In 2019, Frizzell's version of "Long Black Veil" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
[1] 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.
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.
The song appears on David Allan Coe's 1984 compilation 20 Greatest Hits and on Marianne Faithfull's Rich Kid Blues, recorded in 1971 but shelved until 1985.
[3] The chorus is frequently sung by Bruce Hornsby during live performances of his song "White Wheeled Limousine", including the version on the retrospective box set Intersections (1985-2005).
Mike Ness, principal songwriter and guitarist of punk rock band Social Distortion, covered the song on his 1999 debut solo album Cheating at Solitaire.
[4] On the 2011 album Rancho Alto by Jason Boland & the Stragglers, the song "False Accuser's Lament" is a follow-up to "Long Black Veil", describing a witness's view of the events and the role that he played.
closes with his rendition of the song, which he performed with the experimental folk band Styrofoam Winos during an afterparty for Pitchfork Music Festival held at the Lincoln Hall in Chicago.