Stagolee
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American
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
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Lyrics:
Stagolee was a bad man,
Everybody knows,
Spent one hundred dollars
Just to buy him a suit clothes.
Chorus:
He was a bad man,
That mean old Stagolee.
Stagolee shot Billy de Lyons
What do you think about that?
Shot him down in cold blood
'Cause he stole his Stetson hat.
Chorus
Billy de Lyons said, "Stagolee,
Please don't take my life,
I've got two little babies
And a darling, loving wife".
Chorus
What do I care about your two little babes,
Your darling, loving wife,
You done stole my Stetson hat,
I'm bound to take your life;
Chorus
The judge said, "Stagolee,
What you doing in here,
You done shot Billy de Lyons
You gonna die in the 'lectric chair".
Chorus
Twelve o'clock they killed him,
Head reached up high.
Last thing that poor boy said,
"My six-shooter never told a lie".
Chorus
"Stagolee", also known as "Stagger Lee" and other variants, is a popular<br> American folk song about the murder of Billy Lyons by "Stag" Lee Shelton<br> in St. Louis, Missouri at Christmas, 1895. The song was first published<br> in 1911, and was first recorded in 1923 by Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians.<br> A version by Lloyd Price reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959.<br> The historical Stagger Lee was Lee Shelton, an African-American pimp<br> living in St. Louis, Missouri in the late 19th century. He was nicknamed<br> Stag Lee or Stack Lee, with a variety of explanations being given: he was<br> given the nickname because he "went stag", meaning he was without friends;<br> he took the nickname from a well-known riverboat captain called Stack Lee;<br> or, according to John and Alan Lomax, he took the name from a riverboat<br> owned by the Lee family of Memphis called the Stack Lee, which was known<br> for its on-board prostitution. He was well known locally as one of the<br> Macks, a group of pimps who demanded attention through their flashy clothing<br> and appearance. In addition to these activities, he was the captain of a<br> black Four Hundred Club, a social club with a dubious reputation.<br> On Christmas night in 1895, Shelton and his acquaintance William "Billy" Lyons<br> were drinking in the Bill Curtis Saloon. Lyons was also a member of St. Louis'<br> underworld, and may have been a political and business rival to Shelton.<br> Eventually, the two men got into a dispute, during which Lyons took Shelton's<br> Stetson hat. Subsequently, Shelton shot Lyons, recovered his hat, and left.<br> Lyons died of his injuries, and Shelton was charged, tried and convicted of<br> the murder in 1897. He was pardoned in 1909, but returned to prison in 1911<br> for assault and robbery. He died in incarceration in 1912.<br> The Lyons murder entered into American folklore and became the subject of<br> song as well as folktales and toasts. The song's title comes from Shelton's<br> nickname Stag Lee or Stack Lee. The name was corrupted in the folk<br> tradition; early versions were called "Stack-a-Lee" and "Stacker Lee";<br> "Stagolee" and "Stagger Lee" also became common. Other recorded variants<br> include "Stackerlee", "Stack O'Lee", "Stackolee", "Stackalee", "Stagerlee"<br> and "Stagalee".<br> The song has been recorded by Tom Rush, The Grateful Dead, Mississippi John Hurt,<br> Ike and Tina Turner, James Brown, Wilson Pickett and a lot of other blues,<br> jazz and pop style singers. It is in Folkways Anthology of American Folk Song.<br> It has been printed in Pete Seeger's American Favorite Ballads and Alan Lomax's<br> The Folk Songs of North America.<br>
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