Before there was rock and roll in my life, real rock and roll, there was independent music, or indie, a term I hate for its association with the "scene." This happened around the time I was in my freshman year in college, when I moved to Santa Cruz with mixed tapes filled with Neutral Milk Hotel and other Elephant 6 bands, Mazzy Star, Belle and Sebastian, and a band that would influence and inspire me throughout the rest of my educational journey: Cat Power.

Cat Power, in the 90s, to me, wasn't just Chan Marshall, although technically the name was and is now her moniker on stage. Cat Power was Chan, Mick Turner, Jim White, Andrew Entsch, and the other musicians that performed on Moon Pix, her fourth album released in 1998 on Matador Records. Moon Pix was maybe Chan's first commercially successful album and received unanimous praise across the musically minded peanut gallery. It's still considered her absolute best. I listened to Moon Pix for maybe two straight years, and wrote the majority of my Fiction thesis in college while listening to her emotionally drenched lyrics. 

In 2000, Chan Marshall, under her Cat Power name, released her long anticipated follow-up. Titled The Covers Record, the album featured cover songs, as the name suggested. Chan did a cover of the traditional song "Moonshiner" on Moon Pix, a song mainly recognized by Bob Dylan fans - his version was done in 1963 and released on Volume 3 of his Bootleg Series. Chan also did covers while performing live, and I found her approach very unique, intelligent, and inspired. She'd pick apart the song, keep most of the lyrics, but put herself into them, the way artists should when borrowing talent. When The Covers Record was released, despite critical disappointment, I was stoked. 

There are 11 covers on the record - only 1 song was an original, the haunting "In This Hole." Despite the suggestion that Chan felt more comfortable and less vulnerable performing others' songs than her own, the covers on the record were astoundingly personal. Most of the songs are performed with only one instrument, a piano or a guitar, to accompany her incomparable vocals. 

Here are my favorites from the album. Although Cat Power is oftentimes considered "chick music," no other musician can do a cover quite like she can. Listen for yourself. 

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" - The Rolling Stones recorded "Satisfaction" in 1965 at Chess Studios in Chicago. Richards wrote the riff of the song half asleep in a hotel room, and Mick filled in the lyrics later. In 2004, Rolling Stone named "Satisfaction" the second best song of all time.

"Troubled Waters" - Sam Coslow and Arthur Johnston originally wrote "Troubled Waters" for the 1934 film Belle of the Nineties, staring Mae West. The song has never been covered by anyone else.

"Naked If I Want To" - Jerry Miller, lead vocalist and guitarist of Moby Grape, wrote "Naked If I Want To" for their debut album, Moby Grape, released in 1967. 

"Sweedeedee" - Michael Hurley originally wrote "Sweedeedee" for his 1971 album Armchair Boogie, which was recently reissued by Light In The Attic Records.

"I Found A Reason" - Lou Reed wrote "I Found A Reason" for the Velvet Underground's 1970 album Loaded. Most people have never heard the Velvet's original version of this song. Chan's version is much different.

The end.