[citation needed], Stagger Lee has become an archetype with some Black people who admire the gangster type; a parallel to the glorification of the outlaw by a section of mainstream society. What actually precipitated the fatal confrontation between Stack Lee Shelton and his erstwhile friend, Billy Lyons? Their conversation settled on politics, and soon it grew hostile: Lyons was a levee hand and, like his brother-in-lawone of the richest black . This did not impede him from building cribs in back of his house, where some of his girls conducted business under his watchful eye. From there, dozens andeventuallyhundreds of recorded renditions of Stacks story were spawned. The police and Coast Guard have been involved in search and rescue since Sunday morning but . Evrybody body talk about Stackolee. [13], In 2004, The Black Keys recorded a song on their third album, Rubber Factory dubbed Stack Shot Billy, which tells the tale of the infamous murder. Lifestyle Your Next Spotify Playlist Might Be Curated with Wine Pairings in Mind. He wanted to be just like his Dad and follow in his fathers footsteps. [1]:23 He was nicknamed "Stag Lee" or "Stack Lee," possibly because he "went stag," meaning he was without friends, or took the nickname from a well-known riverboat captain called "Stack Lee." Ma Rainey and her band, (including a young Louis Armstrong on cornet), recordedStack OLee Blues in 1925. I never heard that before!, McKinney was born in 1885 and sounds like it. BY Billy Lyons. He told me when we were young that some day he would be a Sac PD police officer just like his Dad. Website. Now, the journalism of the day was appallingly poora hodgepodge of hack reporting, rumor, speculation, and opinion, seasoned liberally with racism. A Caring Friend. But the sheer ubiquity of Stack Lees name in the crime pages is impossible to explain away. Stagolee haunts the prose of Richard Wright and Toni Morrison; James Baldwin worked on a novel about the character and late in his life published a long poem called Staggerlee Wonders., Scholars of African-American studies generally agree that both the pimp protagonists of 70s blaxploitation films and the self-mythologists of gangsta rap are Stagolees direct descendants: mononymous, fearless, and fastidious about their name-brand apparel. Lee Sheltons signature and fingerprint from his penitentiary records (from the papers of John Russell David), In the refrain of his definitive 1928 version, Mississippi John Hurt sings, That bad man, oh cruel Stack OLee. That the word bad is a versatile one, especially in African-American vernacular English, has allowed the tone of the songs to shift over the course of the 20th centuryfrom disapproving to approving of Stagoleewithout their essential vocabulary ever changing. Rest in peace dear friend. Punk, Hawaiian, HeavyMetal, Disco, Rock, Blues, Folk, Bluegrass, Country, and Soul have all seen recorded versions, often with great popularity and by names as wildly famous as Elvis and the Isley Brothers. There, the infamous brothel, colloquially known as the Bucket of Blood, could operate without fear of civic interference. Stagger Lee was a bad man, the original gangsta, and he murdered Billy Lyons on account of a John B. Stetson hat. Some of these recordings can be found at the Library of Congress. Lyons and Sheldon were friends and were talking together. We deeply regret the situation into which our unfortunate brother has fallen.. And David has a net worth of about 3 million dollars. Luxury The Future of Auctions Might Rely on . His most recognized roles include Enoch Emery in John Huston 's Wise Blood (1979), Ram in Tron (1982), and Billy the Kid in . Sacramento police Officer Billy Lyons, known for compassion for the down and out, dies By Sam Stanton. Apprised of Sheltons terminal condition, Missouri Governor Herbert S. Hadley had approved a mercy parole, upon condition, however, that he in the future conduct himself in all respects, as a law-abiding citizen. He was Bridgewater's brother-in-law, and had been attacked at Curtis' before. On the trail of a historical figure immortalized in African-American folklore, On Christmas night 1895, at Bill Curtiss notorious St. Louis saloon, a gun-toting carriage driver named Lee Shelton shot and killed his friend William Lyons. That bad man, cruel Stack O Lee, with the forty-four Shelton was ultimately convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years in the state penitentiary. Turn-of-the-century St. Louis was a shockingly violent place. Paulo Anes Poet Lisboa. Both parties, it seems, had been drinking and were feeling in exuberant spirits. Did he really run with Jesse James, have a magical Stetson, or take hell away from the devil when he died, as has been suggested? Some versions add an additional section in which Stagolee goes to Hell and usurps it from the Devil. clide delaney Personal trainer and group fitness instructor Irlanda. This set of lyrics circulated widely in the 20s and 30s, with the real Stagolees slightly misspelled surname hiding in plain sight for decades. When I spied Billy de Lyon, he was lyin down on the floor He owned one of the tenderloins more notorious nightspots, the Modern Horseshoe Club, and presumably used his job as carriage driver to direct white visitors emerging from Canal Streets Southern Railroad Station to his nightclub, the local bordellos, or directly to girls whose activities he personally oversaw. A version by Lloyd Price reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. Episode #17 of the Motorcycle Knuckle Busters podcast. [4], Lyons eventually died of his injuries. As the oral legend spread of Stack Lee as a black man who would not back down, Billy Lyons turned into ''a small . Join to connect billy lyons. