983,119,739 visitors served.
983,119,739 visitors served. |
|
 Dictionary/ thesaurus |  Medical dictionary |  Legal dictionary |  Financial dictionary |  Acronyms |  Idioms |  Encyclopedia |  Wikipedia encyclopedia | ? |
Stagger Lee |
0.04 sec. |
|
Lee Shelton (also known as Stagger Lee, Stagolee, Stackerlee, Stack O'Lee, Stack-a-Lee and by several other spelling variants) was a black cab driver and a pimp ([1]) convicted of murdering William Lyons on Christmas Eve, 1895 in St. Louis Missouri. The crime was immortalized in a blues folk song that has been recorded in hundreds of different versions.
Lee Shelton was not just a common pimp, but as described by Cecil Brown, [1] "Lee Shelton belonged to a group of pimps known in St. Louis as the "Macks". The macks were not just "urban strollers"; they presented themselves as objects to be observed." Shelton died in prison in 1912, of tuberculosis. The crimeA story appearing in the St. Louis, Missouri Globe-Democrat in 1895 says: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 Sheldon, a carriage driver. Lyons and Sheldon 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 Sheldon's hat from his head. The latter indignantly demanded its return. Lyons refused, and Sheldon withdrew his revolver and shot Lyons in the abdomen. When his victim fell to the floor Sheldon 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 Sheldon is also known as 'Stag' Lee.[1] Lyons eventually died of his injuries. Sheldon was tried, convicted, and served prison time for this crime. This otherwise unmemorable crime is remembered in a song. In some older versions of the song, the name of the other party is given as "Billy Deslile" or "De Lion". Stagger Lee as archetypeImmortalized in song, Stagger Lee has become an archetype, the embodiment of a badass black man -- one who is sly, streetwise, cool, lawless, amoral, potentially violent, and who defies often white authority.The songsThe song has been recorded hundreds of times by a great variety of performers. The version recorded by Mississippi John Hurt is considered by some commentators to be definitive, containing all of the elements that appear in other versions. A cover with different lyrics was a chart hit for Lloyd Price in 1959; Dick Clark felt that the original tale of murder was too morbid for his American Bandstand audience, and insisted that they be changed (with no murder taking place). Despite the changes, it was the original version of the song that made #1 and was ranked #456 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.There is speculation that "Stag O Lee" songs predated even the 1895 incident, and Lee Sheldon may have gotten his nickname from earlier folk songs. Other sources say that black roustabouts on Mississippi River docks were called "stack o lees" as they would stack cargo on the lee side of the docks. The first published version of the song was done by folklorist John Lomax in 1910. The song was well known in African American communities along the lower Mississippi River by the 1910s. Before World War II, it was almost always known as "Stack O'Lee". W.C. Handy wrote that this probably was a nickname for a tall person, comparing him to the tall smoke-stack of the large steamboat Robert E. Lee. By the time that W.C. Handy wrote the explanation in the 1920s, "Stack O' Lee" was already familiar in United States popular culture, with recordings of the song made by such pop singers of the day as Cliff Edwards. An early Blues recording of the song from 1928 was made by Mississippi John Hurt, a blues musician. His lyrics:
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". A 1959 variation, credited as "traditional", as originally recorded and performed by Lloyd Price, goes:
Lloyd Price also recorded another version of the song in 1958 at the request of Dick Clark, who felt the original lyrics were not appropriate for his American Bandstand audience. The subject was changed from gambling to fighting over a woman, and instead of a murder, the two yelled at each other, and made up the next day. Other well known artists who have recorded it include Bob Dylan, Taj Mahal, Duke Ellington, Woody Guthrie, Bill Haley & His Comets, Wilson Pickett, Ike and Tina Turner, Fats Domino, Doc Watson, Dr. John, Tom Rush, Travis MacRae, The Isley Brothers and Huey Lewis And The News. The Fabulous Thunderbirds version is found on the soundtrack to Porky's Revenge. The Grateful Dead recorded a version of the tale which focuses on the fictionalized hours after the death of "Billy DeLion", when Billy's wife Delia tracks down Stagger Lee in a local saloon and shoots him in revenge for Billy's death. The 1979 album London Calling by the Punk band The Clash includes a version (a cover of a song by the Jamaican rocksteady group The Rulers) titled "Wrong 'Em Boyo," in which Stagger Lee is explicitly the hero and Billy the villain. Another variant by Austin blues artist Steve James retells the story from Stagger Lee's perspective, as the underprivileged child of a prostitute and a steamboat worker, and as with the Clash's version, Billy is not innocent. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, by contrast, present an even more violent and profane version of the song "Stagger Lee" [2]on their 1996 album Murder Ballads. (This version actually retakes a street "toast poem" on Stagolee. Toasts were 'pre-rap' poems and stories especially popular among those in the "life" and among prisoners. One famous toast "Duriella DuFontane" was covered by Jimi Hendrix and members of Harlem's Last Poets") Another variation on the same toast was recorded by bluesman R.L. Burnside on his 2001 album, Well, Well, Well. More recently, the Black Keys recorded a song entitled "Stack Shot Billy" on their 2004 album Rubber Factory. In 2005, Chris Whitley and Jeff Lang recorded their own arrangement of the song, called "Stagger Lee", ultimately released on their 2006 CD Dislocation Blues. A version of Staggolee performed by Pacific Gas & Electric was included on the soundtrack for Quentin Tarantino's film Death Proof, the second portion of the 2007 double-feature Grindhouse. Iowa hardcore band, Modern Life Is War, has recorded their own version of Stagger Lee for their album Midnight In America. Their song is not a cover, but rather a more free-form variation on the prison toast recorded by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and R.L. Burnside.
