VIA PRESS RELEASE | On July 10, Matador will release a 20th anniversary edition of Cat Power’s soul-soaked classic, The Greatest. This reissue will feature a limited re-print of the album’s original pink foil cover art, as well as pink-colored vinyl. Pre-order HERE.
Cat Power (Chan Marshall) will tour the world this summer and fall performing the record in its entirety, including dates in North America, the EU, and UK. Earlier this year, Marshall and her band, Dirty Delta Blues, released a three-song EP, “Redux,” via Domino Records. “Redux” features new recordings of songs by Prince (“Nothing Compares 2 U”) and James Brown (“Try Me”) along with a new rerecording of The Greatest song, “Could We.”
On The Greatest, Marshall traveled to Memphis, pursuing the slinky Hi Records sound of the ’70s, famed for its sensuous feel and beguiling rhythms. She got Al Green’s guitarist and songwriting partner, Mabon “Teenie” Hodges, to play guitar on the whole album (Teenie co-wrote “Love and Happiness” and “Take Me to the River,” among other soul classics).
With Teenie came his Hi Rhythm bandmate (and brother) Leroy “Flick” Hodges, who plays on half of the album (Memphis A-team bassist Dave Smith supplements). Anchoring the band is Steve Potts, whose reputation on drums was solidified when the surviving members of Booker T. and the MG’s asked him to replace their late drummer, Al Jackson. Other top Memphis musicians guest on key-boards, horns, and strings.
Cat Power went right to the sources and created her own paean to the songs and styles she grew up on. The Greatest adds to Cat Power’s singular sound all the elements that make an Al Green record great: Memphis horns, funky string arrangements, smooth background vocals. “Lived in Bars” is a hypnotic song that seems to start in the middle of the night and flow backward like water upstream to the source of a good time.
Many songs hearken back to earlier in Cat Power’s career, like the surface simplicity of “Willie”—much more complicated upon deeper listen—and like “Where Is My Love,” which sounds like it could be the first song she ever wrote, and also the one to which she has always aspired. “Living Proof,” on the other hand, has an almost gospel-like swing that stands in contrast to the quieter songs. The ethereal title track is the missing link between Big Star 3rd and the 21st century.
