Big Bill Broonzy: Absolutely the Best

Album Review

A very affordable collection of Big Bill Broonzy's better-known songs, Fuel Records' 15-song collection Absolutely the Best serves as a good overview and an excellent starting point for curious blues fans. The album is an assortment of traditional folksongs, reworked blues standards, and eight Broonzy originals. The liner notes give a brief look into the life of this legendary bluesman, and the music deals with his bouncing brand of bare-bones acoustic country-blues, omitting his late career foray into horn-driven R&B. The only complaint with this collection is that the recording quality from the earlier recordings is a little brash and raspy, which is to be expected but is quite noticeable when sequenced right next to cleaner tracks.