Nobody Knows, Nobody Sees

The song that takes the proposition "I'd rather die than get caught" to its logical extreme and beyond -- literally. A man stands accused of murder, and forget any notion of means of motive, without a good alibi he's set to hang. Given the horrible choice of exposing an affair or telling the truth... well, absurd plot point aside, the song has become a country and folk standard.

"The Long Black Veil" may sound like a piece of ancient folk Americana, but it's not. It was composed in 1959 by Nasvhille songwriters Marijohn Wilkin and Danny Dill, inspired in part by a pair of totally separate real-life events: the unsolved murder of a New Jersey priest, as well as reports of a woman in a black veil who regularly visited the grave of Rudolph Valentino. Lefty Frizzell recorded the song soon thereafter, and it became a hit for him, reaching #6 on the US Country charts. Marijohn Wilkin recorded an "answer" to "The Long Black Veil" in 1961 called "My Long Black Veil," which sort of kind of explained the woman's point of view; it didn't fare as well.

"The Long Black Veil," in addition to becoming a hit for Frizzell, was soon covered by The Country Gentlemen, The Kingston Trio, Burl Ives and Joan Baez. Johnny Cash recorded it for his 1965 album "The Orange Blossom Special," and it became a staple of his live concerts; there are many versions of it available from his various prison concert records, and the song is often associated with Cash.

The Band recorded a notable version of "The Long Black Veil" for its 1968 album "Music From the Big Pink." According to Peter Viney's article on "Long Black Veil" at http://theband.hiof.no/articles/long_black_veil_viney.html, Levon Helm said of the song, "We knew it from Lefty Frizell’s version and liked the story of the young man who goes to the gallows for a murder he didn’t commit because his alibi was that he was 'in the arms of his best friend’s wife.' I guess we thought it was funny." Bruce Springsteen used The Band's recording of "Long Black Veil" as part of his "walk-in" music mix for his "Devils & Dust" tour.

More recent recordings of "Long Black Veil" have been recorded by The Chieftans with Mick Jagger, and by Dave Matthews Band, among many others.

Bruce Springsteen has been performing "Long Black Veil" during "The Seeger Sessions" tour.