About The Song
“Long Black Veil” (also known as “The Long Black Veil”) is a country ballad written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin. It was recorded by American country music artist John Anderson and released on September 15, 1982, as a track on his fourth studio album Wild & Blue. The album was issued by Warner Bros. Nashville. John Anderson and Frank Jones co-produced the recording. The track runs approximately 3 minutes and 14–15 seconds and features guest vocals by Merle Haggard.
The song was not issued as a commercial single from the album and did not appear independently on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Wild & Blue peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and number 58 on the Billboard 200. The album also produced the number 1 hits “Wild and Blue” and “Swingin’,” along with the number 5 single “Goin’ Down Hill.”
Recording sessions for the album took place in Nashville, including work at Columbia Studio B in June 1982. Session credits associated with the track include contributions from musicians such as Fred Carter Jr. on lead guitar; Bobby Thompson, Pete Wade, and Steve Gibson on rhythm guitar; Henry Strzelecki on bass; Kenneth Malone and Larry Londin on drums; Lloyd Green on pedal steel; Hargus “Pig” Robbins on piano; Mike Jordan on organ; Dennis Good on trombone; and Don Sheffield on trumpet. Background vocals were provided by Donna Anderson and Deanna Anderson Wall. Merle Haggard appears as a guest vocalist on the track.
Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin are the sole songwriters credited. The composition was originally recorded by Lefty Frizzell on March 3, 1959, and released as a single on April 20, 1959, reaching number 6 on the Billboard Hot C&W Sides chart. The song has been covered by numerous artists, including Johnny Cash, The Band, Joan Baez, and Sammi Smith. Anderson’s version appears as the fourth track on the original sequence of Wild & Blue.
Wild & Blue followed I Just Came Home to Count the Memories (1981) and preceded All the People Are Talkin’ (1983) in Anderson’s Warner Bros. catalog. The album has been reissued multiple times, including CD editions and digital releases under the Rhino/Warner catalog. Official audio is available through the John Anderson YouTube channel. A re-recorded version appears on the 2019 collection 40 Years & Still Swingin’.
Primary sources document consistent songwriting credits to Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin, production by John Anderson and Frank Jones, the September 15, 1982 album release, the presence of Merle Haggard as a guest vocalist, the absence of independent single chart performance for Anderson’s version, and the album’s number 3 placement on the Top Country Albums chart. These details place the recording within Anderson’s early-1980s Warner Bros. period on his breakthrough album.
Video
Lyric
Ten years ago on a cold dark night
Someone was killed ‘neath the town hall lights
There were few at the scene, but they all agreed
That the slayer who ran looked a lot like meThe 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
I’d been in the arms of my best friend’s wifeShe walks these hills in a long black veil
And visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but meThe scaffold is high and eternity’s near
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 bonesShe walks these hills in a long black veil
And visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me