Long Black Veil

Dusty

May 18

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Long Black Veil

performed (originally) by Lefty Frizzell
written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin
released in July, 1959

Ten years ago, on a cold, dark night
There was someone killed 'neath the town hall light
There were few at the scene, but they all agreed
That the slayer who ran looked a lot like me

The judge said, "Son what is your alibi?
If you were somewhere else, then you won't have to die"
I spoke not a word, though it meant my life
For I had been in the arms of my best friend's wife

She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me

The scaffold was high and eternity nears
She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear
But sometimes at night when the cold wind moans
In a long black veil, she cries over my bones

She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me
Nobody knows but me
Nobody knows but me

________________________________

I've always been into the darker and more gothic side of country music, so knowing that, it shouldn't be too surprising that I really like this song. As dark and gothic country goes, "Long Black Veil" is beyond merely famous - it's a standard.

Considering the lyrics, you must suspect that the song writing process has an interesting backstory, and as to that, your suspicions would be accurate. There are actually three dark stories that fed into the creation of the one from this song.

(via wiki)

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.

Source 1:

Source 2:

"A contemporary newspaper report about the unsolved murder of a priest."

This bit is plenty spooky, but despite a fair amount of digging, I have not been able to find any specifics as to the case in question. Given that fact, I am forced to consider that this may not be true. Perhaps "based on a true story" helped to sell the song's mystique. Or maybe murder is just so common that tracking down the specifics of one from the 1950s is relatively difficult.

If someone is able to provide me with the case, I will edit this post to include the information.

Source 3:

"The legend of a mysterious veiled woman who regularly visited Rudolph Valentino's grave."

This tale, on the other hand, has a legendary backstory that I've been able to learn some more about. (via the-line-up.com)

In 1925, Hollywood heartthrob Rudolph Valentino visited his friend's seriously ill daughter in the hospital. He reportedly gave the young girl a single red rose, and told her she was going to recover.

"You're not going to die at all," he said. "You're going to outlive me by many years. But one thing's for sure—if I die before you do, you please come and stay by me because I don't want to be alone either. You come and talk to me."Related: Resurrection Cemetery and the Ghost of Resurrection Mary

The young girl, whose name was Ditra Flame, (pronounced fla-MAY) did recover.

Just a year later, though, Valentino died from complications due to gastric ulcers. He was only 31. His memorial was held in New York City, where nearly 100,000 people came to pay their respects. Eventually, his body was transferred to an empty crypt owned by a friend in Hollywood Forever Cemetery in California, where he still rests to this day.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

According to Ditra, she initially kept her promise. The young woman, who was just 14 years old at the time of Valentino's passing, went to visit Valentino's grave in dressed all in black. She wore a long veil across her face, and carried a single red rose. But soon, she said, "there were so many other women dressed in black coming in kneeling at his tomb that it just got too much for me." She stayed away for 23 years.

Ditra died in 1984, but the tradition of the veiled woman in black visiting Valentino's grave continues.Related: Lady in White: the Haunted Burial Grounds of Union Cemetery

At first, the staff at Hollywood Cemetery thought it was just an eccentric fan of Old Hollywood, honoring Valentino's wish. Then it became obvious that the woman in black was someone–or something–far more otherworldly than just a dedicated tourist.

Visitors to Valentino's crypt have spotted a woman in black, kneeling at his tomb, carrying a single red rose. With an opaque black veil covering her face, she supposedly vanishes into thin air when anyone approaches. Others, while paying their respects to the actor, hear the sounds of a woman's high-heeled footsteps approaching behind them, only to turn and find no one there. Some have reported a single red rose suddenly appearing in the vase on the tomb.

Photo: Mr. Littlehand / Flickr (CC)

While the face of the mysterious lady in black is yet to be seen, there are those who believe it's none other than the ghost of Ditra Flame, making up for all those years she didn't come to visit Valentino's grave when she was still alive.

"Long Black Veil" has been covered countless times, by countless artists in nearly every genre. Here are a few of the covers. (again via wiki)

Tracks on hit albums

1962 The Kingston Trio, New Frontier - US Pop album #16

1962 Burl Ives, The Versatile Burl Ives! - US Pop album #35

1963 Joan Baez, Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2 - US Pop album #7, UK album #15

1965 Johnny Cash, Orange Blossom Special - US Pop album #49

1968 Johnny Cash, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison - US Pop album #13, US Country album #1, UK album #8

