Dear Sir

Dear Sir is the debut album by American singer-songwriter Chan Marshall, also known as Cat Power, released in October 1995 on Runt Records. Recorded in New York City in December 1994 during studio sessions with Tim Foljahn and Steve Shelley (which also produced the material on her second album, Myra Lee, released one year later), the album displays Marshall's sparse guitar playing and early lo-fi influence. The album had originally been conceived as an EP, and features covers of songs by Tom Waits and This Kind of Punishment.

The album was reissued by Plain Recordings in 2001 on CD and vinyl, with an alternate recording of the song "Great Expectations" as the eighth track.

Recording and production

Marshall recorded Dear Sir in December 1994 in a small basement studio near Mott Street in New York City at the same time she recorded Myra Lee (1996), which was released nearly two years later, with guitarist Tim Foljahn and Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley; Marshall and Shelley had initially met after she played a show opening for Liz Phair in 1993. A total of 20 songs were recorded in a single day by the trio, all of which were split into two records, making up Dear Sir and Myra Lee.