Stagger Lee Explained

Stack O' Lee Blues
Type:single
Artist:Waring's Pennsylvanians
B-Side:"Stavin' Change"[1]
Recorded:Camden, New Jersey, April 18, 1923
Label:Victor

"Stagger Lee", also known as "Stagolee" and other variants, is a popular American folk song about the murder of Billy Lyons by "Stag" Lee Shelton, in St. Louis, Missouri, at Christmas 1895. The song was first published in 1911 and first recorded in 1923, by Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians, titled "Stack O' Lee Blues". A version by Lloyd Price reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959.

Background

See main article: Lee Shelton. The historical Stagger Lee was Lee Shelton, an African-American pimp living in St. Louis, Missouri, in the late 19th century. He was nicknamed Stag Lee or Stack Lee, with a variety of explanations being given: he was given the nickname because he "went stag" (attended social events unaccompanied by a person of the opposite sex); he took the nickname from a well-known riverboat captain called Stack Lee; or, according to John and Alan Lomax, he took the name from a riverboat owned by the Lee family of Memphis called the Stack Lee, which was known for its on-board prostitution.[2] Shelton was well known locally as one of the Macks, a group of pimps who attracted attention through their flashy clothing and appearance.[3] In addition to those activities, he was the captain of a black Four Hundred Club, a social club with a dubious reputation.[4]

On Christmas night in 1895, Shelton and his acquaintance William "Billy" Lyons were drinking in the Bill Curtis Saloon. Lyons was also a member of St. Louis' underworld, and may have been a political and business rival to Shelton. Eventually, the two men got into a dispute, during which Lyons took Shelton's Stetson hat.[5] Subsequently, Shelton shot Lyons, recovered his hat, and left.[6] Lyons died of his injuries, and Shelton was charged, tried, and convicted of the murder in 1897. He was paroled in 1909, but returned to prison in 1911 for assault and robbery. He died incarcerated in 1912.[7]

The crime quickly entered into American folklore and became the subject of song, as well as folktales and toasts. The song's title comes from Shelton's nickname—Stag Lee or Stack Lee.[8] The name was quickly corrupted in the folk tradition. Early versions were called "Stack-a-Lee" and "Stacker Lee", while "Stagolee" and "Stagger Lee" also became common. Other recorded variants include "Stackerlee", "Stack O'Lee", "Stackolee", "Stackalee", "Stagerlee", and "Stagalee".[9]

Early versions

A song called "Stack-a-Lee" was first mentioned in 1897, in the Kansas City Leavenworth Herald, as being performed by "Prof. Charlie Lee, the piano thumper".[10] The earliest versions were likely field hollers and other work songs performed by African-American forced laborers, and were well known along the lower Mississippi River by 1910. That year, musicologist John Lomax received a partial transcription of the song,[11] and in 1911, two versions were published in the Journal of American Folklore by the sociologist and historian Howard W. Odum.[12]

The song was first recorded by Waring's Pennsylvanians in 1923 and became a hit. Another version was recorded later that year by Frank Westphal & His Regal Novelty Orchestra, and Herb Wiedoeft and his band recorded the song in 1924.[13] Also in 1924, the first version with lyrics was recorded, as "Skeeg-a-Lee Blues", by Lovie Austin. Ma Rainey recorded "Stag O'Lee Blues", a different song based on the melody and words of "Frankie and Johnnie", the following year, with Louis Armstrong on cornet, and a version was recorded by Frank Hutchison on January 28, 1927, in New York, and is included in Harry Smith's famous Anthology of American Folk Music (Song 19 of 84).[10]

Before World War II, the song was commonly known as "Stack O'Lee". W.C. Handy wrote that it probably was a nickname for a tall person, comparing him to the tall smokestack of the famous steamboat Robert E. Lee.[14] By the time W.C. Handy wrote that explanation in 1926, "Stack O' Lee" was already familiar in United States popular culture, with recordings of the song made by pop singers of the day, such as Cliff Edwards.

The version by Mississippi John Hurt, recorded in 1928, is regarded by many as definitive.[10] In his version, as in all such pieces, there are many (sometimes anachronistic) variants on the lyrics. Several older versions give Billy's last name as "De Lyons" or "Deslile". Other notable pre-war versions were recorded by Duke Ellington (1927), Cab Calloway (1931), Woody Guthrie (1941),[10] and Sidney Bechet (1945).[15]

Lloyd Price version

Stagger Lee
Type:single
Artist:Lloyd Price
B-Side:You Need Love
Recorded:New York City, September 11, 1958
Genre:New Orleans R&B[16]
Label:ABC-Paramount
Producer:Don Costa
Prev Title:No Limit to Love
Prev Year:1958
Next Title:Where Were You (On Our Wedding Day)?
Next Year:1959

