Stephen Foster, Blind Alfred Reed, Lead Belly, Robert Johnson, Sonny Terry, Woody Guthrie, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Cisco Houston, Hank Williams, Oscar Petersen, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, Leonard Cohen, Kris Kristofferson, Dave van Ronk, Buddy Holly, Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Carole King, Brian Wilson, Joni Mitchell, Townes van Zandt, John Prine, Warren Zevon, Ry Cooder and James Taylor, a selection of twentysix great musicians living in the period from 1880 til today and belonging to the great american song tradition. A great many other musicians living in this period belonging to the same musical tradition could have been mentioned too, but for now let us save a moment for the great musicians selected here, each in his/her own way influencing the long and great american song tradition.

When the Nobel commitee awarded Bob Dylan Nobel Literature Prize
for 2016, Dylan  was awarded the prize "for having created new poetic
xpressions within he great American song tradition."

       
Let's try to dig into this american song tradition, based on Bob Dylan
and how his poetry and music's been influenced by the other 24

musicians part of this great tradition.
It goes without saying that Dylan has influenced the development both
of the amercian song tradition and music in general in a substantial way

and when refering to musicians that has influenced himself , he usually

mentions 

many, but maybe the 24 musicians mentioned here mostly.

His early influence by Woody Guthries music is well documented, of

course, especially by Dylans beautiful "Song to Woody".

The song conveys Dylan's appreciation of the American folk legend. 

The tune uses the melody from Guthrie's song "1913 Massacre" and

one stanza ends with the lines "I'm a-singin' you this song, but I can't

sing enough 'cause there's not many men that done the things that

you've done."

The penultimate stanza of "Song To Woody" pays tribute to Guthrie folk

contemporaries Cisco Houston, Sonny Terry and Lead Belly and "all the
good people that traveled with you".
The line "that come with the dust and are gone with the wind"

paraphrases
the line "we come with the dust and we go with  the wind" in Guthrie's 

"Pastures of Plenty", a song about people displaced by the dust storms

and drought which swept Oklahoma, Texas and other states in the 1930s

during 

In a strange and yet familiar way History seems to repeat itself.
Now the western civilization yet again expewriences 'hard times' and 
and much of the genuin lyrics and musical content og the long American Song Tradition is again relevant and can bring comfort for people
struggling in their daily life.