In 1998, Billy Bragg and Wilco recorded unreleased songs penned by Woody Guthrie.

Listen to Woody Guthrie's 'Columbia River Songs,' the government-commissioned album about Washington state's Columbia River.

Listen to Woody Guthrie's 1940 concept album about agricultural and economic destruction, 'Dust Bowl Ballads.'

Bob Dylan considered Woody Guthrie a foundational influence, a sentiment he immortalized in his 1962 recording 'Song to Woody.'

In the late '80s, Dylan formed the Traveling Wilburys with other rock legends

The word “supergroup” gets tossed around plenty in rock ‘n’ roll, but it’s never been more apt than with the Traveling Wilburys, a late '80s band featuring Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne. At the time, Dylan was feeling creatively adrift and far removed from the passion of his earlier work. The winking alter-egos of the Wilburys reinvigorated him, leading to a great record and a renaissance in Dylan’s solo career.

Before he was known as a folk singer, Woody Guthrie was a popular radio host in Los Angeles.

Watch Bruce Springsteen's 1985 performance of Woody Guthrie's 'This Land Is Your Land,' which he calls 'the greatest song ever written about America.'

Woody Guthrie emblazoned 'This machine kills fascists' on his guitar, a phrase he borrowed from war machinery.

Why Neil Young is sometimes called 'the godfather of grunge'

The legendary singer-songwriter's work with his band Crazy Horse, especially "Rust Never Sleeps" and "Ragged Glory," married infectious melodies with overpowering guitars, a formula that many grunge acts would replicate. Young would go on to perform with Pearl Jam (like in the performance of "Rockin' in the Free World" below) and record the 1995 album "Mirror Ball" with them.

After the bitter breakup of the Beatles, John Lennon and Paul McCartney only played music together one more time—at an impromptu studio session in 1974, joined by Stevie Wonder.

The FBI tracked Woody Guthrie's politics for years, amassing an enormous file that was only discovered many years after his death.

1982's ‘Nebraska’ was recorded alone at home, a rarity at the time for a major artist

“Born to Run” became a hit in part due to its massive sound, something that was only possible thanks to the magic of the studio. That continued with 1980’s “The River,” which gave Springsteen his first top 10 single. With “Nebraska,” though, Springsteen abandoned the studio, opting to release the spare recordings he made at home, by himself. At the time, such a decision was a rarity for a platinum artist.

Dylan's early records were socially conscious folk songs

Dylan's early records were modeled after his heroes Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, meaning they were often acoustic numbers filled with lyrical wordplay and political themes. "Masters of War," from 1963's "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan," is a perfect example of the form, railing against politicians and war profiteers.

Woody Guthrie wrote 'This Land Is Your Land' as a sarcastic response to 'God Bless America.'

Dylan's raucous 1976 tour was one piece of an ongoing reinvention

In the mid-70s, Dylan assembled a ragtag group of musicians and poets—including Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, and Allen Ginsberg—he called the Rolling Thunder Revue. Rather than playing stadiums in major markets, they played smaller venues in smaller cities for a more intimate experience. The tour yielded some of the most exuberant versions of Dylan songs, captured in this 1976 performance in Fort Collins, which originally aired on NBC as “Hard Rain.”

Woody Guthrie was briefly a member of the Communist Party USA, but he was kicked out for 'lack of discipline.'

Revisiting the milieu of the Greenwich Village music scene

Few neighborhoods of the world stand out as more productive of a robust music scene than New York City's Greenwich Village, the bohemian launchpad of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and other folk artists of the 1960s and '70s. Expert David Browne discusses why it became so significant in this episode of "Sound Opinions."

Eddie Vedder's humble gas-station attendant roots

The singer was living in the San Diego area when a friend mailed him a demo tape recorded by Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard that lacked vocals. Vedder wrote lyrics for the three songs (one of which would later become the hit "Alive") and tracked his own vocals on the tape, then mailed it back to the band. Two weeks later, they invited him to move to Seattle to join the band.

How 'Nevermind' realigned the music industry

Nirvana's breakout album inspired other major labels to hunt for similarly loud, countercultural bands. That led to a fascinating period in popular music that found defiantly anticommercial indie acts like the Melvins, the Butthole Surfers, and Ween (among many, many others) suddenly offered lucrative contracts.

How Kurt Cobain was influenced by the Beats

Fresh off the success of Nirvana's "Nevermind," band frontman Kurt Cobain reached out to his literary idol, the Beat writer William S. Burroughs, suggesting a collaboration. The correspondence led to "The 'Priest' They Called Him," a hard-to-find recording featuring Burroughs reading a story and Cobain on dissonant guitar.

