Walk with me in the morning dew

I don´t know if anyone here has read The Road, the most recent novel by one of my favorite authors, Cormac McCarthy? An incredibly bleak but very moving account of a father and son travelin´ down the road in a post-apocalyptic landscape after a nuclear showdown. Soon to be a motion picture, I guess only one song fits as the perfect theme song. And that´s Morning Dew, a fine piece of cold war paranoia written by folk singer Bonnie Dobson in ´62. In an interview she once remarked her song was based on a movie too by the way: On The Beach, a ´59 flick starring Gregory Peck, and based on the novel by Nevil Shute.

"Take me for a walk in the morning dew my honey, take me for a walk in the morning sun my love... You can´t go walking in the morning dew today, you can´t go walking in the morning sun today...." Bonnie´s version is apparently a live take, but that´s often said to be fake. Whatever the case, she sounds extremely vulnerable here. "Won´t you tell me where have all the people gone? Oh don´t you worry ´bout the people anymore..."

The first ones to cover Dobson´s composition were Greenwich Village folkies Fred Neil and Vince Martin, who rearranged it for their Tear Down The Walls album (´64). A nice interpretation, though just a little bit too stiff. Singer/songwriter Tim Rose based his ´66 cover of Morning Dew on the Neil version and added himself as a co-writer in the process. Through a loophole in American law, he even managed to get royalties this way. Bonnie Dobson has always protested this, but hey, what can you do... Fact is that Rose´s menacing full-band version has a lot of power. "What they were saying all these years is true, ´cause there´s no more morning dew..."

Subsequently, Morning Dew has been covered by loads of bands: Nazareth, Jeff Beck, and the Allman Brothers to name a few. The Grateful Dead´s jam version is probably the most well known. Goes on for ages too... Lee Hazlewoods take is interesting, especially because of that swirling psychedelic piano. But the only interpretation since Tim Rose that really blows one away must be credited to German noisemeisters Einstürzende Neubauten. Listen to their Morning Dew (from ´87) and you can almost hear the four riders of the apocalypse approaching... Blixa´s guitar is sharp as a razor here. If I directed The Road, I´d play the Neubauten version as a starter, and Rose´s one when the credits finally roll.

Bonnie Dobson - Morning Dew MP3

Fred Neil & Vince Martin - Morning Dew MP3

Tim Rose - Morning Dew MP3

The Grateful Dead - Morning Dew (live ´73) MP3

Lee Hazlewood - Morning Dew MP3

Einstürzende Neubauten - Morning Dew MP3

Grab ´em while you can

Got that grab bag fever again. I guess you know the score by now: every Friday night here at For The Sake Of The Song - trademark of quality etc. - you´ll get a mixed bag of songs I really liked over the past week. All genres go. Old or new, slow or fast... there are no boundaries. One thing you can be sure of though: they´re all goodies, so grab ´em while you can. Tonight´s issue features a blues about astrology, the version of Hey Joe that Jimi probably based his classic performance on, while we also celebrate St. Patrick´s Day a few days in advance. Cheers!

Let´s begin with a fairly recent song. I don´t really know a whole lot about David Karsten Daniels to be honest. Originally from North Carolina, he relocated to Seattle a while back to enjoy the weather there. His most recent outing Sharp Teeth (Fat Cat records) is a sparse but subtly arranged piece of work you should definitely check out. I´m already looking forward to his new album Fear Of Flying, which will come out this April if all goes as planned.

David Karsten Daniels - Jesus & The Devil MP3

I generally prefer my blues acoustic, but every once in a while the electric kind moves me as well. Especially when it´s on the legendary Stax label. Born Under A Bad Sign was written for Albert King by organist Booker T and soulsinger William Bell. In the words of the latter: "I said, hey, we´ve never had a blues song done about astrology. I got this idea that might work." It did. They made a demo which sounded so good all King had to do was overdub his vocals and guitar. "If it wasn´t for bad luck, I wouldn´t have no luck at all..."

Albert King - Born Under A Bad Sign MP3

It is said that Jimi Hendrix based his arrangement of Hey Joe, the song that kickstarted his career, on the version obscure singer/songwriter Tim Rose recorded for his self-titled debut album in ´67. Others claim that Jimi adapted westcoast band Love´s version though. In my opinion a case can be made for both options, and sadly it´s too late to consult the voodoo chile himself. All I can say is I really like this one. More on Tim Rose and the amazing song Morning Dew in a future post.

Tim Rose - Hey Joe (You Shot Your Woman Down) MP3

As its Paddy´s Day soon, let´s put some Irish stuff in the mix. I´ve lived on the Emerald Isle myself for over four years, and had a wonderful time altogether. It rained a lot, but then again it never rains down the pub, as the local saying goes. Boy, do I miss that Guinness on draft. Here are the Pogues with their classic Sally MacLennane. "Well Jimmy played harmonica in the pub where I was born..." Find it on Rum Sodomy & The Lash (´85).

The Pogues - Sally MacLennane MP3

Let´s stay in Ireland for a while and listen to Van The Man. He may be a grumpy old bastard, but what a voice. This is an acoustic demo of the song that would later end up on his wonderful Moondance album. Oh, the water. Let it rush all over me. By the way, for more Irish tunes be sure to drop by at the wonderful Setting The Woods On Fire and Cover Lay Down blogs. You won´t regret it.

Van Morrison - And It Stoned Me (acoustic) MP3

It´s closing time already, and what better way to call it a day than with The Valentinos. It´s All Over Now is so familiar in the Stones´ version you´d nearly forget Mick & co only covered it. The Valentinos wrote and cut the song for Sam Cooke´s SAR records in ´64. The Rolling Stones, magpies that they are, released their version so fast it kicked the original right out of the charts, much to singer Bobby Womack´s chagrin at the time. But I guess the royalties that came in year after year must have mellowed him out a bit in the end.

The Valentinos - It´s All Over Now MP3