Robert Johnson and his friends were a younger generation of guitar players living in the time of their predecessor the established recording titan of blues guitar Big Bill Broonzy The rise of Johnson denotes a transition from Boogie Woogie to Honkey Tonk 
   In Broonzy's music Boogie Woogie basslines are provided by a bassist In Johnson's music the bassist has been excluded and so has Boogie Woogie, in favor of Honky Tonk He may have eclipsed Broonzy for a brief time, but soon Broonzy would take his place at the 1938 Carnegie Hall event "An Evening of Negro Spirituals" due to Johnson's death just prior to the event It's more than fair to say Johnson was caught up in an intrigue After Johnson Honky Tonk would again yield it's place in blues music to Boogie Woogie which lives on in today's blues where Honky Tonk has migrated to the Country music genre where some still call it Rock 'n' Roll Indeed, yesterday's Rock 'n' Roll lives on in today's Country Honky Tonk subgenre A primitive open string example of Honky Tonk guitar can be heard on Hayes McMullan's recording of Fandango which comes from Worral's Guitar School music book publicished in 1856 and shipped with guitars sold by Sears Roebuck through the mail order catalog