Most Influential American Musician of All Time?

and was Elvis really a musician?

That's funny.

Robert Johnson is an inspired choice, particularly since his influence is based on so little recorded music and since he died so young. Had he lived longer and recorded more, I expect more people would understand how influtential he was on rock music. It's amazing that his influence didn't really even begin until he was "discovered" over two decades after his death.

I agree that the question of who is the most influential is subjective and, therefore, has no definitive answer. But I think this question is far less subjective than "who is the greatest."

Although I had initially suggested Louis Armstrong, and still feel that he is right up there, subsequent posts have me thinking more about Robert Johnson and Bob Dylan. All three of these musicians seem to have influence that goes way beyond their own musical genres. Can the same be said of, for example, Gershwin, Berlin, or Grandmaster Flash?

aldavis: thanks for articulating so well what got me started on this topic. the more i learn about louis armstrong, the more it seems that he represented a fundamental turning point in music and set the course for the development of poplular music in the 20th century. it seems that his individual talents came along at exactly the right moment in time -- from a social/cultural perspective -- to achieve maximum influence.

my original post contemplated both composers and performers in the definition of "musician." frankly, i am not sure how you could separately categorize the two since, as a practical matter, so many musicians wear both hats (britney spears being a notable exception, for example).

tvad: i believe your earlier posts nominated Robert Johnson and Bob Dylan for the honor of most influential. How would you propose to categorize either/both of these as between composer and performer? To attempt to do so would diminish both by suggesting that it is not the combination of their songwriting AND performing (singing and playing and instrument) that makes them worthy of that title.

Without a genre of music, it's a dumb question.

And that's because musicians from one genre don't/can't influence musicians in a different genre (blues+rock, for example)? Explain.