Long Black Veil Explained

Long Black Veil
Type:single
Artist:Lefty Frizzell
B-Side:When It Rains the Blues
Released:April 20, 1959 (US)
Recorded:March 3, 1959
Genre:Country
Length:3:05
Label:Columbia 4-41384
Producer:Don Law
Prev Title:Cigarettes and Coffee Blues
Prev Year:1958
Next Title:Forbidden Lovers
Next Year:1963

"Long Black Veil" is a 1959 country ballad, written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin and originally recorded by Lefty Frizzell.

It is told from the point of view of a man falsely accused of murder and executed. He refuses to provide an alibi, since on the night of the murder he was having an extramarital affair with his best friend's wife, and would rather die and take their secret to his grave than admit the truth. The chorus describes the woman's mourning visits to his gravesite, wearing a long black veil and enduring a wailing wind.

In 2019, Frizzell's version of "Long Black Veil" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[1]

Background

The writers later stated that they drew on three sources for their inspiration: Red Foley's recording of "God Walks these Hills with Me", a contemporary newspaper report about the unsolved murder of a priest, and the legend of a mysterious veiled woman who regularly visited Rudolph Valentino's grave. Dill himself called it an "instant folksong".

Wilkin played piano on the original recording by Frizzell. The song was a departure from Frizzell's previous honky tonk style and was a deliberate move toward the then-current popularity of folk-styled material and the burgeoning Nashville sound.

Success

Recorded in Nashville in 1959 by Lefty Frizzell and produced by Don Law, the single reached #6 on Billboard Hot C&W Sides chart. In the process, the song became Frizzell's best-performing single in five years.

Cover versions

"Long Black Veil" has become a standard and has been covered by a variety of artists in country, folk and rock styles. The highest charting cover version was a #26 country hit by Sammi Smith in 1974.

Johnny Cash performed the song on the first episode of The Johnny Cash Show in 1969, duetting with Joni Mitchell. The song has also appeared on landmark albums by Johnny Cash and The Band in 1968 (see list below), and charted again in 1999 with the Dave Matthews Band, who performed the song live with Emmylou Harris at a Johnny Cash tribute concert. Early in her career, Joan Baez incorporated the song into her live repertoire, and recorded it twice (see list below).

The Band performed the song at the 1969 Woodstock Festival, and it appears on their first studio album, Music From Big Pink.

Bob Dylan performed a version of the song in 1970, as an outtake to the Self Portrait/New Morning sessions. This version was finally officially released on the Bob Dylan 1970 compilation in 2020, fifty years after the recording. Dylan also played the song in a live performance in 1997.

The song appears on David Allan Coe's 1984 compilation 20 Greatest Hits and on Marianne Faithfull's Rich Kid Blues, recorded in 1971 but shelved until 1985.[2]

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds recorded a version for the 1986 covers album Kicking Against the Pricks.

The song was performed by Bruce Springsteen on his 2006 Seeger Sessions Band Tour.[3]

The chorus is frequently sung by Bruce Hornsby during live performances of his song "White Wheeled Limousine", including the version on the retrospective box set Intersections (1985-2005).

In 1992 the British band Diesel Park West covered the song (along with other cover versions) on their series of ‘God Only Knows’ EPs that were released on the EMI/Food record label.

Mick Jagger recorded a version with The Chieftains for that group's 1995 album The Long Black Veil.

Mike Ness, principal songwriter and guitarist of punk-rock band Social Distortion, covered the song on his 1999 debut solo album Cheating at Solitaire.

Jerry Garcia, David Grisman and Tony Rice cover the song on the 2000 Pizza Tapes recordings.

It has been covered by Harry Manx, including a version on the compilation , and in October 2009, by Rosanne Cash on her album The List. A version by Scottish rock band Nazareth was never released on an album, but is played at live concerts.[4]

On the 2011 album Rancho Alto by Jason Boland & the Stragglers, the song "False Accuser's Lament" is a follow-up to "Long Black Veil", describing a witness's view of the events and the role that he played.

Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead performed the song several times, with a variety of musicians, in his rotating line-ups of Phil Lesh and Friends at his venue Terrapin Crossroads. Jamey Johnson has covered the song on tour.[5] Black Rebel Motorcycle Club occasionally perform the song during their live shows.[6] The Black Crowes have covered the song, for instance during their December 17, 2010, performance at The Fillmore in San Francisco.

Richard Hawley covered the song as a B-side to "Just Like the Rain".[7]

The Proclaimers' version is included as a bonus track on the 2001 release of their 1988 album Sunshine on Leith. [8]

Hit singles

Tracks on hit albums

Other versions

Notes and References

  1. News: Andrews . Travis M. . March 20, 2019 . Jay-Z, a speech by Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and 'Schoolhouse Rock!' among recordings deemed classics by Library of Congress . The Washington Post. March 25, 2019.
  2. Web site: Rich Kid Blues . 1998 . Discogs . 15 June 2014.
  3. Web site: Long Black Veil - Bruce Springsteen & the Seeger Sessions . 6 February 2007 . YouTube . 15 June 2014.
  4. Web site: Nazareth - Long Black Veil (Ekaterinburg, 29.10.2008) . 11 November 2008 . YouTube . 15 June 2014.
  5. Web site: Jamey Johnson Long Black Veil July 4th picnic at Billy Bob's Fort Worth Texas . 25 July 2012 . YouTube . 15 June 2014.
  6. Web site: BRMC "Long Black Veil/A Fine Way To Lose" @ High Noon Saloon . 7 May 2008 . YouTube . 15 June 2014.
  7. Web site: Just Like the Rain - Richard Hawley Songs, Reviews, Credits AllMusic. AllMusic. 2016-08-31.
  8. Web site: Sunshine on Leith - the Proclaimers | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic. AllMusic.
  9. http://www.guitars101.com/forums/f90/the-small-faces-january-12-1969-vienna-austria-66261.html Guitars 101 Forum
  10. Web site: LP Pod li??? Sk?lou . 2014-08-15 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070107033502/http://www.greenhorns.cz/hpodlisc.htm . 2007-01-07 .

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