Stagger Lee
Stagger Lee , actually Lee Shelton (born March 16, 1865 , † March 11, 1912 , also Stagolee, Stackerlee, Stack O'Lee or Stack-a-Lee) was a black coachman and pimp in St. Louis , who was his friend William "Billy" Lyons killed on Christmas Eve 1895. Shelton was caught, charged with murder, and sentenced to prison.
Stagger Lee became world famous through the murder, which was dealt with in a blues style and interpreted in a number of different versions and content variants by a number of artists. To this day, he symbolizes the stereotype of the cold-hearted black murderer.
The nickname "Stagger" means staggering.
Life
Lee Shelton was born in 1865 and lived in St. Louis . He made a living as a pimp and driver and was a member of the Macks, a pimp group in town. Little is known about his life up to the murder case.
On December 24, 1895, Lee Shelton killed his friend William "Billy" Lyons in a saloon after an argument over politics in which he tore his hat off his head. Shelton shot him in the back and left the saloon where Lyons died of his injuries. In the following days, a description of the murder appeared in the St. Louis Globe Democrat :
“William Lyons, 25, a levee hand, was shot in the abdomen yesterday evening at 10 o'clock in the saloon of Bill Curtis, at Eleventh and Morgan Streets, by Lee Shelton, a carriage driver. Lyons and Shelton were friends and were talking together. Both parties, it seems, had been drinking and were feeling in exuberant spirits. The discussion drifted to politics, and an argument was started, the conclusion of which was that Lyons snatched Shelton's hat from his head. The latter indignantly demanded its return. Lyons refused, and Shelton withdrew his revolver and shot Lyons in the abdomen. When his victim fell to the floor Shelton took his hat from the hand of the wounded man and coolly walked away. He was subsequently arrested and locked up at the Chestnut Street Station. Lyons was taken to the Dispensary, where his wounds were pronounced serious. Lee Shelton is also known as 'Stagger' Lee. "
“William Lyons, 25, a levee worker, was shot in the stomach by Lee Shelton, a coachman, in the stomach at 10pm last night in the Bill Curtis saloon on the corner of Eleventh and Morgan Streets. Lyons and Shelton were friends and talking. Both, it seems, had been drinking and were in high spirits. The conversation switched to politics and an argument broke out, which ended with Lyons tearing Shelton's hat off his head. The latter indignantly demanded its return. Lyons refused and Shelton drew his revolver and shot Lyons in the stomach. When his victim fell to the ground, Shelton took his hat from the injured man's hand and calmly walked away. He was later arrested and detained in Chestnut Street Station. Lyons was taken to the hospital where his wounds were judged serious. Lee Shelton is also known as 'Stagger' Lee. "
Shelton was arrested, charged with murder, and sentenced to prison. In 1912 he died of tuberculosis in prison and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in St. Louis.
Musical reception
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The story of the murder of Lyons by Stagger Lee was taken up musically in several versions. The stories used in it, however, are only partially based on the verifiable facts and have been interwoven with myths about the "bad man Stack O 'Lee" who became the prototype of the cold-hearted, black killer in blues music.
The first versions of the song were probably already circulating immediately after the 1895 event, Lawrence Levine wrote: “Charles Hatter of Coahoma County, Mississippi, remembered first singing of Stagolee's exploits in 1895, while Will Starks, also a resident of the Mississippi Delta, initially heard the Stagolee saga in 1897 from a man who had learned it in the labor camps of St. Louis. "
An early recording of the original Stack O'Lee Blues by Long Cleeve Reed & Little Harvey Hull-Down Home Boys was released in 1927.
Mississippi John Hurt
The first well-known blues version is the 1928 recording Stack O 'Lee by Mississippi John Hurt , which is considered the basis for the fame of the story and for later versions.
In the 1960s the blues became popular along with folk music in the USA, which also resulted in another success for Mississippi John Hurt and his Stagger-Lee version, which was also picked up by Taj Mahal and in his 1969 album Giant Step has been covered. Many other cover versions followed up to the recording of the musician Beck in 2001.
Tennessee Ernie Ford
On October 24, 1950, Tennessee Ernie Ford took Stack-O-Lee to an arrangement by Louis Busch for Capitol Records . The title appeared on the back of Tailor Made Woman in January 1951 and reached position 30 on the US charts.
Lloyd Price
On September 11, 1958, Lloyd Price recorded the song in a new version as the B-side in New York's Bell Sound Recording Studios , which was very well received by radio DJs and sold well. A re-recording in 1959 made the song a number one hit on the Billboard charts and a world hit; for the show of the show master Dick Clark , however, the murder was exchanged at his insistence for an argument about a woman, after which the two protagonists reconcile again.
Price's version of the story has been covered by numerous well-known musicians including the Isley Brothers , Wilson Pickett , Wilbert Harrison , Professor Longhair , Neil Diamond , Ike & Tina Turner, and Huey Lewis & The News . It is accordingly the best known and most recorded version of history today.
Other versions
The band Grateful Dead picked up the story and Robert Hunter wrote a version of the story based on the traditional story for their album Shakedown Street , which was released in 1978.
Even The Clash took the story by putting them in their ska version of Wrong 'Em Boyo , a cover song of the band The Rulers , internals; in this version the murder is justified on the fact that Billie Stagger Lee cheats on the dice game.
A modern version of the Stagger-Lee motif was captured by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds . Nick Cave published his version on his album Murder Ballads in 1996 - lyrically very freely with clear homoerotic references ( I'll crawl over fifty good pussies just to get to one fat boy's assholes and you better get down on your knees and suck my dick ). In his text version, Stagger Lee first kills the bartender, then hooks up with the prostitute Nellie Brown and ends up shooting her husband Billie Dillie.
A version in the style of rock- soul comes from Ike Turner , with Tina Turner as the singer.
The hardcore band Modern Life Is War also released a song on their album Midnight in America under the name Stagger Lee , which is dedicated to the topic.
literature
- Cecil Brown: Stagolee Shot Billy. Harvard University Press, 2003.
Web links
- Timothy Lane: The Story of Stagger Lee . (PDF; 2.55 MB) as a comic version.
- The AKA Blues Collection Stagger Lee Files ( Memento from January 28, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- Max Haymes: Got The Blues For Mean Old Stack O 'Lee .
- James P. Hauser: Stagger Lee: From Mythic Blues Ballad to Ultimate Rock 'n' Roll Record ( Memento from January 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- Paul Slade: De Lyons sleeps tonight: Stagger Lee . on PlanetSlade.com
- Randall Roberts: Original Gangsta . In: Riverfront Times , May 5, 1999.
Individual evidence
- ^ The St. Louis Globe Democrat , 1895; according to Harry's Blues Lyrics Online ( memento of the original dated February 23, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Entry for Lee Shelton at Findagrave.com.
- ↑ Tony Kullen: Stagger Lee: A Historical Look at the Urban Legend . March 1997.
- ^ Lawrence Levine: Black Culture and Black Consciousness. Oxford University Press, New York 1977; quoted from: Tony Kullen: Stagger Lee: A Historical Look at the Urban Legend . March 1997.
- ↑ discogs.com : Long Cleve Reed * and Little Harvey Hull - Down Home Boys * - Mama You Don't Know How / Original Stack O 'Lee Blues. Black Patti 1927
- ↑ Behind the story: Stagger Lee - Lloyd Price .
- ↑ a b Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds: Stagger Lee. Lyrics in the booklet for the album Murder Ballads , 1996.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Stagger Lee |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Shelton, Lee (real name); Stagolee; Stack O'Lee; Staggerbee |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American coachman, pimp and killer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 16, 1865 |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 11, 1912 |