Lloyd Price recorded an R&B rendition of the song as "Stagger Lee" in 1958, and it rose to the top of both the R&B and US pop charts in early 1959. Although his version uses similar lyrics to previous versions of the song, his rendition features a different melody and has no lyrical refrain, making it shorter than previous recordings of the song. Price's version of the song was ranked number 456 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, and also reached number 7 on the UK singles chart. Price also recorded a lyrically toned-down version of the song that changed the shooting to an argument between two friends for his appearance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand.[10]

Chart performance

Lloyd Price version

Chart (1959)Peak
position
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[17] 7
US Billboard Hot 1001
US Hot R&B Sides (Billboard)[18] 1

All-time charts

Other post-war versions

Popular culture

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. B-side artist listed as "the Virginians"
  2. Book: Brown, Cecil . Stagolee Shot Billy. 2004 . Boston: Harvard University Press. 43–45 . 978-0674028906.
  3. Book: Brown, Cecil . Stagolee Shot Billy . 2004 . Boston: Harvard University Press . 0674028902 . 23.
  4. Book: Brown, Cecil . Stagolee Shot Billy . Boston: Harvard University Press . 2004 . 978-0674028906 . 43. Brown summarizes what little is known about the club as follows: "The Four Hundred Club was a 'social club,' but such clubs always had a moral front. (...) The Four Hundred Club may have been a type of black-and-tan club, catering to an interracial clientele, and as such would have been under pressure from reform policies." Brown cites a contemporary source from the newspaper St. Louis Star-Sayings, in which a member of the club states: "Mr. [Stack] Lee was our captain."
  5. Book: Brown, Cecil . Stagolee Shot Billy . 2004 . Boston: Harvard University Press . 23 . 978-0674028906. Based on the statements of witnesses, Cecil Brown retells the incident as follows: "Then Lyons grabbed Shelton's Stetson. When Shelton demanded it back, Lyons said no."
  6. Book: Brown, Cecil . Stagolee Shot Billy . 2004 . Boston: Harvard University Press . 0674028902 . 21–29.
  7. Book: Brown, Cecil . Stagolee Shot Billy . 2004 . Boston: Harvard University Press . 0674028902 . 34–36.
  8. Book: Brown, Cecil. Stagolee Shot Billy. 2004. Harvard University Press. 102. 0674028902.
  9. Buehler, Richard E. . Stacker Lee: A partial investigation into the historicity of a Negro murder ballad. Keystone Folklore Quarterly . 12 . 1967 . 187 and note . March 20, 2013.
  10. Web site: History . StaggerLee.com. 17 February 2013.
  11. Web site: A Brief History of Stagger Lee and Billy Lyons. Marshall, Matt. American Blues Scene. May 9, 2011. 5 March 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20140222152357/http://www.americanbluesscene.com/2011/05/a-brief-history-of-stagger-lee-and-billy-lyons/. 22 February 2014. dead.
  12. Stacker Lee: A partial investigation into the historicity of a Negro murder ballad. Buehler, Richard E. . Keystone Folklore Quarterly. 12. 1967. 187–191. 5 March 2013.
  13. Web site: Herb Wiedoeft's Cinderella Roof Orchestra . Red Hot Jazz . 2010-10-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110105053435/http://www.redhotjazz.com/cinderella.html . 2011-01-05 . dead.
  14. Book: Blues, an Anthology. Handy, W.C. Handy. 1926.
  15. Web site: 1945–1946 – Sidney Bechet | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic. AllMusic.
  16. Web site: Tom . Breihan . The Number Ones: Lloyd Price's "Stagger Lee". . January 29, 2018 . And in 1959, the New Orleans R&B singer and former Army serviceman Lloyd Price took one of those versions to #1....Instead, it's a total blast of a song, a spirited New Orleans rumble.... June 3, 2023.
  17. Web site: officialcharts.com. Official Charts. November 9, 2021.
  18. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 470.
  19. Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart. Billboard. 10 December 2018.
  20. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–1995. Joel Whitburn . 1996 . Record Research . 12.
  21. https://www.discogs.com/Pacific-Gas-And-Electric-Are-You-Ready/master/236054 Are You Ready? in Discogs
  22. http://www.discogs.com/Youngbloods-Good-And-Dusty/release/471336 The Youngbloods, Good and Dusty
  23. Web site: The Annotated "Stagger Lee". Arts.ucsc.edu. 22 August 2018.
  24. Web site: Largehearted Boy: Book Notes – Derek McCulloch ("Stagger Lee"). Largeheartedboy.com. 22 August 2018.
  25. Book: Black, Jack . You Can't Win . 2021 . Must Have Books . Vancouver, BC . 978-1-77323-797-8 . 1301911524.
  26. Book: MacDonald . J. Fred . J. Fred MacDonald . Richard Durham's Destination Freedom . 1989 . Praeger . New York . 0275931382. x. Also see for cassette and audio CD availability of the episode