MUSIC HISTORY: The Legend of Stagger Lee

The legend of Stagger Lee is one of the most important and enduring stories from American folklore. It is a tale that originated from African-American oral tradition.

There are many different versions, but here is the general storyline. Stagger Lee (also known as Stagolee, Stack O' Lee, Stackerlee, Stackalee, Stagger Lee, Stackolee etc.) gets into a dispute with a man named Billy Lyons (also known as Billy the Lion or Billy DeLyon). After losing his Stetson hat to Billy, Stagger Lee pulls a gun on Billy who then pleads to be spared for the sake of his wife and children. Showing no mercy, Stagger Lee shoots and kills Billy.

The killer's reputation for "badness" is a key to the story. According to some classic musical recordings of the legend (such as "Mississippi" John Hurt's "Stack O'Lee Blues"), the authorities are too frightened of Stagger Lee to arrest him for his crime. In some versions of the tale, he is eventually caught by the authorities, but the judge refuses to sentence him to prison because he fears that the badman will strike back against him. In other versions, Stagger Lee appears in hell after he is killed or executed, but is so "bad" that he takes control of the devil's kingdom and turns it into his own badman's paradise.

A researcher, looking for the historical figure who inspired the legend, uncovered this newspaper story:

Shot in Curtis's Place:

William Lyons, 25, colored, a levee hand, living at 1410 Morgan Street, 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, also colored. Both parties, it seems, had been drinking and were feeling in exuberant spirits. Lyons and Sheldon were friends and were talking together. 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 drew his revolver and shot Lyons in the abdomen. Lyons was taken to the Dispensary, where his wounds were pronounced serious. He was removed to the city hospital. At the time of the shooting, the saloon was crowded with negroes. Sheldon is a carriage driver and lives at North Twelfth Street. 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. Sheldon is also known as "Stag" Lee.

The St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat

December 28, 1895

(Note: Shelton's last name was misspelled in the article as Sheldon.) For further information and a wealth of information about the legend and the meaning behind it, check out the website, The Stagger Lee Files. 

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." The earliest versions were likely field hollers and other work songs performed by African-American labourers, and were well known along the lower Mississippi River by 1910. That year, musicologist John Lomax received a partial transcription of the song, and in 1911 two versions were published in the Journal of American Folklore by the sociologist and historian Howard W. Odum.

Clifton Avon “Cliff” Edwards (June 14, 1895 – July 17, 1971)—known as "Ukulele Ike"—was an American singer, actor and voice actor who enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standards and novelty tunes.

Cliff was also an occasional supporting player in feature films and short subjects at Warner Brothers and RKO Radio Pictures. His most famous voice role was as Jiminy Cricket in Walt Disney's Pinocchio (1940). His rendition of "When You Wish Upon A Star" is probably his most familiar recorded legacy.

Here is Cliff's “Stack O' Lee” recording on a 78 record, Part 1; Part 2 continues on the flip side, as you'll discover.

The song was 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. Also in 1924, the first version with lyrics was recorded, as "Skeeg-a-Lee Blues", by Lovie Austin. Ma Rainey recorded the song the following year, with Louis Armstrong on cornet, and a version was recorded by Frank Hutchison in 1927.

It is amazing to me how many people have written songs and have sung about Stagger Lee over the years. To mention but a few more: Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Woody Guthrie, Pat Boone, James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Taj Mahal, and many more. Today, let's take a look at a sampling of songs about Stagger Lee.

John Leon Gross (September 14, 1912 or 1916 – January 8, 1973), who performed and recorded as Archibald, was an American rhythm and blues pianist and singer. Archibald's version of “Stack-A-Lee” was the first to achieve widespread national success. It reached number 10 on the Billboard R&B chart in the summer of 1950.

Lloyd Price (born March 9, 1933) is an American R&B vocalist, known as "Mr. Personality", after one of his million-selling hits. From 1957 to 1959, Lloyd recorded a series of national hits for ABC, which were successful adaptations of the New Orleans sound, including "Stagger Lee" which topped the Pop and R&B charts in 1958 and sold over a million copies.

Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo composed of the husband-and-wife team. They were once considered "one of the hottest, most durable, and potentially most explosive of all R&B ensembles".

Ike and Tina recorded their version of “Stagger Lee and Billy” in 1965.

Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show (shortened from 1975 onwards to Dr. Hook), were an American rock band. At the height of their success, they were at the top of the charts in 42 countries, and collected 60 gold and platinum singles and albums.

Dr. Hook enjoyed considerable commercial success in the 1970s and 1980s with hit singles including "Sylvia's Mother", "The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'", “Only 16”, "A Little Bit More", "Sharing the Night Together", "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman", “Better Love Next Time”, “Sexy Eyes”, “Girls Can Get It”, and “Baby Makes her Blue Jeans Talk”. In addition to their own material, Dr. Hook performed and recorded songs written by the poet/children's book author Shel Silverstein.

Here's Ray Sawyer on lead with one of Shel's great story songs in which “Stagolee” finally gets what's coming to him.

James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE (born June 11, 1959) is an English actor, director, musician, singer, comedian, and author. He became known as one half of the Fry and Laurie double act with his friend and comedy partner Stephen Fry, whom he joined in the cast of A Bit of Fry & Laurie, Blackadder, and Jeeves and Wooster in the 1980s and 1990s.

From 2004 to 2012, Hugh played Dr. Gregory House, the title character of House, for which he received two Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He was listed in the 2011 Guinness World Records as the most watched leading man on television and was one of the highest-paid actors in a television drama, earning £250,000 ($409,000) per episode of House.

Laurie took piano lessons from the age of six. He sings and plays piano, guitar, drums, harmonica and saxophone. He has displayed his musical talents throughout his acting career. Laurie's debut studio album, Let Them Talk, was released to favourable reviews in May 2011. A follow-up, Didn't It Rain, was released in August 2013.

Here's Hugh's version of “Stagger Lee” from his Didn't It Rain album.

Thanks for listening. Hope to see you again next time when we take a journey back in Music History.

(Information used in this post from Wikipedia and The Stagger Lee Files.)

Dominique "Nik" Petersen is an aficionado of old music and the author of The Dr. Hook Trivia Quiz Book. Read about it and her other books at the website: 

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