He was 39. . Other notable pre-war versions were recorded by Duke Ellington (1927), Cab Calloway (1931), Woody Guthrie (1941),[10] and Sidney Bechet (1945). The song was first published in 1911 and first recorded in 1923, by Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians, titled "Stack O' Lee Blues". Esio Magalhes Ator, palhao, diretor e professor no Barraco Teatro Campinas, SP. 1939 - John Amos, American actor 1943 - Cokie Roberts, American journalist 1944 - Mick Jones, English guitarist, and songwriter 1948 - Grard Depardieu, French-Russian actor . He always addresses Stagolee, and its always some version of the same two-sentence appeal: Please dont take my life. Lee was arrested, tried, andafter two trialssentenced to twenty-five years in the Missouri State Penitentiary. Currently, Billy Lyons is 157 years, 10 months and 20 days old. 1,431 likes. Lyons refused, and Sheldon withdrew his revolver and shot Lyons in the abdomen. As Billy staggered along the bar, clutching the rail, Lee walked up and, retrieving his Stetson, said, I told you to give me my hat! He then turned and walked calmly home. I got two little babies, and a darlin lovin wife [citation needed], Damon Runyon references the song in his 1920s short story Broadway Financier, where the song is called Stacker Lee.. [15], Lloyd Price recorded the song as "Stagger Lee" in 1958, and it rose to the top of both the R&B and US pop charts in early 1959. What about Stags bad man reputation and Billys wife and children, though? Honorees included Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor Billy Crudup with celebratory toasts to Ken Greiner, Chair, [] 1991-present. Handy wrote that it probably was a nickname for a tall person, comparing him to the tall smokestack of the large steamboat Robert E. In 1931, folk great Woodie Guthrie sang a rendition of the song, likely adapted from John Hurts version, as the lyrics are very similar. [4], Lyons eventually died of his injuries. Lyons lunged for Shelton and Shelton shot. Nuno Marques Planeamento e Atividades Econmicas at Municpio de Setbal . Slums were the natural result, and by the 1890s, 85 percent of the citys black population occupied only 2 percent of its space. [10] In his version, as in all such pieces, there are many (sometimes anachronistic) variants on the lyrics. Despite what had come to seem like long odds, when the spindles finally turned, the sounds that emerged were intelligible: Yes, I remember Stackalee, McKinney says, and David clearly thinks hes referring to the song. Both parties, it seems, had been drinking and were feeling in exuberant spirits. Billy grabbed Sheltons hat in anger, and when he refused to return it, Shelton shot Billy in the gut, picked up his hat, and left. Im still awed and humbled, every time I pick through those boxes, by the artifacts he was able to unearth. But over the past several years, through services like Newspapers.com and Ancestry.com, huge caches of relevant documents have become broadly availableand, crucially, keyword-searchablefor the first time. Sheltons case was retried in 1897, and Stagger Lee was found guilty of murder and sentenced to the notorious Jeffersonpenitentiary in Jefferson City, Missouri. But in 1979, shortly after the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published an article about his research, David was contacted by Susie Mae Myles and Arthur Buddy Johnson, two St. Louisans who credibly claimed to be the great-grandchildren of Billy Lyons. She claimed thatthis song is sung by the Negroes on the levee while they are loading and unloading the river freighters. In 1911, Shelton broke into a mans home, murdered him, and was sent to prison, but by 1912, Shelton received yet another pardon from another governor, apparently due to political pressure. Researchers have tended to conclude that those two elements of the myth are songwriters embroideries. She was sitting on the bedside lacing up her shoes The song's title comes from Shelton's nicknameStag Lee or Stack Lee. His most recognized roles include Enoch Emery in John Huston 's Wise Blood (1979), Ram in Tron (1982), and Billy the Kid in . Eric McHenryis a poet and critic whose work has appeared in The Yale Review, The New Republic, The New York Times Book Review, and The Threepenny Review. In honor of Mantels enormous contributions to literature, dive back into her Tudor world with Penelope Rowlandss essay about one of the key power dynamics Mantel explored: that between Cromwell and Sir Thomas More. Lincoln in the Bardo features a myriad of charactersdead and alive, historical and imaginary who offer perspective and input on the story as it unfolds. Billy Lyons was the brother-in-law of Henry Bridgewater, an influential saloon owner and by some accounts the wealthiest Black man in St. Louis. Duke Ellington recorded a version in 1927, and in 1928 Mississippi John Hurt recorded what is perhaps the most famous and most definitive version of Stagger Lees song in history. He was paroled in 