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [11] Also in 1924, the first version with lyrics was recorded, as "Skeeg-a-Lee Blues", by Lovie Austin. In the 1960s, when Mississippi John Hurt was re-discovered, he would often play a folk-style story called Stagolee in which Stag and, interestingly enough, Jesse James, rob a card game in a coal mine. William "Billy" Lyons April 18, 1946 - February 5, 2023 Sacramento, California - William (Billy) Lyons left us much too soon on February 5, 2023, surrounded by his adoring family. At the turn of the century, with emancipation receding into memory, African Americans were confronting the new limits of their liberty in a poisonously racist country. Researchers have tended to conclude that those two elements of the myth are songwriters embroideries. Years active. Find the perfect Billy lyons stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. 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. A legendary actor with 50 celebrated years of film, television, theatre and producing experience, Michael Douglas, has shown an uncanny knack for projects that reflect changing trends and public concerns. . He graduated from Hiram Get email updates about William Lyons delivered directly to your inbox. Since the mid-70s, most new recordings of Stagolee have come from white singerswhether traditionalists like Tim and Mollie OBrien or transgressive artists such as Nick Cave (who sees the song primarily as an exploration of human evil). To find a largely comprehensive documentation of 420+ Stagger Lee recordings, see StaggerLee.com. When his victim fell to the floor Sheldon took his hat from the hand of the wounded man and coolly walked away. Starting in the 1960s, for example, the Stetson hat, more closely associated with white cowboys than Black hustlers, was replaced in many versions of the song by a Cadillac. Billy Lyons succumbed the next morning, one of five murder victims in St. Louis that Christmas Day. Report this profile Report Report. Geoffrey O'Hara: February 2, 1882 January 31, 1967 Canadian Singer and songwriter. The participants were two black men, a levee hand named William Billy Lyons and a part-time carriage driver and full-time pimp named Lee Shelton. Several older versions give Billy's last name as "De Lyons" or "Deslile". I had to borrow cassette players from three different friends before I found one that would play the 90-minute Memorex, which is actually a dub of a reel-to-reel recording from 1973a 40-year-old copy of a 46-year-old conversation with an 88-year-old man. [10] In his version, as in all such pieces, there are many (sometimes anachronistic) variants on the lyrics. It surfaced as the theme of a major work, Staggerlee Wonders by noted poet James Baldwin, and is the subject of the book Stagolee Shot Billy by Cecil Brown. Handy wrote that explanation in 1926, "Stack O' Lee" was already familiar in United States popular culture, with recordings of the song made by pop singers of the day, such as Cliff Edwards. He played Sebastian "Bas" Monroe, a former US Marine Corps sergeant who served with Miles Matheson . He will be missed! In August 2014, Stuke was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue. Neil Robert Stuke (born 22 February 1966 in Deal, Kent) is an English actor best known for his role of Matthew in the TV sitcom Game On and more recently for playing Billy Lamb in the BBC legal drama Silk . The story was first covered in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat on December 28th, 1895. Nuno Marques Planeamento e Atividades Econmicas at Municpio de Setbal . [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). In 1892, after he was detained for robbing a woman with whom hed been living, the Globe-Democrat called him notorious. The denizens of the Bloody Third probably just called him a bad man.. A bastion of blues and ragtime music, Deep Morgan was also a neighborhood in which gambling flourished and prostitution was rife. David Lyons, currently appearing as Billy Walters in Billy Wonderful at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool until 4 April. Amazingly enough, the song may be the most re-recorded in history, with well over four hundred separate recordings to its name. The Pearsons of St. Louis may be living proof that Billy Lyons had a wife and kids. He, too, believe it or not, had tuberculosis. His television career also includes Between the Lines, Trust, Reggie Perrin, At Home with the Braithwaites, Monday Monday, Office Gossip, Bedtime, A Touch of Frost, The Catherine Tate Show and playing an alcoholic footballer/policeman in a 1997 episode of Pie in the Sky. didi cascais -- Portugal. I think the answer to this question (and to the related question of what Stagolee tells us about how legends and folklore are passed down) may lie in the social function that Stagolee serves. However, practically all the various iterations of the song have Stagger Lee executed for his crime: In reality, Lee Shelton was paroled in 1909 but found himself in trouble again just two years later. The factory was guarded by two vicious bulldogs., Sheltons parting gesture, in other words, was to will his meager possessions to the biggest drug kingpin in St. Louis. And Stack answers, with an almost imperceptible smile, Yes. As so many have already learned and been praying, my brother in law, Billy Coile, went fishing alone Saturday afternoon and has not returned. Listen to a clip from John Russell Davids 1973 interview with Ed McKinney, and be sure to read Eric McHenrys annotation to the murder ballads oldest known lyrics. On Feb. 26, 1993, a truck bomb built by Islamic extremists exploded in