"Wolverton Mountain" by Claude King (Clifton Clowers was a real person who lived on the real Woolverton Mountain, as it's actually spelled, and he lived to the age of 102).
Doc Watson - Tom Dooley was a genuine historical figure. I have a vague recollection that one of the parties of interest was an ancestor to Doc (or maybe Frank Proffitt).
Cat Stevens - My Lady D'Arbanville (Patti D'Arbanville, who found out she was his ex when she heard the song on the radio)
Dylan.. Lenny Bruce Ballad In Plain D - (Suze Rotolo & Carla Rotolo) Don't Think Twice - Suze Rotolo Boots Of Spanish Leather - Suze again. Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands - Mrs Dylan The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll - Hattie Carroll & William Zanzinger
Do you remember your president Nixon Do you remember the bills you have to pay or even yesterday? Quicksand also references Alistair Crowley, Himller, Garbo and Churchill All the Young Dudes - Beatles and Stones
Barenaked Ladies "Brian Wilson" Teenage Fanclub "Gene Clark" The Flaming Lips with Neon Indian "Is David Bowie Dying?" The Brian Setzer Orchestra "Hey, Louis Prima" Patti Smith "Gandhi"
Sorry, it's not my intention to be a wet blanket regarding this song, but the lyrics have nothing to do with the famous British Royalty known as Henry VIII. The song is about a man named Henry, who proclaims he is Henry the 8th, because the woman he is marrying was a widow 7 times before marrying him, and each man she married was named Henry, which makes him the 8th Henry to marry this woman. All I can say about the story is that if 7 guys before him all died after being married to the same woman, there would likely be a Henry the 9th before long
Bob again... Went To See The Gypsy - Elvis Presley, supposedly Father Of Night - GOD Forever Young - "One Of My Babies" Billy 4 & Billy 7 - William H Bonney Who Killed Davey Moore? - Davey Moore Joey - Joey Gallo (Not sure if someone has already posted this)
Which brings us to... "I Don't Like Mondays" - The Boomtown Rats (about 16 year old school shooter Brenda Spencer)
Lou Reed - "Good Evening, Mr. Waldheim" (Kurt Waldheim, Jesse Jackson, with mentions of the pope and Louis Farrakhan) Not necessarily about, but directed at the above. and nice guitar too!
Al Stewart - Nostradamus (as many historical references as any song I know) Randy Newman - Kingfish (Gov. Huey Long)
If not already mentioned. The Band, Night they drove old Dixie down, civil war and Robert E Lee, a real classic. Cheers; John
Mr Dylan once more... Sara - The Wife I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine - St Augustine The Ballad Of Ira Hayes - Ira Hayes. Yup I know he didn't write it, Pete La Farge did if I remember correctly. Too many to mention about - Jesus Christ.
Leonard Cohen - So Long, Marianne - Marianne Jensen R.I.P The Beatles - The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill - Richard A. Cooke III Neil Young - A Man Needs A Maid : Motion Pictures - Carrie Snodgrass, both partially anyway. Neil Young - Tonight's The Night - Danny Whitten & Bruce Berry. Neil Young - Cortez The Killer - Hernan Cortes.
As well as Al Stewart, Justin Hayward also had a song called Nostradamus on his 1977 solo LP Songwriter. I'm fairly certain Living With Victoria Grey by Cleaners from Venus is commentary about Margaret Thatcher. Half Man Half Biscuit had a number of songs about various personalities but most of them would be known only to British fans.