Bob Dylan deeply admires Willie Nelson

The Nobel Prize-winning songwriter is a big fan of the country troubadour. When Dylan was asked for his thoughts on Nelson for a New Yorker profile, he offered a poetic monologue not unlike his lyrics, including a comparison to "the invisible air."

Listen to the 'Deep Six' compilation, one of the first collections of grunge

In the '80s, "grunge" was still not a widely used term, though there was a distinct sound coming from Seattle, one that blended punk and metal. C/Z Records decided to document the emerging sound in 1985 by releasing a compilation with six of the city's cutting-edge bands, including Green River, Melvins, and Soundgarden.

Ginsberg debuted 'Howl' at San Francisco's Six Gallery in 1955

The performance impressed Lawrence Ferlinghetti, owner of City Lights Books and City Lights Publishers. He eventually published "Howl and Other Poems." It would inspire a national movement that included Gregory Corso, LeRoi Jones (later known as Amiri Baraka), Bob Kaufman, Diane di Prima, Gary Snyder, Anne Waldman, and others.

Judee Sill's admirers hear a legend gone before her prime

The singer-songwriter released only two albums in her lifetime: 1971's self-titled and 1973's "Heart Food." Critics and contemporaries (including Graham Nash and David Crosby) praised both, though they were commercial flops. She died of a drug overdose in 1979 and had grown so obscure by then that no obituary was published. In the early 2000s, her recordings were reissued and found a new generation of fans.

The Shaggs weren't good musicians, but they still made a classic

In 1969, the three sisters recorded "Philosophy of the World"; only 100 copies were publicly distributed. The record became a cult classic thanks to its strange backstory (their father forced them into playing music) and the band's amateurism. Critic Lester Bangs wrote, "They can't play a lick! But mainly they got the right attitude, which is all rock'n'roll's ever been about from day one."

'Nebraska' was a sharp pivot inspired by proto-punk band Suicide

After "Born to Run," Springsteen's songwriting turned darker on subsequent albums "Darkness on the Edge of Town" and "The River," as he began exploring the harsher realities of adulthood and working-class life, but "Nebraska" was his most gothic, featuring haunted songs partially inspired by the abrasive proto-punk duo Suicide.

According to Kurt Cobain, Wipers invented grunge

Wipers began in Portland, Oregon in 1977, playing a form of punk rock that sounded darker and heavier than their contemporaries in New York, California, and England. The band remained an underground secret for years, influencing countless artists, including Nirvana's Kurt Cobain. "What more can I say about them?" he said in an interview. "They started Seattle grunge rock in Portland, 1977."

Walt Whitman wrote a poem for the official celebration of America's 100th anniversary, but was not invited to read at the event.

The best grunge albums of the 1990s

The best way to understand the music is to immerse yourself in it. This list compiles the definitive albums from the subgenre's peak period, featuring records from the big names associated with the scene (such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden) alongside less obvious picks that released grunge-adjacent classics (including Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, and PJ Harvey).

The Brill Building was a breeding ground for girl group classics

The Brill Building was a building in New York City that housed the working offices for over 160 music industry professionals, including some of the country’s finest songwriters, such as Neil Diamond, Burt Bacharach, and George Clinton. Below is a 1959 picture of three more Brill Building pros: Carole King, Paul Simon, and Gerry Goffin.

Listen to the earliest known recording of a whale song

A recording of a humpback whale was taken by scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution near Bermuda in 1949, but forgotten for decades. When first captured, researchers didn't know what animal they were hearing, and therefore didn't catalogue the recording. The well-preserved audio was found by the team's archivist in 2025.

The Dylan/Whitman connection

Even before his 2016 Nobel Prize, critics often wrote about Bob Dylan with a seriousness typically reserved for literary figures. In this critical analysis, Jones Hogsed continues the tradition, analyzing Dylan's vision of America alongside Walt Whitman's.

Parton recorded two albums with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris

The musicians were fans of one another and performed together on Parton’s variety show “Dolly” in 1976. Eleven years later, they released an album together, fittingly called “Trio.” A follow-up, “Trio II,” arrived in 1999.

Once whale songs were discovered, conservation efforts boomed

Until the 1950s, humans believed whales were mute. Once American underwater surveillance systems caught their sounds during the Cold War, the perception of the creatures changed, leading humans to campaign for whaling bans and long-term conservation efforts. These captivating whale songs can be heard throughout the ocean.

A bootleg video of a 1966 conversation between Bob Dylan and John Lennon has long been a cryptic text for the artists' superfans.

Parton released her first recording at age 13

The song was written at the age of 11 with the assistance of her uncle, Bill Owens, and was released by Goldband Records in 1959, when she was 13. The rockabilly song doesn’t sound much like the country music that would make Parton famous in the next decade, but it does hint at the power of her voice.

