The Tale Behind The Tune.... Long Black Veil

The legendary jazz sax player Charlie Parker would sometimes wander over to the jukebox between sets and play country songs, for which his friends and colleagues would tease him. What you playin’ that stuff for they would ask to which he would reply because I like the stories. Well surely this song is one that would have appealed to The Bird for that reason. A tale about fidelity to one’s lover within an act of marital infidelity that cost him his life. I have thought maybe he could have told the judge he and she were just playing checkers. Or maybe just having a cup of tea together … who would have known otherwise? But that would not have made for a wonderful song … or for a great story.

Long Black Veil was written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin. It was originally recorded in 1959 by a honky-tonk country singer named Lefty Frizzell. The tune was later covered by country music icon Johnny Cash. I first bumped into Long Black Veil when it was included in the album Music From Big Pink, the first and in my less than humble opinion, the best LP ever recorded by The Band. We have approached the song with a slightly more r ’n b feel … less Americana than they did. More reminiscent of Levon And The Hawks than The Band … and although the personnel in those two groups was exactly the same, in some ways they were very different bands.

This recording started out as a demo to promote a duo Graham Young and I were putting together so that we could get some gigs … we didn’t get any gigs but we did have fun recording the demos … we used keyboard bass & an automated drummer on my keyboard for the demos. Recently I decided to upgrade the demo to a full band recording … we have done that before. Graham’s guitar playing on Long Black Veil was simply magnificent … wanted to celebrate that. His solo here reminds me of something you might hear on a recording by Jackson Browne. Another song we made a demo of that day was Hold On I’m Comin’ which we upgraded to a full band recording a while ago … and you can listen to that on this site to see how it turned out.
https://www.burrowsandcompany.com/home-1/page/2

So we brought in Al Cross to replace the automated drummer, Dennis Pendrith to replace the keyboard bass and we rolled out the Hammond B3 organ so Dave Chester could sit in too.

Dave had played one of his portable keyboards on the original demo but we wanted the B3. That was a very good decision because although many have tried to emulate the sound of a Hammond B3 with a Leslie cabinet, in my opinion nobody has been able to pull that off yet. The speakers in the Leslie physically spin inside the cabinet and disperse the sound of the organ in a most unusual way that nobody has quite been able to duplicate electronically. The Hammond B3 revolutionized black gospel music and Dave made it really sing here.


I am always amazed at what a difference it makes when we bring in Al and Dennis to do this. In this case, Al had listened to the demo several times and had charted the whole song out in great detail … he backed up and embellished everything that everybody else had already done plus brought many new ideas to the table throughout the song … for instance the open intro in the first verse, love his press rolls in the third verse and his wonderful work on the bell of his ride cymbal throughout the tune. You don’t get stuff like that from a drum loop or programming ever. In a very similar way Dennis also charts everything out in detail before he gets to the session. The two of them are the rhythm section from heaven … one of the best together anywhere. And as a band we are very fortunate to have them back there providing a wonderful foundation. Because without a solid rhythm section, no band is going anywhere … they are crucial. And both of these guys love to play together … you can hear and feel that in this track.

I sang Long Black Veil many times in my youth with Bobby Kris And The Imperials and whenever I did, the drummer in that band, Gord MacBain, always sang harmony with me. The last time we performed the tune together was in 2012 when we both sat in with The Cameo Blues Band at a music festival in The Uxbridge Music Hall … I have a video of that somewhere. You can see Gord in this promo photo taken at Queen’s Park by photographer Pat La Croix in 1964 … leaning against the pillar, top right … probably the best promo photo ever of our band. Gord was so proud of this photo, thought it would impress his parents that he was going places.

When he showed it to his father, he said … Gord, if you take this photo and a token to the TTC station, I think they might let you go for a ride on the subway! … a deflating response indeed! I have always thought of Gord as The Cabbagetown Kid … lived in that part of east end Toronto before lawyers and such started gentrifying that part of the city … and he had street smarts. On one occasion in Port Arthur when a club owner was hassling us about being too young to play in his club, he looked at baby face Gord and said … Oh you couldn’t possibly be old enough to play here, you couldn’t be 21 yet (the age required in those days). With no ID to support him Gord responded with a laugh … That’s what everybody says. I’m actually 23! … and the guy believed him! … but we got fired anyway because when the guy got to our guitarist Eugene Martynec and asked how old he was, Gene said he was 18. The guy then said … Well then you can’t play here … to which Gene responded … Who cares! It was a long quiet drive back to Toronto for a bunch of empty handed, broke rock stars!

Gord got interested in playing drums when he started hanging around with another Toronto band from those days … Robbie Lane And The Disciples … and especially with his drummer at the time, Sonny Milne … he would go to gigs with the band and help Sonny set up his kit.

Sonny hit the drums real hard when he played … and so did Gord … an agent from back then once asked us if Gord played drums with 2 by 4’s instead of sticks … he had a point!

Gord was about the same size as me so he was the only guy in the band I could borrow a clean shirt from when we were on the road together playing bars … we go back a long way! Always thought of Gord as the heart and soul of Bobby Kris And The Imperials. He certainly was one of the longest serving members of our band back then. Our relationship for over 50 years has had many hills and valleys. Don’t think he will ever really forgive me for burning a hole in the seat of his immaculate classic Pontiac with a cigarette back in the sixties … and I can’t say I blame him for that. But later in life he was the Best Man at my wedding to my soulmate and late wife Judy.

After our band broke up, Gord turned his attention to songwriting for which he had a knack. Back in the days before Google, you could call Gord and ask him for the lyrics for any song. Nine times out of ten he could tell you what they were … he was an encyclopedia of lyrics. He joined The Songwriters Association of Canada and learned a great many things. To have a listen to the body of work he created in his songwriting career you can go here … https://www.reverbnation.com/gordneil And if you want to buy the rights to any of his songs, let him know … they’re all up for sale! I particularly recommend Sad Guitar … with some wonderful pedal steel by Burke Carroll.

I think of Gord as a brother in music … we frequently talk with each other about music issues. I have consulted with Gord on several occasions about songs our band is working on that both he and I have had some common experience with … like Morning Hymn and Gnostic Serenade. I much appreciate his advice, feedback and counsel … enjoy sharing thoughts and opinions.  So this one’s for you Gord … hope you enjoy and approve of our recording of this fine song. And obviously hope the rest of you folks enjoy it too.


On this recording Burrows And Company are …

Drums … Al Cross                              Hammond B3 … Dave Chester
Bass … Dennis Pendrith                   Piano … Bob Burrows
Guitar … Graham Young                  Vocals … Bob Burrows

Songwriters … Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin

Graphic Art … Tamara Green

Recorded at Chalet Studio … www.chalet.com
Recording Engineers … David Chester, Justin Meli
Post Production and Mixing Engineer … Patrick Fockler
Produced by … Bob Burrows


Burrows And Company have a wonderful time making music together and we love to share it with you … thank you for your ongoing interest and support for our music … deeply appreciated.


Bob Burrows