Morning Dew

Morning Dew certainly isn't a song that remained popular for decades. It was a child of the 60's and for the most part has remained there, but it did go through an interesting transformation in a brief 6 years.

Written and performed by Toronto folk singer Bonnie Dobson in 1962, it was inspired by the film On The Beach and the "morning dew" said to be a reference to nuclear fallout. Of course, those were the days of the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis happened in October 1962....50 years ago next month. If you didn't experience it, you could never appreciate the seriousness of it. At the time I was residing in what would have certainly been a prime target for Soviet nuclear missiles, at the time the leading technology corridor in the US, and we also had a few Nike sites in the area as well as a SAC base.

 

A couple years later folk-circuit veterans Vince Martin and Fred Neil took to the song, making some changes to lyrics and offered up some duo harmony and what sounds like a zither.

 

As noted in the previous posting about the song Hey Joe, Tim Rose, another veteran of the northeast folk circuit, headed west in the mid-60's and got signed by Columbia and started recording for them in 1966. One of the songs he recorded was Morning Dew and both the song and his LP made a big impact in both the US and UK. Tim gave the song a nice driving rhythm and the melody played by the left hand of the pianist and bassist gave the song its new signature sound. Tim also copyrighted the song crediting himself as co-writer and got away with it. In fairness, if he didn't make his recording of the song, I wouldn't be writing about it now.

 

In late 1966 Tim played at the Fillmore West a couple of nights, sharing the bill with the Grateful Dead.

When the Dead entered the studio in January 1967 to record their first LP, they recorded their well-known version of the song. A few months later, across the Atlantic in England, the Episode 6 recorded it. This is from a live performance.

 

Before 1967 was over, Lulu recorded Morning Dew and it made the singles charts in early '68.

 

In 1966, after being dismissed from The Yardbirds, Jeff Beck began making solo recordings. Sessions to complete a LP took place in May 1967 and on the 14th Morning Dew was recorded with Rod Stewart doing the vocals, Ronnie Wood on bass, Nicky Hopkins on piano and Mick Waller on drums....and Beck on guitar. It would be over a year before the LP, Truth, hit the stores, but when it did it was perfect timing to become a favorite on the many 'underground' FM AOR stations that hit the airwaves in the USA in 1968.

 

Beck's LP became very popular in the US and a few guys were listening in Jacksonville, Florida that were playing in a band called the 31st of February. They immediately recorded the song but nothing came of it, the band fell out, and a few months later those guys, Duane Allman, Gregg Allman and Butch Trucks, were on the road as the Allman Brothers Band and went on to perhaps make the greatest impact on rock music in the USA in the early 1970's.

 

People continued to record the song in later years, but it would be a stretch to say it remained a popular item. Former Led Zep vocalist Robert Plant did a nice version in 2002.