Origins: Stagger Lee / Stack O'Lee / etc.

Subject: Stagger Lee
From:
Date: 08 Oct 97 - 02:48 AM

I am surprised not to find this in the database. Today I bought a fifties R & R CD very cheap, and this was on it by Lloyd Price, the version I know.

I always thought that this was a "tradtional" song in the sense the author is not known. Certainly I have heard longer versions played in bars by bar bands.

Who wrote it? Lloyd Price? Full lyrics? It has a pre-Prohibition sound & feel to the lyrics. (Mind you, so do many of Stan Rogers's songs)

Pleased to be enlightened:)

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Joe Offer
Date: 08 Oct 97 - 03:52 AM

That's a tough one to search for, Tim. I tried sta* and came up with too much. Try staglee* and you'll come up with the three versions I found. Dick, are there more?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From:
Date: 08 Oct 97 - 09:41 AM

Thanks. I thought I might have done something wrong.

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Peter T.
Date: 08 Oct 97 - 10:58 AM

There is an old, old song, "Stagolee", sometimes considered to be be a pre-blues song. Mississippi John Hurt did a nice version many years ago. Yours, Peter

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Carl
Date: 08 Oct 97 - 04:43 PM

I heard rumours, that it´s a song from wild west. It´s about a card game between Stagolee and a young guy named Billy DeLyons (in the version I know shortened to Bill Lee). Billy won and Stagolee shot him.

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Joe Offer
Date: 08 Oct 97 - 04:56 PM

Peter, is your version of Stagolee significantly different from the three versions in the database? I swear I've heard lots of different versions.
Dick, are there other versions in the database I didn't find, or just the three?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Sir
Date: 08 Oct 97 - 05:10 PM

I remember reading the words to "Stagolee" in a collection of African American poetry years ago. It was listed as folk-song. -Sir

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 08 Oct 97 - 07:38 PM

Stagolee. Stagalee. Stacker Lee. Try a search on Stetson. or [Billy Lyons].

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Joe Offer
Date: 08 Oct 97 - 09:06 PM

Didn't come up with any more, Dick. Three versions should be enough to suit anybody, with the possible exception of the late, great Francis James Child.
Searching under staglee* brings up all three versions.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: Lyr Add: STAGGER LEE (from Taj Mahal)
From: Max
Date: 08 Oct 97 - 12:00 AM

STAGGER LEE
As sung by Taj Mahal on "Giant Step" (1969)

Could been on a rainy mornin'; could been on a rainy night.
Stagger Lee and Billy de Lyon had a great big fight.
Talkin' 'bout the bad man, cruel old Stagger Lee.

"Stagger Lee," said Billy, "man, you know I can't go with that.
I done won all your money and your great big Stetson hat."
Talkin' 'bout the bad man, cruel old Stagger Lee.

"Stagger Lee," said Billy, "man, don't take my life.
I got two lovely children; I got a very lovely wife."
Talkin' 'bout the bad man, cruel old Stagger Lee.

Stagger Lee shot Billy, shot the boy so bad
The bullet went through Billy, broke the bartender's looking-glass.
Talkin' 'bout the bad man, cruel old Stagger Lee.

If you ever down in Louisiana, go into the Lyon's Club.
Every foot you be steppin' in, Billy de Lyon blood.
Talkin' 'bout that bad man, bad man, cruel old Stagger Lee.

It could been on a rainy mornin'; it could been on a rainy night.
Oh, Stagger Lee and Billy de Lyon had a great big fight.
Talkin' 'bout that bad man, cruel old Stagger Lee.

_________________
Gosh I love this song

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Max
Date: 08 Oct 97 - 09:24 PM

I read that This song dates back to the civil war. There is a letter from a soldier in the war to his mother or wife telling the story of Stagger Lee and his fight with Billy DeLyons. The letter is on catalog somewhere.

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Earl
Date: 09 Oct 97 - 12:28 AM

Other accounts have Staggerlee as a deck hand on a riverboat around the turn of the century or a black gangster who controlled the black section of Memphis in the 1870's. Most accounts place the fight in Memphis but there are versions of the song set in New Orleans.