In Popular Culture
ReferencesThe hardcore/punk rock band Modern Life Is War also does a variation of a song entitled 'Stagger Lee'.External links
African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.[1] In the United States the term is generally used for Americans with sub-Saharan African ancestry. ..... Click the link for more information. Crimes Classes of crime Infraction · Misdemeanor · Felony Summary · Indictable · Hybrid Against the person Assault · Battery Extortion · Harassment ..... Click the link for more information. Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on the use of the blue notes and a repetitive pattern that most often follows a twelve-bar structure. It emerged in African-American communities of the United States from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, ..... Click the link for more information. Folk music can have a number of different meanings, including:
..... Click the link for more information. St. Louis, Missouri Flag Seal Nickname: Gateway City, Gateway to the West, or Mound City Location in the state of Missouri Coordinates: Country ..... Click the link for more information. 18th century - 19th century - 20th century 1860s 1870s 1880s - 1890s - 1900s 1910s 1920s 1892 1893 1894 - 1895 - 1896 1897 1898 : Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture - ..... Click the link for more information. White People (2004) White People is the second album by Handsome Boy Modeling School. Track listing
..... Click the link for more information. "Mississippi" John Smith Hurt (July 2, 1892,[1] Teoc, Carroll County, Mississippi - November 2, 1966, Grenada, Mississippi) was an influential blues singer and guitarist. Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, he learned to play guitar at age 9. ..... Click the link for more information. Lloyd Price (born 9 March 1933, Kenner, Louisiana) was an early New Orleans-style rock and roll musician. His first recording, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" was a huge hit on Specialty Records in 1952, and although he continued to turn out fine records, none were as popular until several ..... Click the link for more information. 20th century - 21st century 1920s 1930s 1940s - 1950s - 1960s 1970s 1980s 1956 1957 1958 - 1959 - 1960 1961 1962 Year 1959 (MCMLIX ..... Click the link for more information. Richard Wagstaff "Dick" Clark (born November 30, 1929) is an Emmy Award-winning American television, radio personality, game show host and businessman, he served as chairman and CEO of Dick Clark Productions, which he has sold part of in recent years. ..... Click the link for more information. American Bandstand is a television show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989. It is known not only for the emerging performers that it promoted (from Jerry Lee Lewis to Run DMC) but the many dance styles it featured through the decades. ..... Click the link for more information. Type Music magazine Format Owner Jann Wenner Publisher Wenner Publishing Editor Jann Wenner Will Dana Founded 1967 Language English Headquarters New York City, NY Circulation 1.2 to 1. ..... Click the link for more information. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone magazine published in November 2004. It was chosen based on votes by 172 musicians, critics, and industry figures. ..... Click the link for more information. For the film, see . A roustabout is a labourer typically performing temporary, unskilled work. The term has traditionally been used to refer to traveling-circus workers or oil rig workers. ..... Click the link for more information. Mississippi River Mississippi River in New Orleans. Country | United States States | ..... Click the link for more information. John Avery Lomax (September 23, 1867 - January 26, 1948) was a pioneering musicologist and folklorist. Lomax was born in Goodman, Mississippi and grew up in central Texas, just north of Meridian in rural Bosque County. ..... Click the link for more information. 19th century - 20th century - 21st century 1880s 1890s 1900s - 1910s - 1920s 1930s 1940s 1907 1908 1909 - 1910 - 1911 1912 1913 Year 1910 (MCMX ..... Click the link for more information. African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.[1] In the United States the term is generally used for Americans with sub-Saharan African ancestry. ..... Click the link for more information. Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century 1880s 1890s 1900s - 1910s - 1920s 1930s 1940s 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 - - - Events and trends..... Click the link for more information. Allied powers: Soviet Union United States United Kingdom China France ...et al. Axis powers: Germany Japan Italy ...et al. ..... Click the link for more information. William Christopher Handy (November 16 1873 – March 28 1958) was a blues composer and musician, often known as the "Father of the Blues." W. C. Handy remains among the most influential of American songwriters. ..... Click the link for more information. steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving a propeller or paddlewheel. ..... Click the link for more information. Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century 1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 - - ..... Click the link for more information. Motto "In God We Trust" (since 1956) "E Pluribus Unum" ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional) Anthem ..... Click the link for more information. Cliff Edwards (14 June, 1895 - 17 July, 1971), also known as "Ukelele Ike", was an American singer and musician who enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standards and novelty tunes. ..... Click the link for more information. Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on the use of the blue notes and a repetitive pattern that most often follows a twelve-bar structure. It emerged in African-American communities of the United States from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, ..... Click the link for more information. 19th century - 20th century - 21st century 1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s 1925 1926 1927 - 1928 - 1929 1930 1931 Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII ..... Click the link for more information. "Mississippi" John Smith Hurt (July 2, 1892,[1] Teoc, Carroll County, Mississippi - November 2, 1966, Grenada, Mississippi) was an influential blues singer and guitarist. Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, he learned to play guitar at age 9. ..... Click the link for more information. Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on the use of the blue notes and a repetitive pattern that most often follows a twelve-bar structure. It emerged in African-American communities of the United States from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, ..... Click the link for more information. This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia® - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the Wikipedia® encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License. |
|
? Mentioned in | ? References in periodicals archive | |
|---|---|---|
As a male child growing up on a tobacco farm in North Carolina in the late 1950s, Cecil Brown became fascinated with one particular ballad about Stagolee, Stagger Lee, or Stack O'Lee, to cite a few variations. |
 |
| Free Tools: |
For surfers:
Browser extension |
Word of the Day |
Help
For webmasters: Free content NEW! | Linking | Lookup box | Double-click lookup | Partner with us |
|
|---|
Disclaimer |
Privacy policy |
Feedback | Copyright © 2008 Farlex, Inc.
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Email
Feedback
Stack O'Lee