At the risk of thread-creep, let me follow up on Roger the Skiffler's comlpaint about the overly-pervasive influence of Robert Johnson:

Robert was a great artist of stunning intensity, but students and fans of blues guitar-playing should really take a close look at his contemporary LONNIE Johnson, who was much more popular and famous than Robert when they were both active, and justly so. Of course, Lonnie started earlier and lived longer, while Robert was like a comet blazing briefly across the sky.