the parking garage of the North Tower of New York's World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others. Other recorded variants include "Stackerlee", "Stack O'Lee", "Stackolee", "Stackalee", "Stagerlee", and "Stagalee". He always addresses Stagolee, and its always some version of the same two-sentence appeal: Please dont take my life. For the Canadian professional wrestler, see, "Killer Blues to Install Headstones at the Graves of Stagger Lee, Milton Sparks This Weekend", Matt Marshall, "A Brief History of Stagger Lee and Billy Lyons,", Richard E. Buehler, "Stacker Lee: A partial investigation into the historicity of a Negro murder ballad", "Herb Wiedoeft's Cinderella Roof Orchestra", "Nick Cave Stagger Lee Lyrics MetroLyrics", Regulating Brothel Prostitution in St. Paul, 18651883, Commercial sexual exploitation of children, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lee_Shelton&oldid=1130579157, American people who died in prison custody, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Stagolee, Stagger Lee, Stack-O-Lee, Stag Lee, Lee Sheldon, This page was last edited on 30 December 2022, at 22:15. Lyons is a graduate of Ithaca College (BFA Acting) and has performed both regionally and Off Broadway. According to the lines in the song, it was over a game of chance: In fact, if the local newspapers are to be credited, the altercation was political in nature. The songs play up the importance of Stagolee's Stetson hat as a symbol of manliness. Signal gongs and electric wires to warn the operators of danger had been strung about the place. The film begins in Hugo, Oklahoma. That bad man, oh, cruel Stack O Lee. British. The Four Hundred Club presented itself in the strictest of moral tones and professed to advance the moral and physical culture of young colored men and to eschew all acts of violence. The Macks were not just 'urban strollers;' they presented themselves as objects to be observed. Stack Lee was also well connected, which may further explain his having gotten away with so much for so long. Copyright 2021 David Lyons was in Nine Network police drama called Sea Patrol and he was playing Leading Seaman Josh Holiday in the first series of the show since 2007 up to 2009. The mythmakers work was already done. Learn How rich is She in this year and how She spends money? Nov 2020 - Present2 years 4 months. Oh dat man, bad man, Stagolee done come. A couple of summers ago, I started poking around in those collections, and once I started comparing what I thought I knew about the Stagolee legend with what I was seeing in the documentary record, I found that I couldnt stop. Lloyd Price took a rollicking rendition of Stagger Lee to the top of the pop charts in 1959. Billy died of his wound shortly thereafter, and Lee was sentenced to a twenty-five-year prison term. Billy Lyons Profiles | Facebook People named Billy Lyons Find your friends on Facebook Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. 1991-present. Shared with Public Grid view Feed View 3 Connect with Billy Lyons on Facebook Log In or Create new account In the course of an argument, Billy snatched Lees Stetson hat from his head, whereupon Lee first struck and then shot him. You can rest everybody but cruel Stack O Lee It includes the verse. Lyons died from his wound shortly afterwards. 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 When little Lillie Sheldon she first heard the news Gosh almighty. Stack Lee may or may not have been legally married, but Little Lillie Sheldon was no songwriters invention. [1]:4345 Lee Shelton's nickname was later corrupted into various other forms in the folk tradition. By the time his first trial ended in a hung jury, Shelton was already the subject of a popular prison ballad. Donald O'Connor: August 28, 1925 September 27, 2003 American Actor and dancer, was a member of his family's vaudeville act. Or, as Mississippi John Hurt puts it. My first Ancestry.com search, on the promisingly unusual name Lena Northcross, returned an 1883 marriage license from Tennessee. When Stacka Lee has his trial thro. Dat same ole fohty-fo. [13] Also in 1924, the first version with lyrics was recorded, as "Skeeg-a-Lee Blues", by Lovie Austin. The song was first published in 1911 and first recorded in 1923, by Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians, titled "Stack O' Lee Blues". He visited so many nursing homes, his widow told me. With the growing flood of immigration of poor Southern blacks in the decades following the Civil War, the black sections of town quickly began to overflo . He also played the role of Senior Clerk Billy Lamb in the BBC television series Silk. Hugs, Chris. The murder received significant exposure and political scrutiny, and resulted in a hung jury trial, after Stagger Lee had hired one of the most prominent lawyers in the state. Lyons died of his injuries, and Shelton was charged, tried, and convicted of the murder in 1897. David Lyons (born 16 April 1976) is an Australian actor. Friday's invite-only (and non-televised) awards dinner will go on as scheduled from L.A. Live Event Deck, a popular event venue located . Lee threatened to shoot Billy unless he returned the hat forthwith: Billy refused. According to Cecil Brown, on the night Lee killed Billy Lyons, he wore a black dress coat, high-collar embroidered yellow shirt, elaborately patterned red velvet vest, and gray striped slacks. Annie I. Bang/Invision, via Associated Press. The characters explore African American history in the Northern United States, and experience racism and violence throughout multiple cities. Hat as a symbol of manliness, which may further explain his gotten! 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