|
07 Jun 20 - 01:50 PM (#4057931) Subject: Stagolee by Blind Pete & Partner From: GUEST,Jim Hauser I have a question about a line in Blind Pete's version of Stagolee. The line is below without any punctuation. My question is, who is actually saying the line? Is it Billy or Stagolee? . Stagolee says Billy Please don't take my life You can hear the recording at the link below at about the 30 second mark. Link to recording on Youtube |
|
07 Jun 20 - 10:46 PM (#4058045) Subject: RE: Stagolee by Blind Pete & Partner From: cnd "Stagolee," says Billy, "Please don't take my life" is how I interpreted it. For the sake of completeness, here are the lyrics to the song from https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=6456.0 SPOKEN: Stagolee, now, right on Stagolee Stagolee, oh Stack, what do you think about that? Killed poor Billy De Lyon 'bout a five-dollar Stetson hat REFRAIN: Ain't he a bad man with his gun? By Sunday Stack was arrested, Monday he was in jail Tuesday morning, he was out on a hundred-dollar bail REFRAIN: Ain't he a bad man with his gun? "Stagolee", says Billy, "Please don't take my life. I've got two little children and a dear little lovin' wife." REFRAIN: Ain't he a bad man with his gun? "My one was a boy, other is a girl." "You'll never see your father's face 'til you meet him in another world." REFRAIN: Ain't he a bad man with his gun Stack said to his woman, like some rounder would do "Get me out of this cellar, girl, no tellin' what I'll do for you." REFRAIN: Ain't he a bad man with his gun? "Why, some call me Stack, my name is Billy Wills. I am not your prisoner, go and hunt somebody else." REFRAIN: Ain't he a bad man with his gun? Stagolee and Billy had a noble fight Hey, I would call that a awful, real bad night REFRAIN: Ain't he a bad man with his gun? Stack shot poor Billy, Billy fell against the trees He cried, "Look-a-here, Stack done murdered me!" REFRAIN: Ain't he a bad man with his gun |
|
08 Jun 20 - 01:55 PM (#4058188) Subject: RE: Stagolee by Blind Pete & Partner From: GUEST,Jim Hauser Thank you for your response. Personally, I feel the lyrics are ambiguous, and I see the possibility that it's actually Stagolee who is pleading for his life. I started this thread because I'm not sure if I'm right about the ambiguity, or if I'm totally mistaken and just completely missing something. (I plan on writing an essay for my website in which I suggest that it may actually be Stagolee who is pleading for mercy, so I'm curious about how other people interpret the line.) I want to add that I know of two versions in which Stagolee is the one who pleads for his life. One version is a recording by the Downhome Boys (Long "Cleve" Reed and Little Harvey Hull) titled "Original Stack O'Lee Blues." It's the third verse. I copied the complete lyrics from another Mudcat thread and pasted them below. ORIGINAL STACK O'LEE BLUES As sung by Long "Cleve" Reed and Little Harvey Hull, on Black Patti 8030-B, 1927. Stack O'Lee was a bully; he bullied all his life. Well, he bullied to Chicago town with a ten-cent pocket knife. And he's gone, Stack O'Lee. Stack said to Billy: "How can it be You arrest a man ... as me, but you won't 'rest Stack O'Lee?" And he's gone, Stack O'Lee. Stack says to Billy: "Don't you take my life. Well, I ain't got none but two little children and a darlin' lovin' wife And he's gone, Stack O'Lee. "One is a boy and the other'n is a girl." "Well, you may see your children again but it'll be in another world." And he's gone, Stack O'Lee. Standing on a corner, well, I didn't mean no harm. Well, a policeman caught me; well, he grabbed me by my arm. And he's gone, Stack O'Lee. Stack O'Lee and Billy had a noble fight. Well, Stack O'Lee killed Billy deLyon one cold dark stormy night. And he's gone, Stack O'Lee. Standing on a hilltop a dog begin to bark. Well, it wasn't nothin' but Stack O'Lee come creeping in the dark. And he's gone, Stack O'Lee. The second version was collected by Howard Odum and initially published in the Journal of American Folklore around the year 1911. Stagolee makes the plea for mercy in the last verse, but there is a major difference because the plea is made to the jury and the judge at Stagolee's trial. Again, I copied the lyrics from a Mudcat thread and pasted them below. STAGOLEE Stagolee, Stagolee, what's