I think he's made some pretty dreadful recordings along with a lot of stuff that, at the time, seemed in a different league to other contemporary players.
The same can be applied to Marvin, Hendrix, Kossoff, Knopfler, whoever. (maybe not Atkins and Reinhardt)
In their day, groundbreaking. Playing stuff others could only dream about. A few years on and every bedroom player can belt out the solo from Sultans Of Swing.
Being the first to take a musical style and develop it into something uniquely your own takes skill and courage even if the kids cotton on very quickly and can imitate better than the original, "more Hank than Hank!", it's a sincere form of flattery.