Elvis Presley wanted to record 'I Will Always Love You,' but Dolly Parton refused

After scoring a hit with her own recording of the song, Presley made plans to record his own version, but stipulated that Parton would need to grant him 50% of the publishing rights—perhaps the most valuable asset for a songwriter. Parton politely refused.

Outlaw Country was a subgenre that emerged in the 1970s

Outlaw country was a reaction against popular country music produced in Nashville. The name's origin is disputed, but it was firmly established with the 1976 album “Wanted! The Outlaws,” a record featuring songs by Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser—artists who bucked industry norms.

Western swing merged country with jazz

For as long as country music has been set to record, its artists have experimented with the genre’s boundaries. Look no further than this track from 1946, Bob Wills’ “Roly Poly.” The song is a classic example of Western swing, a country subgenre that blended country and jazz.

Tom Petty used bankruptcy to change the music industry

In order to resolve a dispute over how a label was treating him as an artist, he self-produced an album and racked up $500K in debt. The resulting bankruptcy filing allowed him to start a new contract with the label on more favorable terms.

Guitarist Charlie Byrd brought bossa nova to the US after a government-sponsored tour

The Mutual and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, also known as the Fulbright–Hays Act, sought to spread understanding through education and cultural exchanges. Its passage led to a government-sponsored music tour of South America featuring jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd. In Brazil, Byrd was introduced to the music of João Gilberto and returned to the United States eager to incorporate bossa nova into his own music.

Walt Whitman helped define the voice and spirit of American literature

The 19th-century poet is considered one of the most important voices in the American canon. His collection “Leaves of Grass,” in particular, is regarded as a foundational text and is widely taught in American high schools and colleges.

The surprising and strange sources behind 12 famous songs

Britney Spears's "Toxic" borrowed strings from a 1981 Bollywood film, Billie Eilish sampled The Office, and one duo made an entire album using only the sounds of their Whirlpool washing machine. Explore how sampling can pull from pretty much anywhere.

Poet Robert Lowell encouraged O'Connor to turn away from commercial appeal

When O'Connor secured a publisher for "Wise Blood," her publisher envisioned it as a broad, commercial comedy, something Lowell—the accomplished poet whom she met after graduate school at Yaddo, an artist colony in upstate New York—suggested she avoid, encouraging her to lean into her more esoteric and darker interests. This interview with O'Connor biographer Brad Gooch elaborates on that advice.

Dolly Parton's 'I Will Always Love You' was written as a goodbye for her musical collaborator

The Whitney Houston cover is the greatest-selling song by a female artist ever. It also might be one of the most misunderstood songs in country music. The song wasn't written for a lover; Parton wrote it for Porter Wagoner, her musical partner, when she decided to pursue a solo career.

Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers' 'Islands in the Stream' was written by the Bee Gees

The Gibbs originally penned the song for themselves, but the brothers didn’t think it was the right fit, so they reworked it as an R&B number with Diana Ross or Marvin Gaye in mind; however, nothing came of those ideas. It was then pitched to country star Kenny Rogers, who wasn’t sure he was the right fit, though Barry Gibb convinced him it would work as a duet with Parton, who was recording in a nearby studio.

Parton teamed up with Porter Wagoner in 1967

Wagoner was a popular country artist whose syndicated variety show debuted in 1960. When his cohost Norma Jean left in 1967, Wagoner brought in Parton as a replacement. That was the same year her debut album, “Hello, I’m Dolly,” was released. Below is a performance of “Dumb Blonde,” the lead single from that album, from her first day on the show.

A young Dolly Parton felt confined by her partnership with Porter Wagoner

Wagoner was already an established country star when Parton became his cohost on “The Porter Wagoner Show.” According to Parton, the two often disagreed about the direction of Parton’s career. Ultimately, she decided to leave the show and their partnership in pursuit of her own career.

After Warner Bros signed him at 18, Prince wrote a song to thank them

The label scooped the young artist in 1977, eager to ink a deal with the promising young savant. In response, Prince wrote a song called "I Hope We Can Work It Out," which suggested together they'd make "Music for the young and old, music bound to be gold." An official recording of the song was never released, but the Minnesota Historical Society acquired the original handwritten lyrics in 2017. You can see them below.

Read an early piece of journalism on country music

This 1904 Harper’s Weekly article from Emma Bell Miles offers an early example of country music criticism. Miles traces the music’s roots to the mountaineers who pioneered it. It’s a famous piece for music writers: Miles saw a phenomenon building in the hills long before any major record label.

The story behind Copland and Graham's 'Appalachian Spring'

The ballet, which premiered in 1944, was conceived by the composer and choreographer through the mail, with the two corresponding about how the music might fit the dancing. Later, designer Isamu Noguchi would design a set that whittled the western Pennsylvanian pioneer town down to its core elements.