White, Josh(ua Daniel) (1915–1969)

US guitarist and blues, gospel, and folk singer. In the 1930s he recorded such blues and gospel songs as ‘There's a Man Goin' Around Taking Names’ (1933). In 1939 he formed his own group, the Josh White Singers. In New York City in the 1940s he appeared in several musicals, such as John Henry (1940) and A Long Way from Home (1948). In the 1950s he performed with his group, the Carolinas, and with such artists as Woody Guthrie and Paul Robeson. In moving between gospel, blues, and folk music, and between the white and black worlds, he prefigured a whole generation of other African-American musicians.

White was born in Greenville, South Carolina. As a child he learned from street singers in the US Southeast and in Chicago, Illinois. He soon joined in with street evangelists and gospel singers and became a prodigious guitarist. At the age of 13 he recorded with Blind Joe Taggart. A favourite of President Franklin D Roosevelt, he performed at the White House during the 1940s.