Woody Guthrie receiving a Conservation Service Award in 1966 from the U.S. Department of the Interior for his songs about the Columbia River. His son Arlo is seated to his left. Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (July 14, 1912 - October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter and musician whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. Many of his songs are about his experiences in the Dust Bowl era during the Great Depression when Guthrie traveled with displaced farmers from Oklahoma to California. He died in 1967, at the age of 55, from complications of Huntington's disease. Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk singer. Like his father, Woody, Arlo often sings songs of protest against social injustice. He regularly performed with folk musician Pete Seeger, one of his father's longtime partners. His best-known work is "Alice's Restaurant Massacree", a satirical talking blues song about 18 minutes in length. His song "Massachusetts" was named the official folk song of the state in which he has lived most of his adult life.