Pitchfork

Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, James Brown, Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin, the Hot Boys...most of the folks Cat Power covers/interprets on Jukebox and its bonus disc are legendary, household names. Some, perhaps criminally, are not, and among those is late Mississippi blues musician Jessie Mae Hemphill.

Cat Power tackles Hemphill's "Lord, Help the Poor and Needy" on Jukebox, although some concern has arisen over the manner in which Matador Records credited Hemphill in Jukebox's liner notes.

A SF Weekly report published last week notes that those liner notes attribute the song to "Traditional, by Jessie Mae Hemphill, arranged by Chan Marshall, Public Domain." It turns out the song is in fact copyrighted by Hemphill, not public domain. According to SF Weekly, Hemphill's estate is seeking royalties from Chan Marshall.

"The money from that song should go to Jessie's estate and be divided up among her relatives, who, much like Jessie, are poor, elderly black people, many of whom are living off welfare," Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation founder Olga Wilhelmine Mathus told SF Weekly.

At the time of the article's publication, SF Weekly reported that Hemphill publisher Dr. David Evans had yet to hear from Matador regarding the matter. According to the label, this was not the case.

Pitchfork contacted Matador, who shared the following statement:

We fixed the error within a week of being made aware of it, and before any royalties were due. The Matador production head compiled the songwriting and publishing credits on behalf of Chan, and she had absolutely nothing to do with the incorrect credit. We are longtime fans of Jessie Mae Hemphill-- hence her being mentioned in the credit for a song we believed was public domain-- and are in fact thrilled that her estate will receive royalties for Chan's interpretation of this song. The SF Weekly article, unfortunately, contains both misleading and inaccurate information that we hope will be retracted.

Andy Tennille, author of the SF Weekly article in question, told Pitchfork he stands by his story, and that no retraction is planned at this time. However, the online version of the story was updated to indicate a clearer timeline of events.

Dr. Evans told Pitchfork he's "in friendly contact with Matador Records, and things seem to be moving toward [the] licensing of the song," adding that "the [SF Weekly] story broke in the midst of negotiations to remedy the situation."

So, in summary, Matador Records made a mistake and they're correcting it. The estate of Jessie Mae Hemphill will get the royalties it is owed under copyright law. Hemphill's website will probably get a few extra hits this week too.

And they're grateful for the exposure: "I think it's good that someone of Cat Power's visibility covers a song like this, as it makes it more accessible for the more mainstream audience," Mathus told SF Weekly. "A lot of folks were turned on to R.L. Burnside after Jon Spencer came out with a record on him, so perhaps this will turn more people on to Jessie's music, the music of the North Mississippi hill country, and the life and struggles of many of these artists."

On that note, start getting turned on to Jessie Mae Hemphill's music by going here, and attend to all your Cat Power live needs below.

Cat Power:

04-15 San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre
04-16 San Diego, CA - 4th & B
04-17 Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
04-19 Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom
04-20 Austin, TX - Stubb's Bar-B-Q
04-22 Houston, TX - Warehouse
04-23 Mexico City, Mexico - Lunario
04-25 Bogotá, Colombia - Teatro ECCI
05-03 Memphis, TN - Beale Street Music Festival
05-26 Lisbon, Portugal - Coliseum
05-28 Porto, Portugal - Coliseum
05-30 Barcelona, Spain - Parc del Fòrum (Primavera Sound)
06-01 Paris, France - Olympia
06-08 London, England - Hammersmith Apollo
06-09 Bristol, England - Colston
06-10 Birmingham, England - Academy
06-11 Manchester, England - Academy
06-14 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo
08-01-03 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
08-10 Jersey City, NJ - All Points West
09-17 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl *

* with Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Spiritualized