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St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat December 28, 1895

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.

Lee Shelton, as his name is sometimes spelled, was convicted of murder and sentenced to prison where he stayed until his death, from tuberculosis, in 1912. He was said to have been a pimp and a member of an early street gang called “The Macks.” This incident is the probable source of numerous variants of the song variously called Stagolee, Stack-o-lee or Staggerlee Blues. Over time “Stack” Lee became a kind of black anti-hero Robin Hood, so bad that the law was afraid of him. In some versions he is executed and takes control of hell away from the devil.

I’ve collected a few of the more interesting ones from YouTube. Let’s start with a 1927 version sung by Cliff Edwards accompanied by jazz guitarist Eddie Lang and an unknown clarinetist. Edwards may have been familiar with the facts of the case. The shooting happened the year Edwards was born and he spent time in St. Louis, singing in saloons, as a very young man, where he may have heard the story and/or early versions of the song. In Edwards song “Stack” is a kind of hapless victim of his own behavior.

Mississippi John Hurt sings a version of the song in which Stagolee is a feared figure. Billy Delions is boastful about his own potential for violence until he meets the bad man, cruel Stagolee, who even frightens the police, note the appearance of “Stag’s” Stetson hat in the song, showing a possible tie to the St. Louis incident.

Lloyd Price released a rock and roll version in 1950. In his song Stagolee and Billy fight over a crap game and the Stetson hat, which becomes a symbol of Stagolee’s social status. Taking Stagolee’s hat is a mortal insult. The, often repeated, detail of the bullet passing through Billy and breaking the bartender’s “glass” appears in this version of the song.

Dave Van Ronk sang a version he learned from a Furry Lewis recording, which includes the hat, the detail of the bullet passing through Billy and, in this case breaking a mirror, the fear of “Stag” on the part of the police and, finally his coup in hell.

The clip below is a scene from The Jazz Singer, the first feature film “talkie,” which was written for and starred Al Jolson, who was one of the biggest stars of Broadway at the time. It was released in 1927.

Al Jolson was born in Lithuania in 1886. He was brought to America by his parents, escaping from the persecution of Jews by the Russian empire. Jolson began singing in the streets with his brother Hirsch, using the names Al and Harry, to earn money to go to vaudeville shows. Eventually Al and Harry became a vaudeville act.

The scene from The Jazz Singer in which Jolson sings Mammy in blackface is the image most people have of Al Jolson. Jolson often did perform in blackface on Broadway and earlier in vaudeville. Performing in blackface makeup was a convention which started in minstrel shows in the 19th century. In fact, black performers would sometimes make themselves up in blackface, which included the whitened lips and wide open, round eyes. This was not considered degrading toward blacks at the time, so it is said. Nevertheless I have chosen a scene from The Jazz Singer which does not show Jolson performing in blackface. Instead I have chosen the scene where silent film gives way to talking pictures. Notice as the scene begins, the exaggerated gestures, as Jolson eats his ham and eggs, the music and the captions. At this point the film is using all the conventions of silent movies. Only when Jolson takes the stage is it, suddenly, a talking picture, this is rather like the scene in The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy comes out of the black and white farmhouse into the Technicolor land of Oz. I’m sure it had a similar impact on the audience in 1927 that Oz hand in 1939.

I bought Richie Havens’ first album Mixed Bag when it came out in 1967, or maybe it was my brother’s copy, I don’t quite remember. At any rate this was one album that I listened to over and over again. One of the most striking cuts on Mixed Bag was his cover of Dylan’s Just Like A Woman.

I think that it was Paul McCartney who said that for a guy who didn’t know how to play the guitar, Richie Havens could play one hell of a guitar. In this video you cans see how he uses an open tuning and some unusual fingerings to produce a unique sound. His powerful rhythmic strumming, combined with the movement up and down the neck of parallel bass and treble notes, produces a full sounding arrangement. I have seen Richie play live alone and with only a percussionist. He doesn’t need a band. Richie’s voice is so unique and his phrasing is so precise that he is immediately recognizable whenever he sings.