Poetry, Wordsworth once famously noted, “takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” The kind of swamp-blues poetry practiced by Baton Rouge’s Neal family is no different, which is why this tribute to genre master and family friend Slim Harpo sat on the shelf for two full years: a true Neal family project, the nearly-completed CD languished when its patriarch, Raful, was diagnosed with bone cancer. The elder Neal passed away last year, and eldest son Kenny, assisted by longtime Harpo alumni Rudolph Richard and James Johnson on vocals and guitar, completed the album as a tribute to both men.

As such, this has the feel of reverence about it, but not to the extent of damaging Slim’s Excello standards (“Rainin’ In My Heart,” “Scratch My Back,” “King Bee,” “Got Love If You Want It”) and lesser-known classics (“Late Last Nite,” “Baby Bee,” and “Wonderin’ and Worryin’,” here called “Worry, Worrin’”); they’re cleaner-sounding, a little less countrified, and a bit more uptempo, is all. Raful and Kenny bounce back and forth on vocals and harp most of the time, with the younger Neal taking a few guitar leads here and there; brothers Darnell (bass) and Frederick (piano) as well as nephew Tyree (drums) provide the backup. Richard and Johnson fill in the blank spots.

The result offers few surprises, but then, fans of this music will already have Harpo’s various anthologies anyway—the point is to hear three generations of swamp-blues royalty reinterpret the songs of their primary, shared influence. And while Kenny doesn’t sound like someone who’s just gone through what he describes in the liner notes describe as “hell and back,” he doesn’t need to: Slim’s version of the blues was about the groove, about being laid-back and sexy, not tortured and twisted. No matter whose songs they’re tackling, the family Neal carries that Louisiana tradition on.