Looking Back
Artist: Bonnie Dobson
Title: Looking Back
Catalog-Nr.: 76831
Format: CD
Playing Time: 49:35
Release Date: 23rd April 2010
Label: Biber Records
Distribution: Inakustik, Germany
During Bonnie Dobson's early years in London she met and became friends with the musicians who accompany her on this compilation: Annie Baker Graham (vocals), Gerry Hale (vocals, violin, mandolin), Richard Lee and David Moses (bass), and Friedemann Witecka (guitar). Friedemann has since established a remarkable career with his own musical projects which have been internationally recognised for setting standards in terms of artistic delivery and audio engineering.
In 2006 Friedemann began to restore Bonnie's large archive of unreleased tapes. In the process Bonnie and Friedemann discovered recordings of performances much too exquisite to be left on the shelf. The idea of a retrospective collection of songs with Bonnie Dobson, the singer, and by Bonnie Dobson, the songwriter, began to take shape. In its final stage the album contains recording sessions from 1971, 1983 and 1996. Some instrumental accompaniments were added during the remastering process in 2009.
In 1989, following a successful concert in Chicago, Bonnie decided to give up performing and return to study at Birkbeck College in London. She only broke that resolve when, having been asked by Jarvis Cocker to sing at The Meltdown Festival in June 2007, she returned triumphantly to the stage of London's Queen Elizabeth Hall. Her live performances may have become rare but she still writes songs. Following an invitation to Germany by Friedemann, she recorded a new composition in 1996, Days Of Reckoning. This song may well be regarded as the contemporary follow-up to Morning Dew and proof of an artist, looking back over the past five decades, still involved and still creative.
Musicians:
Bonnie Dobson: vocals, guitar + Annie Graham: vocals
Gerry Hale: vocals, mandolin, violin + Richard Lee: bass.
(on tracks 01 + 05 + 06 + 07 + 08 + 09 + 10. Recorded 1983)
Bonnie Dobson: vocals, guitar + Friedemann Witecka: guitar + David Moses: bass.
(on tracks 02 + 04 + 11. Recorded 1971/2009)
Friedemann Witecka: guitar + David Moses: bass, keyboards
Henning Schmied: piano + Philippe Geiss: alto sax
Uli Moritz, Butz Daehn: percussion.
(on tracks 03 + 13. Recorded 1996)
Produced by Bonnie Dobson and Friedemann Witecka.
Tracklist:
01 Morning Dew (Dobson) 3:58
02 Land Of The Silver Birch (trad., arr. Dobson) 3:28
03 Days Of Reckoning (Dobson) 4:33
04 Un Canadien Errant (trad., arr. Dobson) 4:15
05 Times To Get Better (Dolly Parton) 2:44
06 Stay With Me Tonight (Dobson) 3:10
07 The Woman You Call Your Wife (Dobson) 2:52
08 The Door Is Open (Dobson) 2:51
09 Going Solo (Gwynn Brooke) 4:07
10 Come Any Closer (Gwynn Brooke) 3:25
11 Thyme (trad., arr. Dobson) 4:19
12 Someday Soon (Ian Tyson) 4:62
13 Again And Again (Witecka / Verity) 5:49