1909,[1] but was imprisoned again two years later for assault and robbery. Billy was one of the best. Yeah, but I wonder if there was ever a person whose name was , Lee Shelton? David planned to reveal their story in a book adapted from his unpublished dissertation, but he was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer in 1986 and died early the following year. And looking at the history of the man objectively, there is no reason to anticipate that it would. Nationality. In this variation, he is the embodiment of a tough black man; one who is sly, streetwise, cool, lawless, amoral, potentially violent, and who defies white authority. [15][16], Within thirty years of Shelton's death, Benjamin Botkin records stories among the superstitious of his having been born with a caul over his face (signifying one with the power to see spirits and destined for trouble), or of having sold his soul to the Devil (in exchange for the hat, said to be magic, over which he killed Billy Lyons). "Stagger Lee", also known as "Stagolee" and other variants, is a popular American folk song about the murder of Billy Lyons by "Stag" Lee Shelton, in St. Louis, Missouri, at Christmas 1895. Also learn how She earned most of networth at the age of 43 years old? The actor Danny Masterson, known for his roles in the sitcoms "That . On attempting to enter heaven, he is rebuffed at the gates by St. Peter: Says turn around, go down the other way, we dont. Amazingly enough, the song may be the most re-recorded in history, with well over four hundred separate recordings to its name. Or they may be descended from another Billy Lyons altogether, whose death orphaned three young children and left a vacuum of information in which family lore and folklore would eventually merge. Fans of the now-defunct ABC soap opera One Life to Live will recognize Jessica Morris as Jennifer Rappaport, a role she played from 1999 - 2008, and will be heartbroken to learn that she has lost her father, Don Morris. David Lyons (actor) 17 languages. Daniel Shor (born November 16, 1956) is an American actor, director, writer, and acting teacher with a career spanning over 40 years. Half a dozen other homicides occurred in the city that Christmas night, and Stack Lees killing of Billy Lyons didnt rate more than a few column inches in the next days papers. Episode #17 of the Motorcycle Knuckle Busters podcast. That bad man, oh, cruel Stack O Lee. Dove-gray spats covered the tops of his St. Louis flats low-heeled shoes, with long, pointed, upswept toes, on each of which was a small mirror, designed to catch the light. Stack Lee was also well connected, which may further explain his having gotten away with so much for so long. For example, Shelton had first crushed Lyons' Derby hat, after which Lyons grabbed Shelton's hat and demanded restitution; Shelton then drew his gun and smacked Lyons on the head with it. Lyons was also a member of St. Louis' underworld, and may have been a political and business rival to Shelton. In early 1897, a reporter for the Kansas City Star transcribed some songs often rendered by the negro prisoners of the city jail, including Stacka Lee, an importation from St. Louis: Stacka Lee, cant you see Mr. William Hunter "Billy" Lyons, a native of Mobile and resident of Spanish Fort, died Tuesday, June 8, 2021, of complications from a stroke. Whats dat he killed him wid? Sheltonalias Stack Leewould be memorialized in song, becoming perhaps the most significant figure in African-American folklore. Billy Lyons was the brother-in-law of Henry Bridgewater, an influential saloon owner and by some accounts the wealthiest Black man in St. Louis. [8] The song was well known in African American communities along the lower Mississippi River by 1910. But the fact is that when children live in an orphanage, theyre usually orphans. As per our current Database, Billy Lyons is still alive (as per Wikipedia, Last update: May 10, 2020). Lyons died from his wound shortly afterwards. [1], In January 2020, he appeared in an episode of Doctor Who, alongside Jodie Whittaker, Jo Martin and The Judoon. He was paroled in 1909, but returned to prison in 1911 for assault and robbery. Episode #17 of the Motorcycle Knuckle Busters podcast. In John Russell Davids papers I found whats almost certainly the oldest published sheet musicStack-O-Lee (A True Story From Life), copyright 1910, by the cringe-worthily named Three White Kuhns. It was not unheard of, in other words, for the days news to pass from fact into folklore almost instantaneously, trapping many authentic details in the amber. Lyons had good reason to think of this place as enemy territory. Following a breadcrumb trail of birth announcements and census records, I tracked down the children of their sister, the late Rosealee Johnson Pearson. [12][4][1]:73 he is often said to have received a death sentence for his crime, which he accepts stoically. Violent crimes were much less likely to be vigorously prosecuted if their victims were Black, as Sheltons