Charlie Patton is one of the biggies for me, as is Bukka. McDowell didn't do much for me when I first heard him, but he's growing on me. I have a hard time putting Robert Johnson and MJH in the "delta" school. They may have lived in the delta, but their styles aren't typical of what was coming out of there most of the time between the 1920s and 1960s. RJ retained a little of the rawness I associated with the delta style, but took it to an intricacy that put it in another realm. MJH's style actually comes closer to the Texas drone-string bass style or the alternating bass against a melody line associated with the Piedmont guys.

Just my two cents worth....

cheers,

david