Bonnie Dobson

Bonnie Dobson

Bonnie Dobson. Singer, songwriter, guitarist, b Toronto 13 Nov 1940. Under the influence and at the encouragement of Pete Seeger she began singing folk songs in her early teens. She toured in the USA 1960-2 and lived in Chicago 1962-4 and New York 1964-5, making occasional appearances in Toronto coffeehouses and performing at the Mariposa Folk Festival. Likened at this time for her clear soprano to Joan Baez and Carolyn Hester, Dobson made four LPs in the USA for Prestige - She's Like a Swallow (13021), Dear Companion (7801), Bonnie Dobson at Folk City (13057), and A Merry Go Round of Children's Songs (13064) - and one for Mercury - For the Love of Him (MG-20987).

Returning in 1965 to live in Toronto, she performed in local coffeehouses and, for CBC radio, sang regularly on '1967 and All That' and was co-host with Chantal Beauregard 1968-70 of 'La Ronde'. She was also heard on the LPs Bonnie Dobson (RCI 348/RCA LSP-4219) and Good Morning Rain (RCA LSP-4277). After making her London debut 3 Nov 1969 at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Dobson moved in 1970 to England She subsequently performed extensively on the BBC and the ITV, made the LPs Bonnie Dobson (Argo ZFB-79) and Morning Dew (Poly 2383 400), and appeared throughout Europe in concert and on radio and TV.

Dobson's repertoire has included songs by Gordon Lightfoot and Ian and Sylvia, as well as traditional and original material The most popular of her own songs are '(Walk Me out in the) Morning Dew' and 'I'm Your Woman'. 'Morning Dew,' a melancholic ballad composed in Los Angeles in 1961, was recorded by the US folk singers Fred Neil ca 1964 and Tim Rose ca 1967, the latter adding a verse of his own. The Dobson-Rose version was subsequently recorded by, among others, Duane and Greg Allman, Long John Baldry, the Jeff Beck Group (with Rod Stewart), the Grateful Dead, Lee Hazelwood, Lulu, and Nazareth.