Joshua Daniel White

Joshua Daniel White (February 11, 1914 – September 5, 1969), better known as

Josh White, was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights

activist. He also recorded under the names "Pinewood Tom" and "Tippy Barton"

in the 1930s.

White grew up in the Jim Crow South. During the 1920s and 30s, he became a

prominent race records artist, with a prolific output of recordings in genres

including Piedmont blues, country blues, gospel, and social protest songs. In

1931, White moved to New York, and within a decade his fame had spread

widely; his repertoire expanded to include urban blues, jazz, traditional folk

songs, and political protest songs. He soon was in demand as an actor on radio,

Broadway, and film.

White also became the closest African-American friend and confidant to

president Franklin D. Roosevelt. However, White's anti-segregationist and

international human rights political stance presented in many of his recordings

and in his speeches at rallies resulted in the right-wing McCarthyites assuming

him a Communist. Accordingly, from 1947 through the mid 1960s, White became

caught up in the anti-Communist Red Scare, and combined with the resulting

attempt to clear his name, his career was damaged. White's playing style

influenced many future generations of guitarists, including Blind Boy Fuller,

Brownie McGhee, Pete Seeger, Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, Harry Belafonte,

Lonnie Donegan, Eartha Kitt, Alexis Korner, Odetta, Elvis Presley, The Kingston

Trio, the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, Merle Travis, Dave Van Ronk,

Peter, Paul and Mary, Bob Dylan, Eric Weissberg, Judy Collins, Mike Bloomfield,

Danny Kalb, Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Richie Havens, Don McLean, Roy

Harper, Ry Cooder, John Fogerty, Eva Cassidy and Jack White.White was the

first of four children born to Reverend Dennis and Daisy Elizabeth White, on

February 2, 1914, in the black section of Greenville, South Carolina. His father

told him that he was named after the Biblical character Joshua of the Old

Testament. His mother introduced him to music at five years old, when he

began singing in his local church's choir. White's father was killed after he threw

a White bill collector out of his home in 1921, causing him later to be beaten to death.