Big Bill’s got no compunctions about trading on his father’s name — that is the son of Muddy Waters, and he does want you to know.

So much do the folks at Blind Pig want the legacy to continue, that they hired Muddy’s old band- Pinetop, Big Eyes, Steady Rollin’ Bob, they’re all here. (Bob Margolin also produced the CD, in Chicago no less.) Hell, Big Bill’s got Daddy’s guitars and amp. Not the same kind, the same exact ones.

And the thing is, it works; this may well be the blues debut of the year. Bill’s no Muddy, yet, but he’s no slavish imitation. His voice is slightly cleaner than Dad’s, and just a bit higher, and his slide playing is absolutely dynamic on the two tracks he lets it out on, his own “Left Hand Blues” and “Rising Son.”

But what’s most impressive is his complete lack of sweat in throwing these songs out -for a man who didn’t even play music until after Muddy died, he sounds like a complete natural. And this may also be why he has the foundations of his own unique voice. Check out outstanding originals like “Dead Ass Broke” and his reinterpretation-not imitation-of Muddy classics like “Screamin’ and Cryin'” and “Champagne & Reefer.” And if you’re still unconvinced, dig the creepy title track, which ends the album with a desolate haunted air that sounds like midnight at the train station.

It also suggests that Bill realizes-the Muddy legacy is as much of a curse as it is a heavy source of mojo. Papa ain’t raised no fool.