Imagine an 84-year-old Canadian woman creating an album with a band of London’s cosmic cowboys. If you made this up no one would believe you. Proving that truth is actually stranger than fiction, the Canadian in question, Bonnie Dobson, joined forces with The Hanging Stars to create Dreams, an album coming 11 years after what was thought to be her final offering.
Dobson’s story may not be familiar, but her voice has a purity time simply cannot erase. The first song she ever wrote back in 1961, ‘Morning Dew’, has been covered by everyone from Fred Neil, Tim Rose (who ended up basically stealing 25% of the publishing rights until legal action corrected the situation in 1998), the Grateful Dead, Jeff Beck, Clannad and Devo). The Hanging Stars, rather than treating her as a museum piece, accompany her as if she was a singer half her age. ‘Baby’s Got the Blues’ pulses with energy, while ‘Trouble’, with its electric guitar and organ, tells a story that sounds like recent history rather than a song from someone who’s seen so many miles along the way.
The horns that frame ‘Don’t Look Down’ add a sense of danger to Dobson’s song as she warns, “When you’re out of control and you know you will fall/ Don’t look down/ There is no one to catch you, but it’s nothing at all/ Don’t look down.” The warning is as pointed, as her phrasing is impeccable. Sean Read’s horns frame the song, adding an additional sense of tension. Song after song is aided by the interplay of The Hanging Stars, especially the guitar work of Richard Olson.
The sexiness of Dobson’s voice on ‘Stay With Me Tonight’ seems unimaginable in a woman in the middle of her ninth decade, which shows there’s no age limit on carnality. Her version of Dino Valenti’s 60s chestnut, ‘Get Together’, breathes new life in the song that in the wrong hands could sound cheesy and dated.
Closing the album, ‘Dreams’ makes it clear, “You can’t go back anymore/ Not even in your dreams.” Clearly there is no need to do so. Bonnie Dobson is not a novelty act, she is one of a kind, a woman who can still sing with a power that deserves to be heard. With The Hanging Stars as her back up band, she is able to create new music that sounds better than a lot of what is being released today. She is a joy to behold, and Dreams is the sound of a woman who still has plenty to say and a band more than willing to help her say it.