almost always were. Police officer, how can it be? This time, there would be no parole; Stack Lee died of tuberculosis in the prison infirmary in early 1912. Paulo Anes Poet Lisboa. Shared with Public Grid view Feed View 3 Connect with Billy Lyons on Facebook Log In or Create new account But the best-known versions of Stagolee sound nothing like one another; theres no signature melody or even a common refrain to lodge in the cultural consciousness. It was soon being sung in various forms by workers on the levee, convicts on chain gangs throughout the South, saloon and street singers, and even school children. Clearly, its the story that has had the staying power, along with the swaggering Stagolee character that the story introduced. Consisting of two novellas, the latter "My Heart Struck Sorrow" focuses in large part on a horrific mystery connected to varied acetate recordings made in the 1930s as well as the folklore surrounding "Stagger Lee."[18]. How was he able to terrorize the city for close to a decade without acquiring a rap sheet? He was paroled in 1909, but returned to prison in 1911 for assault and robbery. Lyons died from his wound shortly afterwards. In a 1911 article in the Journal of American Folklore, the sociologist Howard W. Odum presented several versions of the song, which hed been collecting throughout the American South: Stagolee killed a man an laid him on de flo, Upon Sheltons arrival in St. Louis he will at once report to Mr. James D. Anderson. It never came to that. You done stole my Stetson1 hat, Im bound to take your life Find the perfect Billy lyons stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. He was paroled after serving about half of that but returned to prison for good in 1911, following a home invasion and robbery in which he once again fractured his victims skull with a pistol. Researchers have tended to write that off as a likely error, though, since he was single at the time of his incarceration, according to penitentiary records. The song exploded in popularity and became #1 on the Billboard Pop Charts. He will be missed! An 1896 Globe-Democrat article reveals an attitude among white St. Louisans toward the killing of Blacks that could fairly be called genocidal: Though the Morgue and the City Hospital are regularly supplied with subjects from [Curtiss saloon] it is generally conceded that he is acting as a public benefactor in allowing undesirable members of colored society to be dispatched in his place of business. The reason Shelton finally went to prison, in all likelihood, wasnt that hed killed a man but that hed killed the wrong man. According to the testimony given the Coroner, David writes in his dissertation, Lyons made no appeal for his wife and children. By the time his first trial ended in a hung jury, Shelton was already the subject of a popular prison ballad. Actor. The characters explore African American history in the Northern United States, and experience racism and violence throughout multiple cities. Because no one knows where that song really originated! He tells McKinney that even Nathan Young, the dean of St. Louis folk historians, hadnt heard of the real Stagolee: I said, Was he a real person? And he said, Oh no, he was a folklore character.. In other words, there was a Black man named William Lyons with an adult stepdaughter named Estella living in central St. Louis around the time of the Stack Lee killing. The songs play up the importance of Stagolee's Stetson hat as a symbol of manliness. His story has appeared in movies, poems, and even as its own comic book. clide delaney Personal trainer and group fitness instructor Irlanda. Odum. See full bio Known For Treaty Live Jim Spillane 2022 Hide all | | Edit Filmography Hide Actor (1 credit) 2022 Treaty Live (TV Special documentary) Jim Spillane Getting Started | Contributor Zone Contribute to This Page Edit page Clear your history 1895 - "Stag" Lee Sheldon killed his friend Billy Lyons over a drunken political argument. More at IMDbPro Contact info Agent info Resume Born November 16, 1956 Add to list Photos 13 Known for Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure 6.9 Billy the Kid 1989 Tron 6.7 Ram Popcorn Co-Worker 1982 Black Moon Rising 5.5 Billy Lyons A brief search of the Stagger Lee name could reveal recordings from Mississippi John Hurt, Furry Lewis, Lloyd Price, Professor Longhair, The Black Keys, Samuel L. Jackson, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Wilson Picket, Taj Mahal, Fats Domino, Bob Dylan, Beck, Elvis Presley, Ike Turner, and a great many others. . The discussion drifted to politics, and an argument was started, the conclusion of which was that Lyons snatched Sheldon's hat from his head. There can be no doubt that Susie Mae Myles and Arthur Buddy Johnson were the great-grandchildren of Billy Lyons. My first Ancestry.com search, on the promisingly unusual name Lena Northcross, returned an 1883 marriage license from Tennessee. 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