dat in yo' grip? Nothing but my Sunday clothes; I'm foin' to take a trip. Oh dat man, bad man, Stagolee done come! Stagolee, Stagolee, where you been so long? I been on de battle-fiel' shootin' an' havin' fun. Oh dat man, bad man, Stagolee done come! Stagolee was a bully man an' everybody knowed, When de seed Stagolee comin', to give Stagolee de road. Oh dat man, bad man, Stagolee done come! Stagolee started out, he gives his wife his han'; "Goodbye, darlin', I'm goin' to kill a man." Oh dat man, bad man, Stagolee done come! Stagolee killed a man an' laid him on de flo'. What's dat he kill 'im wid? Dat same ol' fohty-fo'. Oh dat man, bad man, Stagolee done come! Stagolee killed a man an' laid him on his side. What's dat he kill 'im wid? Dat same ol' fohty-five. Oh dat man, bad man, Stagolee done come! Out o' de house an' down de street Stagolee did run, In his hand he held a great big smoking gun. Oh dat man, bad man, Stagolee done come! Stagolee, Stagolee, I'll tell you what I'll do, If you'll git me out o' dis trouble, I'll do as much for you. Oh dat man, bad man, Stagolee done come! Ain't it a pity, ain't it a shame, Stagolee was shot, but he don't want no name! Oh dat man, bad man, Stagolee done come! Stagolee, Stagolee, look what you done done. Killed de bes' ole citizen; now you'll have to be hung. Oh dat man, bad man, Stagolee done come! Stagolee cried to de jury an' to de judge: "Please don't take my life; I have only three little children an' one little lovin' wife." Oh dat man, bad man, Stagolee done come! Does anybody agree with me that Blind Pete's lyrics are ambiguous? |
|
12 Jun 20 - 05:01 PM (#4059008) Subject: RE: Stagolee by Blind Pete & Partner From: cnd Jim, I get your uncertainty. It's hard to be sure because of the context. Maybe since much of the rest of the spoken word is Stack talking it could be Stack asking to keep his life from Billy, but to me it makes more sense that Billy is begging for his life, since in the first verse Blind Pete sings that the murder was to steal a hat. |
|
13 Jun 20 - 07:07 AM (#4059077) Subject: RE: Stagolee by Blind Pete & Partner From: GUEST,Jim Hauser You make a good point, but I still have my doubts. One of the things I'll be looking at in my essay is why Stagolee was such an important hero--Zora Neale Hurston called him a culture hero--for African Americans. It's a question I've been grappling with for a long time. It's easy to see why a "bad" man like Stagolee was a figure of solidarity for black men in the sixties, especially the militant Black Panthers like Bobby Seale. But why would a guy who seems to kill another man in cold blood be such a hero. And what is so "bad" about Stagolee killing a man who appears to be unarmed--men were killed on Beale street in Memphis almost every night back in the days of Jim Crow so killings like Stagolee's shooting Billy were probably common. Cecil Brown says that the Stetson is the key to understanding the ballad and I will get into that in my essay, and take Brown's explanation of the Stetson as a symbol of manhood further by arguing that if it was a symbol of manhood it would have also been a symbol of freedom. Cecil Brown wrote that Stagolee is rooted in police brutailty, but he doesn't really elaborate on that to provide a satisfactory explanation (at least not in my opinion). And James Cone wrote that Stagolee's victories were our [African American] victories, and that Stagolee represented the triumph of the weak over the strong. Unfortunately, he doesn't provide any explanation for his statements. My essay will explore the possibilities. I'll follow up on this post once the essay is done and posted on my website, but it will probably be a couple months. |
|
13 Jun 20 - 07:13 AM (#4059078) Subject: RE: Stagolee by Blind Pete & Partner From: GUEST,Jim Hauser One last thing regarding the Stetson, I believe in most versions it is the property of Stagolee, but that's not always clearly extablished. Also, if I remember correctly, the Stetson does belong to Billy in Champion Jack Dupree's version, but it's the only one I can think of in which this is the case. Thread #168981 Message #4082479 Posted By: GUEST,Jim Hauser 08-Dec-20 - 01:52 PM Thread Name: New article on Stagolee and John Henry Subject: New research on Stagolee and John Henry
Hi folks, |