"The Long Black Veil" - Chieftains, The

Album

U2 Related Content:

Full Track List:

  • Mo Ghile Mear (Our Hero) with Sting (3:21)
  • The Long Black Veil with Mick Jagger (3:37)
  • The Foggy Dew with Sinead O’Connor (5:20)
  • Have I Told You Lately That I Love You? with Van Morrison (4:39)
  • Changing Your Demeanour (3:16)
  • The Lily of the West with Mark Knopfler (5:09)
  • Coast of Malabar with Ry Cooder (6:00)
  • Dunmore Lassies (Instrumental) with Ry Cooder (5:14)
  • Love Is Teasin’ with Marianne Faithfull (4:36)
  • He Moved through the Fair with Sinead O’Connor (4:54)
  • Ferny Hill (Instrumental) (3:42)
  • Tennessee Waltz/Tennessee Mazurka with Tom Jones (3:58)
  • The Rocky Road to Dublin with The Rolling Stones (5:04)

Background Information

If you are looking to hear Bono singing his heart out on a song by The Chieftains, then this is not the track for you. The track “The Long Black Veil” was recorded by The Chieftains and Mick Jagger, and some of the recording took place in Windmill Studios. As the story goes, Bono was around the studios one day and popped in on the recording session by The Chieftains, and that he recorded some vocals which were to be overdubbed with Mick Jaggers on the track. An attempt was made to use Bono’s vocals in harmony with Jaggers but this idea was discarded when it was found it did not work well.

The lead vocals were eventually recorded by Mick Jagger but Bono is still there way back in the mix. Years later, Mick Jagger would record vocals for a song called “Stuck in a Moment” in a recording session with U2. They would leave Micks vocals in storage, and re-recorded the song with Bono at the helm.

Bono’s involvement in this track would not even be known, as there is no mention of him in the booklet or any of the press materials included with the CD. Nor is Bono pictured in any of the photographs within the booklet which is made up of photographs of the Chieftains and the other artists who guest on this album. However, Niall Stokes confirms Bono’s involvement in the book “Into the Heart” and the recording is discussed in “The Chieftains: An Authorized Biography” by John Giatt. The latter book states: “One night U2’s Bono came into the studio to overdub a vocal track on Mick Jagger’s vocals for The Long Black Veil. Bono had listened to The Chieftains while he was growing up in Dublin and was a long-time fan with a huge admiration for the group. But when Moloney heard Bono’s singing his duet with Mick Jagger, he felt it did not work and mixed it right down although the Irish singer’s voice is still there faintly. ‘I think what he’d been doing that night had been fairly experimental,’ said U2 manager Paul McGuinness.”

Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton would work with The Chieftains on the song “On Grafton Street” with Nanci Griffith. Jagger would record a song for his solo album “Goddess in the Doorway” with Bono which was called “Joy”. And in 2009, U2 and Jagger would perform together at Madison Square Garden, and perform “Stuck in a Moment” which was released on the “25th Anniversary of the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame” concert CD and video.

Liner Notes

The Long Black Veil: Written by Marijohn Wilkin and Danny Dill. Performed by The Chieftains with Mick Jagger, vocals. Martin Fay: fiddle. Sean Keane: fiddle. Kevin Conneff: bodhran, vocals. Matt Molloy: flute. Paddy Moloney: Uilleann pipes, tin whistle. Derek Bell: harp, tiompan, keyboards. Colin James: guitar, mandolin. James Blennerhassett: double bass. Daryll Jones: electric bass. Steve Cooney: didjeridu. Producer: Paddy Moloney with Chris Kimsey. Recorded at Windmill Lane and Westland Studios, Dublin and Metropolis Studios, London UK. Engineer: Chris Kimsey. Assisted by Alastair McMillan and Mary McShane. MIxed by Chris Kimsey at Little Mountain Sound, Vancouver. Assisted by Jason Mauza.

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