Released just over a year after the storied bluesman’s death, Leo Bud Welch’s final album, The Angels in Heaven Done Signed My Name‘, shows his supreme mastery of the Delta Blues, treated with a contemporary finish.⠀
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This is the gospel-fed Delta Blues modernized; the old song structures and themes are there, but polished with modern engineering and electric instruments. Between Welch’s husky voice and the eclectic production, this album sounds a bit like Tom Waits during his Swordfishtrombones period.⠀
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“I Want to Be at the Meeting” sounds like it could have been transferred from a 1940s shellac, its slow steady beat and melody embodying the earliest blues recordings. It’s the best song on this album, a distinction shared with his rambling rendition of “Let it Shine,” which features guitar work that could have been laid down by U2’s The Edge.⠀
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The album does suffer slightly from the fact that Welch sounds like he was recorded in isolation, with production elements added in over the top. This disconnect is detrimental to the raw blues feel, given that most early blues work was done with all musicians gathered around one microphone.⠀
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All in all, The Angels in Heaven Done Signed My Name is a solid last statement by a man who lived the blues all of his life, and just long enough to get some recognition for it. ⠀
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Score: 🎸🎸🎸/5⠀
Brendan is an avid record collector from Adelaide, Australia and the man behind the @ridges_and_grooves. There are few genres he won’t listen to. His search for the best album of all time through process of elimination continues.