In terms of influence on modern music, I think the Delta Blues movement takes the cake. Nothing, I mean NOTHING would have happened if there we never had the blues legends like Muddy Waters, B. B. King, Bo Diddley, Otis Redding, etc. There were earlier blues musicians and guitarists (like one of my favorites, Robert Johnson) but it was largely those legendary Chicago blues that brought it out as a real musical genre. And as far as I can tell, there wasn't too much that predated the blues aside from African-American spirituals and call-and-response music. I shudder to think what would have happened without them. We'd still be stuck with goddamn cracker music until the end of time.
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