Here is a list of 125 recorded versions of Staggerlee.

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Peter T.
Date: 09 Oct 97 - 01:45 PM

Earl, This is Staggering, not Stagolee. It only goes to show that the Internet is the weirdest thing ever. Who would have thought someone would post 125 versions of this? Is everyone as crazy as we are? Yours, Peter

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Earl
Date: 10 Oct 97 - 10:35 AM

Peter, Yes, everyone on the web is as crazy as we are and some are downright obsessive. With the right key word you can find absolutely anything!

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Susan of DT
Date: 10 Oct 97 - 09:52 PM

Joe et al - when you find a number near the bottom of a song, in this case #663, you can search for the number and get all versions of the song (or all that we realized we had when we did the numbers). There are three versions of Stager Lee with #663

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From:
Date: 11 Oct 97 - 02:21 PM

"Herb Wiedoeft's Cinderella Roof Orchestra"? What a great name for a band.

Subject: Lyr Add: BILLY LYONS AND STACK O'LEE (Furry Lewis)
From: dwditty
Date: 12 Oct 97 - 06:48 AM

From the book, "The Blues Line" - a collection of blues lyrics in a survey of sorts (Eric Sackheim, Schirmer Press, 1973), here are lyrics to Billy Lyons and Stack O'Lee attributed to Furry Lewis. This version appears virtually word for word on a Dave Van Ronk recording from the 60's. ^^

BILLY LYONS AND STACK O'LEE

I remember one September, on one Friday night,
Stack O'Lee and Billy Lyon, had a great fight,
Crying, when you lose your money, learn to lose.

Billy Lyon shot six bits; Stack O'Lee bet he passed,
Stack O'Lee out with his forty-five, said "You done shot your last."
When you lose your money, learn to lose.

Lord, a woman came a-running, fell down on her knees,
Crying, "O Mister Stack O'Lee, don't shoot my brother, please."
When you lose your money--

Now you talking about some gambler, oughta seen Richard Lee,
Shot one thousand dollars, and come out on a three,
Crying, when you lose your money, learn to lose.

Lord, the judge told the sheriff, "We want him dead or alive.
How in the world can we bring him in, when he totes a forty-five?"
When you lose your money, learn to lose.

Lord, the woman told the judge, "My husband's name Jack Shelf.
Wanna 'rest poor Stack O'Lee, better go somewheres else."
When you lose your money, learn to lose.


I am not at all confident that the form of these lyrics will remain in "stanza" form once I submit. If someone would send me message on my personal page as to "how to force the end of line" when typing lyrics, I would appreciate it. I'm sure I read about it somewhere in the past, but cannot recall.

Thanks in advance,

DW

HTML line breaks added --JoeClone, 29-Sep-01.

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Peter T.
Date: 12 Oct 97 - 10:56 AM

Dear DW, the easiest is, where you want the break, to type an arrow bracket, the thing that looks like two thirds of a left pointing triangle, followed by the letters br, followed by the arrow bracket pointing right. This is HTML code for a break. The Net recognises things within those brackets as instruction code. Yours, Peter

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Earl
Date: 12 Oct 97 - 08:05 PM

Tom Rush also recorded dwditty's version.

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Gene
Date: 09 Jan 98 - 11:03 PM

RE: The list of 125 recorded versions of Staggerlee posted above HAS MOVED TO:

http://arts.ucsc.edu/gdead/agdl/stagger.html

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: chet w
Date: 09 Jan 98 - 11:34 PM

Doc Watson did a great version of Stack-o-Lee. The last verse, after the hanging is:

Stack grabbed the devil by the collar Throwed him up on the shelf Said, Get out of here, you son of a gun I'll run this place myself I'm that bad man They call me Stack-o-Lee

Doc Watson is a great source of quality versions of just about anything. The version of Staggerlee/Stack-o-Lee that I do is a combination of the ones by Doc and Taj Mahal. I'm going to work in some of the wonderful Furry Lewis verses above. Thanks for those.

Chet W.

