century, Guthrie penned 100s of songs, many lending a voice to the common man. He also wrote many children’s songs. He wrote about the plight of the migrant worker, stories he learned first-hand as he traveled among them throughout the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. Many such songs are archived in the Library of Congress, and one in particular, “This Land Is Your Land,” is sung in elementary schools across the US. In the late ’40s, Guthrie’s health began to deteriorate while his mental state seemed to come into question. At the time, some thought it might be due to schizophrenia and alcoholism. As it turned out, he was diagnosed in 1952 with a neurological disorder called Huntington’s disease. He spent several of his final years in psychiatric hospitals. With his health and mind failing during the folk revival of he early ’60s, he eld court with some of the day’s up-and-coming troubadors who admired him, most famously, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. Woody Guthrie died of complications from the disease at the age of 55.
What You Should Own
Skip James was a hard living bootlegger, a sharecropper and a hard laborer. But above all, he was one of the most influential of the early Delta bluesmen. With a unique and highly sophisticated style of picking coupled with a ghostly falsetto voice, James was indeed one of a kind. His form of playing and singing was a direct influence on many, such as 
Benjamin Orr is best remembered as the bassist and co-lead singer of popular Boston new wave band, the Cars. Formed by Orr and Ric Ocasek in 1976, the band released a string of multi-platinum albums and hit singles that helped define ’80s pop music. They were also one of the early bands adopted by MTV. Orr sang lead on such hit singles as “Drive,” “Just What I Needed,” and “Let’s Go.” In 1986, he left the group and recorded his solo debut, The Lace, and then left the group the following year. Orr continued to record and perform live in various incarnations up until just a few months before his death. Benjamin Orr, age 53, died of pancreatic cancer on October 3, 2000.
“Johnny J” Jackson was a hip hop producer and rapper who, over the course of his career, produced albums and records that sold in the millions. Born in Mexico and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Jackson’s career kicked into high gear in 1990 when he produced a “one-hit-wonder” for his friend Candall Mason, better known as Candyman. That song was “Knockin’ Boots,” which helped Candyman’s Shame In The Game album go platinum. The success of “Knockin’ Boots” opened the door for Jackson to meet