His philosophy is clear. Great art is not something you create in a vacuum nor can you ever claim art as your own. You learn from your idols or “cats” and then learn who are the cats that these cats learned from and so on. Back to Robert Johnson in Keith’s case.
Then you take your ideas to your artistic buddies (the band) who bring their own influences and ideas and you all let the creativity flow. Something smart or a clever idea always goes into the start of the process but what can come out is absolutely magical and transcendent.
And That folks is the magic of Rock - a very different artistic process from Classical composition. Imagine throwing an entire philharmonic together and just jamming!!!