Subject: Lyr Add: STAG O'LEE
From: Gene
Date: 10 Jan 98 - 01:47 PM

Here is one of many versions of STAG O'LEE
From "THE WORLD's FAVORITE HOOTENANNY Sing Along Songs"
^^

It was early, early one morning
When I heard my bulldog bark
Stag O'Lee and Billy Lyons
Was squabblin' in the dark.

Refrain: A mean one was he, Stag O'Lee!

Stag O'Lee, he told Billy Lyons
Tell me why you be like that?
You win all my money, Bill
You win my Stetson hat.

Refrain:

Stag O'Lee, he went out a-walkin'
In the red-hot broiling sun
Went and shot poor Billy Lyons
With his old forty-one.

Refrain:

Billy Lyons, he had a fam'ly
Wife and kids, a nice, neat flat
Stag O'Lee made Missus Lyons
A widow dressed in black.

Refrain:

Thousand dollars, that was the bounty
For a noose 'round Stag O'Lee
They are aiming for to hang him
The devil still goes free.

Refrain:

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From:
Date: 10 Jan 98 - 08:59 PM

I have seen it spelled Stack O Lee too!

The Furry Lewis version is my favorite. He does some good guitar picking in it. In that it is Billie Lyons's sister who pleads for his life before Stagerlee shoots him.

The Mississippi John Hurt version is a different story. In that Stagerlee shoots Billy because he stole his $5 Stetson Hat, whereas in most other versions, he shoots him because of a gambling argument. I would call that my second favorite.

Of course Hurt makes up for it with Louis Collins who does get shot in a gambling argument under conditions similar to those in which Billy Lyons was shot.

There was a court case, of which there is ballads about the $5 hat case, but I don't recall the details. It is not Stagerlee. I have read that the "original" John Hardy was arrested for shooting a man over something like $5.

Here is a question for John Hurt experts. I seem to recall he has two versions of Stagerlee. One where he says "that cruel Stagerlee" and one where he says "that mean ol' stagerlee." Am I remembering correctly, or am I confusing two different versions.

Murray

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Earl
Date: 11 Jan 98 - 06:05 PM

I know Mississippi John Hurt sang "cruel Staggerlee" but I havent heard "mean ol'" although I've seen written versions like that.

Although Staggerlee was probably based on a real person he was also a legendary figure in African Americal folklore. He was sort of an evil Paul Bunyon who started San Francisco earthquake by pulling the water pipe in a saloon.

The way I heard the story is that Staggerlee sold his soul to the devil in exchange for a white Stetson hat. The hat had magic powers that that, among other things, protected Staggerlee from the law. When he lost the hat to Billy he lost his protection so they were able to arrest and execute him. I haven't heard or seen any version of the song that explicitly describes the hat as magic, though.

John Hurt's version has one verse about the trial:

Gentlemen of the Jury, what do think of that?
Staggerlee shot Billy DeLyon 'bout a five dollar Stetson hat
That bad man, Cruel Staggerlee

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From:
Date: 11 Jan 98 - 06:50 PM

Found it. It was posted in rec.music.folk on December 28, 1997 by the informative Abby Sale under his daily "Happy."

According to the post, the incident happened on December 28, 1895 and was reported in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Lee "Stag" Sheldon, a carriage-driver, shot William Lyons, dockhand, when Lyons snatched his hat after the two had been arguing politics. Look under Stag Lee on a Dejanews search and the whole article will come up.

BTW, there was some debate over this song on one of the folk music newsgroups when someone asked what was the first folk rock song. Considerable numbers held out for the R & B version of Stagger Lee, but House of the Rising Sun by the Animals seems to have won it. ( I go with Stagger Lee) It of course raised the argument about what was folk and what was rock.

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Earl
Date: 12 Jan 98 - 08:50 AM

That's interesting information about St. Louis. I'm not saying it's wrong but I have four sources that put the murder in Memphis and three that give Lee as Staggerlee's last name. Two say he was Richard Lee, related somehow to the Lee family of Memphis who owned a stamboat line. One says he was Jim Stack Lee, mulatto son of Stack Lee, a Confederate cavalryman. There was also a steamboat on the Mississippi before the murder called the Stack-o-Lee. In the songbook "Outlaws and Outcasts" Jerry Silverman claims to have had the great grand nephew of Billy Lyons as a student.

