Huh, I remember hearing a similar story but I too can't place the name. I bet he was a Chicago guy... maybe Muddy Waters? Johnson and Beiderbecke are both good

Huh, I remember hearing a similar story but I too can't place the name. I bet he was a Chicago guy... maybe Muddy Waters? Johnson and Beiderbecke are both good name from their respective periods (30s country blues and 20s jazz), but I'd argue that there were significantly more influential musicians on the development of the blues style throughout the 40s and 50s. More on that in a minute... Robert Johnson's an interesting guy. Johnson's influence is a weird case: he was almost totally unknown until the early 1960s, when that classic compilation (King of the Delta Blues Singers, on Columbia, 1961) came out with many of his recordings. As a result, his influence really begins to widen in the 1960s, as many white blues-rock bands were starting to form and gain popularity (such as The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds (featuring Eric Clapton), and Mike Bloomfield + Bob Dylan). This blues-rock was the stuff that really made an impact on American society at large, and as a result, we tend to consider Robert Johnson to be one of the seminal blues artists. Odd how that turns out. Anyway, back to seminal blues artists. Lonnie Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3yd-c91ww8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3yd-c91ww8) were the two who I'd argue contributed most to the "classic" style. Johnson was exceptionally prolific and exceptionally good, and Blind Lemon mentored many young artists, including Robert Johnson and T-Bone Walker. On the white side of things, Eddie Lang (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Loc8WiDvNaE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Loc8WiDvNaE) was arguably the first jazz guitarist (and had a heavy influence on many blues musicians), and Jimmie Rodgers (yay, awesome video footage! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIlURYJI-xs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIlURYJI-xs) was arguably the first guitar-playing "modern" country musician (he fused country and blues). He too had a wide influence on blues artists, going so far as to collaborate with Louis Armstrong (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BFbY9Vw8DM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BFbY9Vw8DM), and to be the reason why Howlin' Wolf started "howling." Thanks for playing :)