"I see how this is gonna be."

That was Art Neville's pronouncement ten minutes into a joint interview with George Porter, Jr., his musical collaborator of almost 30 years. Neville had already realized that reconciling his view of the past and present state of the Meters with Porter's would not be a quick and easy process.

The sparring had started even before the interview began, when Neville and Porter—the sole remaining original members of the Meters, and cornerstones of the enti...