Take Me for a Walk in the Morning Dew

Canadian-born Bonnie Dobson was best known for her haunting tune "Morning Dew," an early-'60s folkie dirge wary of what seemed like imminent nuclear destruction. The tune became a standard cover, if jammed into oblivion, at Grateful Dead shows and was covered by a myriad of better-known artists. Dobson herself disappeared at the height of her budding '60s singer/songwriter career, leaving her life in music to move to London for a newfound love. Decades later, Take Me for a Walk in the Morning Dew is a triumphant comeback album, updating older tunes with a modernized production and new tunes showcasing Dobson's voice, still haunting and expressive on standout tracks like "Winter's Going" or the soaring a cappella tune "Dink's Song." There are lighthearted moments in the set as well, like the blues-tinged album opener "I Got Stung" or the buoyant, Kinks-molded mariachi of "Come On Dancing." Pedal steel, upright bass, and gentle acoustic guitars support Dobson's distinctive vocals, shining especially on reworkings of older folk tunes like "Rainy Windows" and a new, fuller reading of her best-known composition "Morning Dew." ~ Fred Thomas