Jon W. Very well put, I think this is what I was trying to say. Personally I feel that Eric, Jimmy, Johnny Winter and the Allmans did a fine job of taking these standards into another era.

How do those of you who don't like the above artists feel about Muddy Waters, Albert King, Little Walter and the electric sounds of the Chicago blues scene?

My Jazz loving father hated the former without listening to them because they were long-haired, no talent, three chord, Rock and Rollers. (To my fathers credit, when I finally got him to listen to selected cuts from Johnny Winter and Eric Clapton, he really liked them)

Art, believe it or not, I know how you feel about this one. It drives me crazy to hear a grunge band cover Neil Young or Bob Dylan. However Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, Leadbelly etc. wrote tremendous songs that will continue to re-surface because of the strength of these songs. If it is a cover of a cover of a cover that leads someone to the source, I see it as a good thing. And along the line, I'll bet some of the covers are good.