I wasn't either but it says something that virtually every song on that collection has been covered by some of the most important artists over the last 40/50 years.

That's unlikely. One should give credit to precursors, but to assume that minus the precursor everything after that would never have happened doesn't strike me as at all reasonable.

It's also important to note that he wasn't the only hugely influential bluesman. Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf were contemporaries and also were a big part of the blues that led to rock and pop. Removing Robert Johnson may have had an effect, but surely not to delete from history all the pop and rock that followed.

March 17 1973

When the first guitar was played while on some sort of psychedelic drug.

Finally some real contributions!

Of course not, but then we are moving into a whole new ball park. There was probably many more artists that none of us have heard about that were looking at studio technology. For better or worse we only have Robert Johnsons example for now. That is why I put it forward. Of course it isn't the only factor. Far from it. I was responding to the usual posts that seem to dismiss RJ from the progression of modern music.

The obvious one is discovering electricity. IMO music evolved massively in the late 60's and 70's with keyboards/synthesisers, guitar effect pedals, bigger amps, sequencers, computers but none of these would exist without elec. we would still be banging drums and dancing around flutes & fidles.

If only I could find a video of the Family Guy bit with the 4 cavemen singing "For the Longest Time"..... I could post that video and everybody watch it and laugh at it and go "Man! You are so clever!!"

I'd probably say the biggest music innovation happened somewhere during the 1920s or 1930s. And like the above poster, the discovery of using electricity for music, which really opened alot of possibilities.

Yeah, even just amplification was a pretty big deal. I'd say it had a huge effect on singing styles for one thing.

...In Music History? I would have to posit that the Romantic period of music changed the way we view the world today. This was the period that artists stood up to oppressive views of the Aristocratic and Realism. In a sense, they were the rockers of their day. I say that this period changed so many things because it lead to the industrial revolution, emotionally based artwork, and freedom of expression.

Dont get me wrong. I do believe that every time Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughn lifted the guitar history was rewritten, but when you're asking about music history you have to be more ambiguous.