Country Oldies Musics

“Long Black Veil” – Lefty Frizzell

Lefty Frizzell - Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

About the Song

Lefty Frizzell’s “Long Black Veil” is a haunting masterpiece that stands as one of the most iconic and influential songs in country music history. Released in 1959, the song delves into the depths of human tragedy and regret with a raw emotional power that is simply unmatched.

The narrative unfolds as a tragic tale of a man falsely accused of murder. Rather than revealing his alibi and saving his life, he chooses to protect the woman he loves, a heartbreaking decision that ultimately leads to his execution. The song’s power lies in its simplicity and its ability to evoke a profound sense of empathy for the characters involved.

Frizzell’s vocals are nothing short of extraordinary. His delivery is filled with a raw emotion that perfectly captures the character’s despair and longing. The haunting melody, coupled with the evocative lyrics, creates a sonic atmosphere that is both beautiful and heartbreaking.

“Long Black Veil” is a testament to the power of storytelling through music. The song’s enduring popularity is a testament to its universal themes of love, loss, and sacrifice. It’s a haunting masterpiece that continues to resonate with listeners decades after its release. Country Legend Lefty Frizzell Will Be the Subject of Two Films

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Lyrics: Long Black Veil

Ten years ago on a cold dark night
A man killed ‘neath the town hall light
There were few at the scene and they all did agree
That the man who ran looked a lot like meWell, 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
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 where the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me

Well, the scaffold is high and eternity’s near
She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear
But sometimes at night when the cold winds moan
In a long black veil, Lord, she cries all o’er my bones

She 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

Dolly Parton grew up listening to the Grand Ole Opry on the radio with her family in East Tennessee. Her father loved the show, and Dolly dreamed of singing on it. She moved to Nashville in 1964 and became an Opry member in January 1969. On October 12, 2019, she celebrated fifty years of membership in front of a sold-out crowd. She joked that after half a century at the Opry, she’d been given only thirty minutes. She’d have to stick to the classics. Her friends took care of a few more. Emmylou Harris, Dierks Bentley, Hank Williams Jr., Chris Janson, Lady A, Margo Price and Toby Keith were among the artists who came to honor her and sing songs from her catalog. Toby chose “Kentucky Gambler,” one of his favorites among the songs Dolly had written. His family later said he was thrilled she’d asked him to be there. NBC aired Dolly Parton: 50 Years at the Opry on November 26. As a girl, Dolly had listened from home and imagined what it would be like to sing on that stage. Fifty years into her Opry membership, she still had more songs than she could fit into her set.

Toby Keith’s “Country Comes to Town” sounds like the moment a small town clocks out for the week. Released in May 2000 from How Do You Like Me Now?!, it gets moving right away, with guitars that keep pushing and Toby sounding like he already knows where everybody’s headed. That’s what I’ve always liked about it. I can picture the pickups lined up outside a crowded honky-tonk and old friends spotting each other across the room after a long week at work. It’s the kind of song that makes you want to turn up the radio, even if you’re just driving home.

In June 2020, Vince Gill put his guitars aside and spent his time at a Nashville hospital while Amy Grant had open-heart surgery. She’d lived with a heart defect since birth. Two summers later, after a bicycle crash near Percy Warner Park left her unconscious and with a concussion and severe road rash, Vince cleared his calendar to care for her at home. They’d first met in late 1993 at a televised Christmas concert in Tennessee. The next year, they recorded “House of Love” together. Vince was married to country singer Janis Oliver, and Amy was married to musician Gary Chapman. They felt a connection early on, but for years their time together was work: a Christmas tour, a charity golf event, a duet. Vince put some of what he felt into his songwriting. “Whenever You Come Around” came out of those years, when he could write about how it felt to be near her even though they were still living separate lives. His divorce was finalized in 1997. Amy’s followed in 1999, and Vince gave her time to focus on her three children as her family adjusted. They married on a hillside near Nashville on March 10, 2000. Vince had a daughter, Jenny, and Amy had Matthew, Millie and Sarah. In 2001, they welcomed their daughter Corrina. More than two decades after the wedding, December still brings them back to the Ryman Auditorium to sing together. Christmas music was what brought them into the same room in 1993, when they were two singers booked for the same show. Now it’s a date they put on the calendar together. And when Amy needed time to recover, Vince was willing to clear that calendar and spend those weeks at home with her.

When Kris Kristofferson’s memory began to fail, doctors told him it might be Alzheimer’s. His wife, Lisa Meyers, kept looking for an answer. By then, Kris could sometimes forget something that had happened only moments earlier. The trouble had been building for nearly a decade. Some doctors suspected Alzheimer’s; others wondered whether his years of playing football and boxing had caught up with him. In 2016, after Lisa pushed for more testing, a specialist found that Kris had Lyme disease. One possibility was that he’d picked up a tick while filming Disappearances in the Vermont woods in 2005. Lisa later recalled that his thinking grew clearer after he came off the Alzheimer’s medication and went through three weeks of Lyme treatment. He was able to tour again. They’d met at a gym in Malibu in 1982. Kris was 46, had put years of heavy drinking behind him, and was wary of marrying again after two divorces. Lisa was 26, studying law at Pepperdine University and working toward a life outside the music business. They married at Pepperdine’s faculty club on February 18, 1983, and eventually made a quieter home in Hana, on Maui. Kris had spent much of his three older children’s childhoods on the road. In Hawaii, he got to be home for more of the years he and Lisa spent raising Jesse, Jody, Johnny, Kelly Marie and Blake. Lisa eventually took over managing his career, too. When he went back out on tour, she traveled with him through his final years of performing. He retired in early 2021. Kris died peacefully at their Maui home on September 28, 2024. He was 88. The man who wrote “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” had spent much of his life on the road, but his last days were at home with Lisa and their family. They’d been married for forty-one years.