A newspaper clipping, thoough, would be harder evidence than anything I've seen.

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Bill D
Date: 12 Jan 98 - 07:12 PM

a man with a good watch always knows the time....a man with two watches is never sure....

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From:
Date: 12 Jan 98 - 09:27 PM

A man with a non working watch knows the exact time twice a day.

Murray

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Bill D
Date: 12 Jan 98 - 09:51 PM

nahhhh...the WATCH is right twice a day...the man has no idea when that is...

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Barry
Date: 13 Jan 98 - 12:14 AM

sounds like a song, " I asked the mate which watch was mine O" Barry

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Earl
Date: 13 Jan 98 - 12:07 PM

I'd be happy just to know what day it is.

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Bert
Date: 13 Jan 98 - 04:15 PM

"the first folk rock song"

Is no one going to bite on that one.
My candidate would be "Rocking through the Rye" by Bill Hailey. But then my definition of folk is quite broad.

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Earl
Date: 14 Jan 98 - 01:11 AM

I won't try for the first, but there was folk-rock way before the term was coined. Johnny Horton did "The Battle of New Orleans", Jimmie Rodgers (not THE Jimmie Rodgers) did "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine."

I don't know where you want to put skiffle but Lonnie Donnegan did the whole Leadbelly songbook with drums and electric guitar before the Animals did "House of the Rising Son."

Subject: Lyr Add: MRS. DELION'S LAMENT
From: Dale Rose
Date: 14 Jan 98 - 12:34 PM

Here's Jim Ringer's take on the Staggerlee story.

Mrs. DeLion's Lament
Jim Ringer
from Any Old Wind That Blows Philo 1021, 1975.

Stagalee walked down by the levee, just about the break of day
There he met old Billy DeLions and he set him down to play
Billy DeLions was a good ol' boy, but he learned just a little too late
He never shoulda swore Stagalee's seven was a goddam hard luck eight
So Stagalee told Billy DeLions well you can't get away with that
You got my money and my forty dollar suit, can't have my Stetson hat
Now if you still here when I get back with my butcher knife and gun
I'm gonna cut you if you stand still, and I'll shoot you if you run.

Cause I'm Stagalee, boys, he's comin' round the bend
He ain't doin' nothin' but just killin' off good men
He's long and he's tall and he do not wear no shoes
You cannot tell his footprints from a horse or a mule.

Stagalee he went a'walkin' in the red hot blazin' sand
Said I feel so mistreated, Lord, I could shoot most any man
Then he walked back down, found Billy DeLions and its a sad, sad thing to tell
Lord he cut him deep and he shot him down, and he laughed when Billy fell
Then he stuck his nose in the sheriff's face, and what do you think he said
You know the man I run from ain't been born, and his momma, she's done dead
Well, the sheriff come at Stagalee next morning just at dawn
With 98 deputies, the National Guard, and a brand new Gatling gun.

They lookin for Stagalee, boys, he's comin' round the bend
He ain't doin' nothin' but just killin' off good men
He's long and he's tall and he do not comb his hair
And in his face he look just like some goddam grizzly bear.

When the fight was done, they took Stagalee down to the old courtyard
In 200 pounds of loggin' chain with a Sherman tank on guard
Ol' judge he grin from ear to ear, said I see you standin' there
You killed 42 deputies and Billy DeLions and you goin' to the 'lectric chair
Ol' Stagalee shrugged his shoulders, said I guess my gamblin's done
But I'll eat your face for breakfast, Judge, if you try to take away my gun
With his six gun held in his right hand, they put him in the 'lectric chair
Said you ain't gonna put no headpiece on or cut my curly hair.

Cause I'm Stagalee, boys, he's comin' round the bend
He ain't doin' nothin' but just killin' off good men
He's long and he's tall and he do not comb his hair
And in his face he look just like some goddam grizzly bear.

When Stagalee reached the gates of Hell, he put the imps all on the run
Foamin' at the mouth and cussin' up a streak and wavin' around his gun
Walked right up in the devil's face, said I like your place just fine
I wanna shoot some body so goddam bad, (like I??) shot Billy DeLions
Devil he told Stagalee, now don't you lose your self control
You know you can't shoot Billy DeLions no more, there ain't room for no more holes
So Stagalee he told the devil, what you say we have some fun
You can stick me with your pitchfork and I'll shoot you with my gun.

