This, That, and the Other

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, Jim Adams has asked us to find a song that was based on true events, which was suggested by Nancy, aka The Sicilian Storyteller. There are a lot of great songs based upon true events, but I wanted to go with one that is unlikely to be picked by anyone else. That song is “Stagger Lee.” Also known as “Stagolee” and other variants, it is a popular American folk song about the murder of Billy Lyons by “Stag” Lee Shelton in 1895. The song was first published in 1911 and first recorded in 1923, by Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians, titled “Stack O’ Lee Blues.” The version I’m focusing on for this post was recorded by Lloyd Price. It reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 7 on the UK singles chart in 1959.

Texas-born Lee Shelton, nicknamed Stagger Lee, was a notorious pimp and gambler who made headlines when he shot and killed Billy Lyons on Christmas night in 1895. The friends were drinking at a St. Louis saloon when they broke into an argument over politics that led to Stagger Lee crushing Lyons’ hat. When Lyons confiscated Stagger’s Stetson and refused to return it, Stagger fatally shot him in the abdomen.

Stagger Lee 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.

New Orleans pianist Leon Gross, known as Archibald, recorded the first mainstream hit rendition, the two-part “Stack-A-Lee,” in 1950 and reached number 10 on the R&B chart. Lloyd Price heard this version while he was serving in Korea after being drafted into the U.S. Army. After he was discharged in 1956, he formed the Kent Record Company with his old friend Harold Logan and released his first hit, “Just Because.” The following year, they rewrote the folk song “Stagger Lee” into the vengeful tale of two gamblers.

Interesting factoid: Dick Clark thought Price’s original version was too violent, so Price performed the tamer rendition that changed the shooting to an argument between two friends for his appearance on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. There have been over 170 recorded versions of the song, including four by Taj Mahal and eight by Mississippi John Hurt, released over the past century.

Here are the lyrics to “Stagger Lee.”

The night was clear
And the moon was yellow
And the leaves came tumbling down

I was standing on the corner
When I heard my bulldog bark
He was barkin' at the two men who were gamblin'
In the dark

It was Stagger Lee and Billy
Two men who gambled late
Stagger Lee threw seven
Billy swore that he threw eight
Stagger Lee (oh Stagger Lee) told Billy, (oh Stagger Lee)
I can't (oh Stagger Lee) let you go with that (oh Stagger Lee)
You have won all (oh Stagger Lee) my money and my brand new (oh Stagger Lee)
(oh Stagger Lee) Stetson hat (oh Stagger Lee) (oh Stagger Lee) (oh Stagger Lee)

Stagger Lee (oh Stagger Lee) went home (oh Stagger Lee)
And he got his forty-four (oh Stagger Lee) (oh Stagger Lee)
Said, I'm goin' to (oh Stagger Lee) the barroom just to pay that (oh Stagger Lee)
Debt I owe (oh Stagger Lee)

Stagger Lee went to the barroom
And he stood across the barroom door
He said, nobody move and he pulled his
Forty-four, Ooh

Stagger Lee, (oh Stagger Lee) cried Billy (oh Stagger Lee)
Oh, please (oh Stagger Lee) don't take my life (oh Stagger Lee)
I've got three little (oh Stagger Lee) children and a very (oh Stagger Lee)
Sickly wife (oh Stagger Lee) (oh Stagger Lee)

Stagger Lee (oh Stagger Lee) shot Billy (oh Stagger Lee)
Oh, he shot (oh Stagger Lee) that poor boy so bad (oh Stagger Lee)
'Till the bullet (oh Stagger Lee) came through Billy (oh Stagger Lee)and it broke the bar (oh Stagger Lee) (oh Stagger Lee)
Tender's glass (oh Stagger Lee) (oh Stagger Lee) (oh Stagger Lee) (oh Stagger Lee) (oh Stagger Lee) (oh Stagger Lee) (oh Stagger Lee) (oh Stagger Lee) (oh Stagger Lee) (oh Stagger Lee) (oh Stagger Lee)