Although his recording career, in the late 1920s, was brief, Thomas influenced performers including Bob Dylan, Taj Mahal, the Lovin' Spoonful, the Grateful Dead, and Canned Heat.

[4] Besides guitar, Thomas accompanied himself on quills, a folk instrument fabricated from cane reeds whose sound is similar to the zampona played by musicians in Peru and Bolivia.

[8] Thomas's song "Fishing Blues" was recorded by the folk-rock group the Lovin' Spoonful in 1965, for their hit debut album Do You Believe in Magic.

[15][16] Except in jazz circles, it remained an obscure blues number until blues-rock group Canned Heat recorded "Going Up the Country".

Fellow band member Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson rewrote the lyrics entirely and received credit on the song's original release in 1968 on Canned Heat's third album, Living the Blues.

In 1987, the band Brendan Croker and The 5 O'Clock Shadows included a song entitled "Henry Thomas (Deceased)" on their album, Boat Trips in the Bay.

[17] In 2023, "Bull Doze Blues" was featured in Martin Scorsese's film Killers of the Flower Moon in an early scene where the Osage community is having their pictures taken.