Woody Guthrie

"There are other Woody Guthrie biographies, but this is written incredibly persuasively. Joe Klein is a very good storyteller. The fact that he has gone on to be a political correspondent for Time and also to write the novel Primary Colors shows just how good he is. It was invaluable research for my Woody Guthrie chapter. But this book also became part of the history of protest songs itself. Bruce Springsteen got hold of a copy, and that really turned him onto the history of Woody Guthrie and made him want to deal more with politics and the idea of America in his own works. Springsteen responded very quickly to books. A lot of the time he would read a book or see a movie and then write a song inspired by it. He started covering Guthrie’s most famous song, This Land is Your Land . Springsteen’s Nebraska album owed a huge amount to this book because it introduced him to the history of the American left. Yes, and for me the book is just a really thrilling narrative, which made me realise how you could put political background into a personal story without it seeming like a big indigestible chunk."