I realize this thread lived and died many months ago but I'll throw my two cents worth anyway. I just found this web-site. It's pretty clear from the names being referenced on this thread that MOST of the posters relay on rockers for their blues exposure. Jimi Hendrix was a brilliant R&B, soul, and rock guitarist in a similar vein to Curtis Mayfield, Cornell Dupree, and Don Covay. He was masterful and imaginative, but not a bluesman, although he did borrow heavily from John Lee Hooker and Lightnin' Hopkins, among others. Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Roy Buchanan, and Johnny Winter (Johnny and his brother put out some amazing R&B vocal demos in the early 60's) are rockers who cover blues songs, but not with a valid blues sensibility or dynamic range. Eric Clapton WISHES he could sound like B.B., Freddie, and Otis Rush sounded in the fifties. Buddy Guy proved in the early sixties that electric blues guitar could have a dynamic range from a whisper to a scream. Earl Hooker was a master of phrasing and time. If you want to compare pre-war to post-war blues, that's fair enough. Let's just make sure we're talking about blues masters, not pop mimics.

Iceboy