Music: Is there a more influential musician for contemporary music than Louis Armstrong?

[Chubbinz]

Robert Johnson is an interesting case. He had very little influence on music during his lifetime but thanks to a re-release of his material in the early 60's his songs found the ears of some people who would go on to be stars in just a few years time. The groundwork for the Blues-Rock relationship had been laid long before he really influenced anyone. On the other hand, It's hard to deny the flavor his influence added to guys like Clapton and Led Zeppelin.

Personally I am a bit torn on Johnson. I feel the mystery that surrounds him has exceeded what can be backed up by his limited amount of recorded material. He died at a young age of unknown causes, the whole devil/crossroads myth combined with a limited catalog and praise by huge artists, of which their fans ate up anything that the media gave them, is a situation where one's imagination can run wild. I know it's anecdotal, but as a guitar player I have had more conversations where I get looked at like I am completely dumb for not admitting that Johnson is the GOAT and those tend to be the people that get caught up into the story versus just looking at his material.

 

[Archangel]

I went to the music department at my university with this question and two professors responded with 'only those with little or no knowledge of music theory'. They added in jazz maybe. But if you are opening it up to all types the said no.

 

[Chubbinz]

I went to the music department at my university with this question and two professors responded with 'only those with little or no knowledge of music theory'. They added in jazz maybe. But if you are opening it up to all types the said no.

So did they ever say who was a bigger influence?

 

[Archangel]

So did they ever say who was a bigger influence?

Their observation had to do with how we came about this decision. They pointed out that while Armstrong was popular. He was most influential when it came to Jazz music and not all music. They asked me, how many people voting for Armstrong have a back ground in either music or music theory. They pointed out that for either Blues, Folk or Rock and Roll, he has had little or no influence but Jazz artist like Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Charlie Parker their influence on rock and roll can be felt. With Armstrong they the point to Joe Oliver, Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton and a few other's who Armstrong played with in the late 20's and into the 1930's that formed the style Armstrong did and made popular. With Rock and Roll, Blues and Folk--they brought up names like Robert Johnson, Woody Guthrie, and the Appalachian folk music scene in at the turn of the century, notably The Carter Family (before Johnny Cash married June Carter--the Carter family had been around for about 50 years performing), Fiddlin John Carson(Due to his racists views his impact has been down graded), Dock Boggs, Frank Proffitt (who's versions of songs like Tom Dooley was covered in the 1960's but several bands). They also pointed to how current folk is traced to Irish and Scottish Gallic movements from imagrants from the turn of the century.

We had a very long discussion and they said while with Jazz you can make a fair argument with him being the most influencial musician of the 20th century, they (all of them have are professors of music) could not make a case of how Armstrong influenced Rock and Roll, Folk and other popular music, but they could make a case in how Blues artist influenced Jazz and nearly all other populor music in the 20th century. We had a lengthy discussion about Cajun and Gospel music and how that is overlooked in their influence of all music styles. They played me a Cajun gospel song recorded in about 1910 that sounded a lot like modern music.

 

[Hippasus]

Robert Johnson is an interesting case. He had very little influence on music during his lifetime but thanks to a re-release of his material in the early 60's his songs found the ears of some people who would go on to be stars in just a few years time. The groundwork for the Blues-Rock relationship had been laid long before he really influenced anyone. On the other hand, It's hard to deny the flavor his influence added to guys like Clapton and Led Zeppelin.

Personally I am a bit torn on Johnson. I feel the mystery that surrounds him has exceeded what can be backed up by his limited amount of recorded material. He died at a young age of unknown causes, the whole devil/crossroads myth combined with a limited catalog and praise by huge artists, of which their fans ate up anything that the media gave them, is a situation where one's imagination can run wild. I know it's anecdotal, but as a guitar player I have had more conversations where I get looked at like I am completely dumb for not admitting that Johnson is the GOAT and those tend to be the people that get caught up into the story versus just looking at his material.

I agree that his bare bones passion brand of blues can be heard in blues rock (Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Sleep) and even death metal (Autopsy, Carnage).

 

[Elvis P]

The Beatles