Cat Power – Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert

I am a longtime fan of Cat Power (AKA Charlyn Marie “Chan” Marshall) and her mellow purr since her 2006 album The Greatest. Cat Power, although an excellent singer-songwriter, has a history of doing great covers including three albums of cover songs. The concept here is to cover Bob Dylan’s legendary 1966 British concert where he challenged his fans by going electric as documented by the 1998 album: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The “Royal Albert Hall” Concert.

The original Dylan show was actually recorded at the Manchester Free Trade Hall during Dylan’s 1966 world tour, but early bootlegs attributed the recording to the Royal Albert Hall so it became known as the Royal Albert Hall Concert. The original setlist consisted of two parts, with the first half of the concert being Dylan alone on stage performing an acoustic set of songs, while the second half of the concert is Dylan playing an “electric” set of songs with his band The Hawks (later renamed The Band). The first half of the concert (acoustic) was greeted warmly by the audience, while the second half (electric) was filled with heckling due to some of the audience’s dissatisfaction with Dylan going electric. The show included Dylan’s legendary confrontation with a heckler who yelled “Judas” which can be heard on the recording. After “Judas!” there is clapping, followed by more heckles. Dylan then says “I don’t believe you”, then after a pause, “You’re a liar.” Bob Dylan then said to his band, “Play it fuckin’ loud” as they began “Like a Rolling Stone.” At the end, the audience erupts into applause and Dylan says, “Thank you.”

A pretty amazing concert for Cat Power to cover. She takes the same approach as Dylan: the first half acoustic and the second half electric with her band. She has the same set list (songs and order) as the famous recording. The performance is a live show at Royal Albert Hall recorded on November 5, 2022.

The arrangements are faithful to the Dylan originals, yet Cat Power’s unique vocals make the material her own. Hearing her interpret these songs opens up new meanings and nuances.

LP One: Acoustic Set

These covers are faithful to the original album: voice, guitar, and harmonica. Cat Power’s performance is like a sweet caress – she is clearly in love with the material – it is devotional. Cat Power has a similar but unique phrasing to Dylan. The recording quality is pristine.

LP Two: Electric Set

This is by far my favorite set. It is wonderfully feisty. The arrangements are faithful, but not beholden to the original. It is like the band took the original and readjusted it for Chan’s phrasing and Chan’s phrasing is wonderful – Dylanesque, but still plenty of Cat Power. It is an inspired interpretation. It includes an audience member shouting “Judas!” at Cat Power in the same manner as the original Dylan show.

This is a brilliant concept for an album and Cat Power nails it. She is taking this show on the road too (unfortunately not to a city near me).