David;

Don't know what you're listening to when bashing Muddy, but some of the newer traditional players you site couldn't hold a candle to either Muddy or the outstanding pre-war masters you site. I'll let you figure out which ones I'm referring to. At least one is little more than a thinly veiled pop artist meticulously cultivating a classic bluesman image. If you don't hear the soul and mastery in Louisiana Blues and Muddy's version of Kindhearted Woman, while simultaneously touting some of the newer artists who are just beginning to scratch the surface of the work the pre-war masters created, then I think you need to seriously go back and take another listen to all of it.

Lotsa luck,

Iceboy