Cause I'm Stagalee, boys, he's comin' round the bend
He ain't doin' nothin' but just killin' off good men
He's long and he's tall and he do not wear no shoes
You cannot tell his footprints from a horse or a mule.

From the notes: I'd like to thank my friend, Jon Adams, who may currently be living in Portland (he was at last report) for the idea for "Mrs. DeLion's Lament." I'm not sure just how much of his words and melody I used. Maybe it's a direct lift in which case there was no intent to rip him off. It's just that when I head Billy, Warren and Peter on the horns, I wanted to use them, and didn't have any song that they fit on really well.

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From:
Date: 14 Jan 98 - 07:27 PM

Well, it should be easy enough to test the veracity of Abby Sale's post. Maybe someone in St. Louis can go to the library archives and look up that paricular issue of the Globe-Democrat, and see if the article on the shooting is there. Presumably it would be reported the day after the shooting or soon thereafter.

Show-Me staters, please advise us!

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From:
Date: 15 Jan 98 - 07:44 PM

Just to pick a few nits. The other Rodgers's name is spelled Jimmie [F] Rodgers, which is handy for writing and searching the net, but not for pronouncing.

In the 60s, folk programs tended to refer to Jimmie Rodgers (The singing brakeman, yodeler, etc) as the "legendary Jimmie Rodgers" to distinguish him from the more modern Jimmie.

CAUTION; The above was written by the world's worse speller!

One more thing. I was listening to an Ella Fitzgerald number called "Rock it For Me". She uses the phrase "Rock and Roll". This might be the first use of the phrase in a song. Unfortunately, it is a cheapie album, and they don't give recording details. The music bears no resemblance to Rock, R&B or Rock and Roll, by the way, and from it's style I would say it is made in the 40s.

Murray

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Barry
Date: 15 Jan 98 - 10:22 PM

Other references to "rock & roll" 'Oh rock & roll (or row) me over Johnny one more day' & 'Oh roll rock her bars, heaver 'er hi oh rock 'er roll'. I think you could safely say sailors have been rockin & rollin for ages. Barry

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Earl
Date: 24 Jan 98 - 02:00 AM

While trying to find out more about the Staggerlee-St. Louis connection (without actually going to St. Louis) I found this page:Stagger Lee: A Historical Look at the Urban Legend It mentions the St. Louis article as well as just about everything already mentioned.

One other note, I keep reading references to other folktales involving Staggerlee. Except for one rather obscene poem, I haven't found any.

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From:
Date: 26 Jan 98 - 05:57 PM

Interesting essay. It is hard to know what to believe, even though it seems there was indeed a newspaper article as Abby Sale stated.

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Earl
Date: 27 Jan 98 - 08:43 AM

I think there must have been more than one Staggerlee and maybe more than one murder. There is certainly more than one song. The name Billy Lyons and the reference to the hat must have come from the St. Louis murder.

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: sc
Date: 05 Feb 99 - 12:46 PM

taj mahal did another version live on this little demo cd from ruf records. (free from Blues Revue magazine). The ending is different than what max left. I'd give my stetson for those lyrics. You can barely understand what taj is sayin.

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: sc
Date: 05 Feb 99 - 12:51 PM

UVa has a public radio station. they have in their homepage a section listing all stagger lee songs and the artists.

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From:
Date: 08 Feb 99 - 05:37 AM

There is an interview with Mississippi John Hurt in which he discusses Stagger Lee. He puts him in the company of Jessie James.

Click here to read the interview.

Murray

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Art Thieme
Date: 09 Feb 99 - 02:13 AM

I've always heard that the man's name was simply LEE and he was a STACKER OF COTTON BALES on the docks of New Orleans---therefore STACKERLEE.

