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SRV is directly responsible for that horrible, slicked-up electric Blooze noodling style that the baby boomers cannot get enough of. Did he master the pentatonic noodling style? Yes. Is it listenable? No. That kind of playing being held up as an example of "ultimate virtuosity" by guitar teachers and certain music fans is also probably indirectly responsible for the reactionary "wear your ineptitude on your sleeve and always make crappy ramshackle music" attitude that brought us so much pointlessly limp indie rock from the following generation as well.
As to which is worse, it's a tough call, but I'll cast my vote for King of Craptown to an aging baby boomer in a hobby band playing some hackneyed-but-proficient slickblooze on his SRV strat wearing one of those ridiculous hats in tribute to his guitar god.
I think I'm gonna puke.
By the way, I saw SRV in 1983. Did nothing for me whatsoever, and I was both very impressionable and a new/enthusiastic guitarist at the time.
Slick, proficient crap is still crap. It's just executed with dedication is all.
I should hope any "traditional" blues player would prefer a National resonator god like Son House over some dorkus with a Fender and a Marshall cranking it out like that.
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