On first blush—and there’s plenty of blush-raising material here—you’da thought that the man behind “Shake a Tail Feather,” “Bacon Fat” and “Greasy Chicken” deserved something a little more, you know, authentic than the barely incognito Morning 40 Federation krewe and guest Quintron could give him.
Screw authentic. These guys caught septuagenarian Chicago legend Williams’ spirit, slathered it on their own more self-conscious, if well-lubricated ’tude and threw it into the deep fryer. The result is something that kills—and we mean beats into a bloody pulp—most of the over-reverent (or over-conceptualized) projects by forgotten veteran R&B-sters in recent years. It even goes a step beyond Williams’ series of “comeback” albums made in recent years after getting his life back from drugs and destitution. As Williams asks oh-so-politely in the title song, Can you deal with it?

If you have any doubt, stay away. This is nasty stuff, even if not quite to the Blowfly level of his1998 opus “Silky.” “Pray for Your Daughter,” your basic crack-whore portrait, makes his old ode “Jail Bait” sound like “Thank Heaven for Little Girls.” “If You Leave Me” rhymes a plaintive “I’m gonna cry” with a he-means-it “You’re gonna die.” “Never Had a Problem” makes the art of denial into a masterful act of attitude adjustment. Sometimes Williams sings as if he’s got no teeth, but rarely does he leave any doubt about what he’s got to say. And he can even turn to real, earnest tenderness, as in “If It Wasn’t for You,” which he completes with a heartfelt “I’d be in my grave.”

Sure, the background vocals sometimes sound like frat boys slumming, but there’s an honesty in all the performances that transcends such particulars. The MVPs here—well, Williams is the MVP—but the most valuable musical supporters are Josh Cohen’s bari horn, which on “If You Leave Me” and other tracks makes sure nothing ever strays too far from dirty, and Mr. Quintron, whose organ playing sounds like he hadn’t cleaned his fingernails for weeks. Which is how this is supposed to sound. You know, authentic.