By Chris Nixon
April 10, 2008
Everybody loves a transcendent cover song: Familiar choruses and melodies co-exist with an artist's interpretation, shedding light on the tune's undiscovered nooks and crannies.
But Chan Marshall might love them more than most. The 36-year-old vocalist seems to find solace in recreating and reshaping time-tested classics. And she has seen some tough times.
A couple of years back, Marshall's life veered on an unsteady course toward a messy and destructive end. Imbibing scotch while riding high on a laundry list of pharmaceuticals, Chan (pronounced “Shawn” for the uninitiated) was heading for a train wreck with fatal implications.
She had just finished her most polished collection of work along with an all-star cast of Memphis studio musicians, 2006's “The Greatest.” Yet a lifetime of substance abuse had led her to a lonely Miami apartment, battling her personal demons with the only tools she knew: numbing anesthetics.
Marshall admitted in a recent interview: “If I had my brain split in 14 different corners and was living on Xanax, antidepressants and scotch every day like an idiot who keeps her head above water from the stress of traveling all these years nonstop, I didn't want anybody to know.”
DETAILS
Cat Power with Appaloosa
When: Wednesday, 8 p.m.
Where: 4th & B, 345 B St., downtown
Tickets: $25
Phone: (619) 231-4343 or (619) 220-TIXS
Online: 4thandb.com
Leading up to 2006, Marshall had amassed a music career as Cat Power complete with staggering heights and gutter-crawling lows. Filled with blurry brilliance and passionate vocals, Marshall's albums consistently earned raves from fans and critics.
But her erratic live shows distracted from her beautiful songs and distinct voice, if she finished the shows at all.
Unfortunately, her live performances became more about the spectacle of watching someone completely melt down on stage, rather than her gifted voice. Will she get through one song before demanding everyone leave? Will she ramble and start talking to chipmunks between songs (as she reportedly did at one outdoor show)? Marshall has admitted to suffering from stage fright, using the bottle to get over her anxieties.
Like many caught in the clutches of substance abuse, Marshall had to reach crisis mode before retreating from the edge of the cliff: “It was horribly, excruciatingly painful to get out of the hospital and learn that your tour has been canceled, you're in debt, you failed all these people who bought tickets.”
To her credit, Marshall re-emerged from the fog. She did finally tour with the musicians on “The Greatest,” including a transcendent performance at the Coachella Arts & Music Festival in 2006. She took control of her life, and now she's reaping benefits.
Cat Power has returned with a new album of covers along with two originals, “Jukebox.” It's her second disc of reinterpretations, following the aptly titled 2000 release “The Covers Album.”
With nods to James Brown and Billie Holiday, there's a hard-won wizened blues streak running through the disc. And she surrounds herself with amazing musicians, including guitarist Judah Bauer (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion) and Jim White (Dirty Three, P.J. Harvey, Nina Nastasia).
Always at the center of her best songs, Marshall's voice sounds more confident than ever. Gone is the edgy, precarious young vocalist, leaving slightly more weathered pipes surrounded by a sound smoothed by the tides of time.
“Jukebox” is an album that rings true with survivors, those who have moved past the immortal Neil Young line It's better to burn out, than to fade away.
For Marshall, balance between music and life is the key: “This past year has taught me something I never had before, which is stability. Now, I have a dog, I come home after a tour, I have a life, I do my laundry, I read my books, I stick my finger up my nose, I go swimming at the beach, I ride my bike.”
A selected Cat Power discography
From edgy lo-fi provocateur to soul chanteuse, Chan Marshall's ability to range far and wide along diverse musical terrain sets her apart from most musicians in this day and time. Here's a look back at the many faces of Cat Power:
“Dear Sir” (1995) / “Myra Lee” (1996): Cat Power's first two albums are a snapshot of a young vocalist finding her own voice: focusing on the projection of emotion rather than technical precision. Fuzzy lo-fi indie rock provides the background to Marshall's plaintive vocals. Cat Power recorded both albums on one December day in New York City, and both have the feel of a cold, gray winter's day. “Myra Lee” was named after Marshall's mom.
Standout track: “Still in Love” from “Myra Lee,” a little bit of laid-back country and jittery city vibes in the same breath.
“What Would the Community Think” (1996): This quiet, contemplative disc – Cat Power's first for Matador – comes off sounding like the mellow muted indie rock of Pinback fronted by a deadpan Joni Mitchell (in a lower register). By far, this is the best album of her early career and it gives hints of her later fascination with the blues, soul and other forms of Americana music.
Standout track: “In This Hole” sets the introspective tone for the entire album.
“The Covers Record” (2000): By wrapping herself in the songs of Bob Dylan and Lou Reed devoid of any lush backing or extravagant production, “The Covers Record” focuses on Cat Power's sharpest musical tool – her voice.
Standout track: “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction,” completely different from the Stones' original or Devo's cover, but just as good.
“You Are Free” (2003): Cat Power nicely offers a neat, exquisitely produced compendium of her career to date, while also playfully stepping outside the boundaries with “Free” and “He War.” Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl add different colors to the palette as guests.
Standout track: “Free.” By including an infectious hand-clapping pop song, Marshall basically describes herself in the title.
“The Greatest” (2006): Chan is great by herself, but she is elegant and beautifully damaged on this album, marking a soulful rebirth. Backed by a crack band of Memphis veteran studio musicians (including Al Green guitarist Teenie Hodges), she's less self-obsessed on “The Greatest” than on previous discs.
Standout track: The title track oozes soul and sadness.
“Jukebox (2008)”: With newfound sobriety and vocal clarity, Marshall revisits cover songs with soulful confidence on her most recent release. Ably backed by the Dirty Delta Blues Band (with drummer Jim White), she filters well-known classics by such diverse icons as Frank Sinatra, Hank Williams and Janis Joplin through soulful Americana.
Standout track: Sinatra's “New York” thrives in this treatment, with a heavy backbeat and floaty electric piano.
– CHRIS NIXON