Art

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Brian Hoskin
Date: 09 Feb 99 - 03:33 AM

In 'The Journal of American Folklore' Vol. XXIV July- Sept 1911, Howard W. Odum, in an article entitled 'Folk-Song and Folk-Poetry as Found in the Secular Songs of the Southern Negroes', prints two versions of Stagolee which he collected. Between the versions he writes:

"The above version is usually sung in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee, though it is known in Alabama and Georgia, besides being sung by the negro vagrants all over the country."

Sorry, but I haven't time to print them out just at the moment.

Brian

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Nathan Sarvis
Date: 09 Feb 99 - 03:55 PM

An interesting point, in the interview Murray links above,, Mississippi John Hurt insists that Stagger Lee was a white man.

Subject: Lyr Add: STAGOLEE (from Odum and Johnson)
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 28 Feb 03 - 09:37 PM

Lots of stories about Stackolee, few of which agree on details. The following is quoted from The traditional Ballad Index, California State Univ. Fresno:
"On Dec. 29, 1895, William Lyons (levee hand) and Lee Sheldon (coach driver nicknamed "Stag" Lee) were drinking at a tevern in St Louis, MO. A political discussion began; in the heat of the argument Lyons knocked off Sheldon's hat and Sheldon promptly pulled a pistol and shot him dead. He was arrested and tried; the first trial ended in a hung jury, but he was convicted in a second trial and served time in prison, dying in 1916.
A St. Louis judge who has researched the case suggests that Sheldon had received a spell from a hoodoo woman, giving him exceptional sexual potency. The talisman for that spell was his hat, so knocking it from his head was no ordinary insult..-PJS" No reference in given.

In one of the posts above, versions found by Odum are mentioned.

Lyr. Add: STAGOLEE

Stagolee, Stagolee, what's dat in you' grip?
Nothin' but my Sunday clothes, I'm goin' to take a trip.
Oh, dat man, bad man, Stagolee done come.

Stagolee, Stagolee, where you been so long?
I been out on de battle fiel' shootin' an' havin' fun.
Oh, dat man, bad man, Stagolee done come.

Stagolee was a bully man, an' ev'ybody knowed,
When dey seed Stagolee comin' to give Stagolee de road.
Oh, dat man, bad man, Stagolee done come.

Stagolee started out, he give his wife his han';
"Goodbye darlin', I'm goin' to kill a man.
Oh, dat man, etc.

Stagolee killed a man and laid him on de flo'.
What's dat he kill him wid? Dat same ole fohty-fo'.
Oh, dat man, etc.

Stagolee killed a man an' laid him on his side,
What's dat he kill him wid? Dat same ole fohty-five.
Oh, dat man, etc.

Out of house an' down de street Stagolee did run,
In his hand he held a great big smok'n' gun.
Oh, dat man, etc.

Stagolee, Stagolee, I'll tell you what I'll do;
If you'll git me out'n dis trouble I'll do as much for you.
Oh, dat man, etc.

Ain't it a pity, ain't it a shame?
Stagolee was shot, but he don't want no name.
Oh, dat man, etc.

Stagolee, Stagolee, look what you done done:
Killed de best ole citerzen; now you'll have to be hung.
Oh, dat man, etc.

Stagolee cried to de jury, "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.

Odum and Johnson, 1925 (Negro Press reprint of 1968), "The Negro and His Songs," pp. 196-198. See Brian Hoskin post, above, for comments by Odum.

Some versions borrow verses from Frankie and Albert (Johnny).

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Sam L
Date: 01 Mar 03 - 12:19 AM

God'll take care of your three little children
and I'll take care of your wife
you done stole my stetson hat
and I'm bound to take your life.


I heard that he was a bad man.

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 07 Jun 03 - 10:05 PM

NY Times book review, "Stagolee Shot Billy." Stagolee has little relevance to the African-American of today.

Stagolee and gangsta

Subject: RE: Stagger Lee
From: Nerd
Date: 07 Jun 03 - 10:41 PM

I've read the book, and I'd say Stagolee still has great relevance. Certainly the author thinks so!

It's very good on the history, not so great on the interpretation. In other words, he shows a lot about who the original person was on whom the song is based, and makes a very convincing case, but he could have developed the analysis more in terms of what the song means to people. Still, by and large it was a good, groundbreaking book.