Kenny Neal - A Tribute To Slim Harpo And Raful Neal (2005)

Kenny Neal began the project that led to this record in 2002, and it was originally intended to be a tribute to the music of Slim Harpo, whose own languid, atmospheric recordings are the very definition of swamp blues. With Slim's good friend (and Kenny Neal's father) Raful Neal handling most of the vocals, and, of course, the harmonica work, and with some of the members of Harpo's band also on-board, ten tracks were recorded before the elder Neal was diagnosed with bone cancer. Raful Neal died on September 1, 2004, and when Kenny Neal eventually returned to the project tapes, the album had turned into a tribute to Raful. as well. The famous muffled and swampy sound of Harpo's original Excello recordings was as much due to lack of proper equipment (cardboard boxes were supposedly used as drums on some tracks) as it was creative vision, and Neal makes no attempt to re-create the same sort of atmosphere here, but Raful's rough, world-weary voice gives songs like "Rainin' in My Heart," "King Bee," and "Got Love If You Want it" a kind of aged resignation that serves them well. The feel on this album is really more reverent than it is swampy, but that's fine. As both a remembrance of Slim Harpo and a farewell to Raful Neal, it makes a respectful and compelling testament.