1968 The Band, Music from Big Pink - US Pop album #30

1970 Joan Baez, One Day at a Time - US Pop album #80

1972 New Riders of the Purple Sage, Gypsy Cowboy - US Pop album #85

1983 John Anderson, Wild & Blue - US Pop album #58, US Country Albums #3

1995 The Chieftains with Mick Jagger (vocal), The Long Black Veil - US Pop album #22, UK album #17

1999 Mike Ness, Cheating at Solitaire - US Pop album #80

1999 Dave Matthews Band, Listener Supported - US Pop album #15

2015 Robert Earl Keen, Jr., Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions - US Pop album #109, US Top Bluegrass Albums 1, US Country Albums #10, US Top Top Independent Albums #6

Other versions

1960 Carl Mann, included on the 1997 compilation Rockin' Mann

1960 The Country Gentlemen, Country Songs, Old and New

1961 Burl Ives, The Versatile Burl Ives

1962 Johnny Rivers

1963 The Country Gentlemen, On The Road (live album)

1964 Jerry & Sara, Live at The Tangent, Palo Alto, CA, Jerry Garcia and his first wife Sara

1964 Johnny Williams and The Jokers

1968 The Move, The BBC Session^]

1968 The Wolfe Tones, The Rights of Man

1969 The Byrds, Live in Boston 1969, unofficial release

1969 The Small Faces, bootleg album, recorded live in Vienna, Austria, on 12 January 1969.

1970 Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, Kentucky Bluegrass

1971 Hank Williams, Jr., Sweet Dreams

1971 Marianne Faithfull, Rich Kid Blues, released in 1985

1980 Jimmy "Orion" Ellis, Country

1983 Zelenáči (Greenhorns) as "Dlouhý černý závoj" (lyrics by cs:Jan Vyčítal) on "Pod Liščí skálou"

1985 Baby Opaque, featuring Ian Mackaye, Fugue In Cow Minor

1986 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Kicking Against the Pricks

1988 The Proclaimers, King of the Road EP

1989 The Walkabouts, Cataract (Walkabouts album)

1992 Michael Nesmith, Live At The Lone Star Roadhouse, bootleg recording

1993 Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Tony Rice, The Pizza Tapes - released in 1999

1995 Don Walser, The Archive Series Volume 2

1995 Don Williams, Borrowed Tales

1997 Sally Timms, Cowboy Sally

2002 Daryle Singletary, That's Why I Sing This Way

2002 Jason & the Scorchers, Wildfires + Misfires

2002 Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash, Distance Between

2002 Dave Matthews Band, The Gorge (6-Disc Special Edition).

2003 Johnny Cash, opening track on Unearthed box set released just after his death

2003 Deadstring Brothers, Deadstring Brothers

2003 Jon Langford and The Pine Valley Cosmanauts, The Executioner's Last Songs: Volume 3

2003 Rob Coffinshaker, "Fairytales from the Dungeon" single

2003 Harry Manx, Johnny's Blues: A Tribute To Johnny Cash (compilation tribute album)

2004 Dave Gunning and Charlie A'Court from Gunning's CD Two-Bit World

2005 Tim O'Brien, Fiddler's Green

2005 Bruce Hornsby, Intersections (1985-2005) (cameoed in the middle of "White-Wheeled Limousine")

2005 Charming Hostess, Punch

2006 Crooked Fingers, Like a Version 2, an Australian covers album

2006 Richard Hawley, B-side of "Just Like The Rain"

2007 Stoney LaRue, Live at Billy Bob's Texas

2007 David Gray,"A Thousand Miles Behind" live USA

2007 Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez Live From The Ruhr Triennale

2007 Professor Louis and the Crowmatix (The Spirit of Woodstock)

2007 Matt Andersen, 'Live at Liberty House'

2008 Diamanda Galás, Guilty Guilty Guilty

2009 Aunt Martha, Candymaker Tour NYC

2009 Razzy Bailey, Damned Good Time, (with Johnny Cash)

2009 Rosanne Cash (Feat. Jeff Tweedy)

2009 Caroline Herring, Golden Apples of the Sun

2012 Gregg Allman & The All Star Band, Love for Levon

2012 Iron & Wine

2014 Sarah Jackson (A cappella version)

2014 Carter Hulsey, Drive Out

2014 We Banjo 3, Gather The Good

2016 Dale Watson, Under the Influence

2017 Jenny Owen Youngs, Long Black Veil - Single

2017 Lee Ann Womack, The Lonely, the Lonesome & the Gone

2018 Southbound Pilot, Monterrey Court, Southbound Pilot Live

The Stanley Brothers

Bobby Bare

Chris Ledoux

Banks & Shane

Bob Dylan one 1997 performance available on various bootlegs

Nazareth

The two most successful versions, on the charts, were the original by Mr. Frizzell and then a Sammi Smith country version in the 1970s (from the perspective of the woman in the veil.)