Originally recorded as a solo performance, Dobson's vocal is accompanied by her finger-picked acoustic guitar playing.
Subsequently, the song was recorded by other contemporary folk and rock musicians, including the Grateful Dead, who adapted it using an electric rock-ensemble arrangement for their debut album.
[2] Dobson stated that the inspiration for "Morning Dew" was the film On the Beach, which is about the survivors of virtual global annihilation by nuclear holocaust.
[3] Dobson first performed "Morning Dew" at the inaugural Mariposa Folk Festival in Orillia, Ontario in August 1961.
[2] Dobson never met Rose, but she received 75% songwriting royalty as she retains sole writing credit for the song's music.
[3] "Morning Dew" became part of the Grateful Dead's repertoire after frontman Jerry Garcia was introduced to the Fred Neil recording by roadie Laird Grant in 1966.
Morning Dew became a concert-going fan favorite, and the Grateful Dead played it live 274 times over nearly three decades, concluding with their performance on June 21, 1995, part of their East Coast summer tour, and less than two months before Jerry Garcia's death on August 9, 1995.
[citation needed] The German band Einstürzende Neubauten included a version of "Morning Dew" on their album Fünf auf der nach oben offenen Richterskala of 1987.
Cleveland, Ohio, rock band Damnation of Adam Blessing covered "Morning Dew" on their 1969 self-titled debut.