I'll start with a couple:
Soul/Blues - O.V. Wright (none better), James Carr, (most) All Stax and Hi Artists
Classic Blues - Elmore James (king of the slide), Big Bill Broonsy, T-Bone Walker
Chicago - Junior Wells
Harp - Charlie Musslewhite
Modern/Current - Robert Cray Band, Roy Gaines

Elmore James is cited by almost anybody who takes up slide guitar: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Winter, Eric Clapton and even the Rolling Stones have made this notation. Robert Nighthawk is the slide master who deserves more mention as he was the one who inspired James, Muddy and Earl Hooker.

Big Bill Broonzy is perhaps one of the most renowned of the influential acoustic artists from Chicago of his time. Muddy Waters sought him out and even did an album of his songs in tribute.

T-Bone Walker, what can I say. Along with Charlie Christian this man is perhaps the one most given credit for making the electric guitar as popular as it is today. There are more guitarists naming this man as a major influence than probably any other. Gatemouth Brown, Buddy Guy, Steve Miller, PeeWee Crayton, Lowell Fulson, Charlie Baty, BB King, SRV, Robert Cray . . . the list here is endless.

Johnny Taylor,who's got a box set just out but can i find in the G B no likley

Another name Keb Mo now he is the MAN!!!

Over the years since, I've seen him many times. I saw him at the San Francisco Blues Fest with Kelly Joe Phelps sitting in with him. Again in San Francisco at Borders Books doing a free in-store performance with Alvin Youngblood-Hart. Homesick James was sitting to the side in the audience that same show and when Alvin placed a capo on his guitar, Homesick shouted "Real men don't use gadgets." Funny guy that Homesick. Perhaps the biggest free event I saw Keb' do was in Pioneer Square in downtown Portland. More than 10,000 people showed up and the surrounding streets had to be blocked off to handle the crowd.

Slim - I agree these guys do get some recognition. I was really heading in the "uderappreicated" vein. But, true, at least they get some respect.

Okay - a couple more:
Without a doubt (in my mind) the most underappreciated of all artists)....
The Memphis Horns!! While not just Blues of course - these guys made what all horn hooks are today! Recorded with 17 of VH1's "top100 RnR artist" list without nary a mention. On over 300 Gold records!! Can these guys get some credit???

If you want to check out some under-appreciated players, just look right there in your own home state: Hans Olson (perhaps the best guitar/rack harp player today), Bob Corritore (harmonica master), Chico Chism (Chicago blues drumming legend) - hey, these guys all got it goin' on!

Up my way I'd point out folks like Paul deLay (can anybody work a chromatic and get so impossible notes), Terry Robb (acoustic guitar genius), Lloyd Jones (this guy knows how to lay down some guitar), Jimi Bott (former T-Birds & Rod Piazza drummer) and one of the finest soul-blues vocalists happenin' Curtis Salgado.

There's a lot of great musicians out there that most people have never heard. It's time to expand our horizons and check out folk like Charlie Sayles (DC-area harpman), Wolfman Washington (one of the finest R&B guitarists out of New Orleans), Smokey Wilson, Steve Guyger, Paul Oscher . . . the list goes on forever. Hopefully the mention of these artists will give somebody the idea to check them out! That's all it takes and word of mouth can go from there.

Robert Nighthawk has a lot of big fans, including myself. But he is hardly known outside of "hard core blues circles."

Floyd Jones didn't record much, but the proportion of outright blues masterpieces in his output is extraordinary. But he is rarely mentioned among the giants of the classic Chicago blues.

Geater Davis anyone? Now there was a voice! Finally, West Side has released a CD of his classic output.

I agree 100% with the mention of Johnnie Taylor and O.V. Wright. They are not exactly obscure, but surely underappreciated.

By the way, RCBfan wrote "And why does every record store have a 'Soul' section - but never has O.V. Wright?" I'll tell you the main reason why. It is because MCA is sitting on his Backbeat output and refuses to release it. So far, they have put out only one poorly-compiled and out-of-print disk.

I wish that we could punish MCA executives somehow for the absolutely worst blues and gospel reissue policies in the world. They just sit on the copyrights and release next to nothing. The worst travesty is probably their refusal to re-release recordings from the great Peacock label, one of the greatest musical legacies of the 20th century.