Lyons died of his injuries, and Shelton was charged, tried, and convicted of the murder in 1897. didi cascais -- Portugal. A dedicated online siteThe Definitive List of Stagger Lee Songsnames 426 distinct singers who have put the song on wax or vinyl. In the 1920s, a number of varieties of Stagger Lee began to be recorded. The historical Stagger Lee was Lee Shelton, an African American pimp living in St. Louis, Missouri, in the late 19th century. In its World Premiere at Tribeca Film Festival, It Takes a Lunatic, director Billy Lyons (actor, director, teacher, producer and assistant to Wynn Handman) displays the man behind the mask and reveals there is no mask or gloss to Wynn Handman. [12][4][1]:73 he is often said to have received a death sentence for his crime, which he accepts stoically. This set of lyrics circulated widely in the 20s and 30s, with the real Stagolees slightly misspelled surname hiding in plain sight for decades. It has long been known that Lee Shelton was listed as married on his death certificate. Whats been missing is any corroborating evidence that isnt a song lyric. [6] The Killer Blues Headstone Project raised money to place a stone on his unmarked grave, and on April 14, 2013, a marker was laid during a public ceremony. The next year, legendary Library of Congress musicologist John Lomax received a partial transcription of what was called The Ballad of Stagalee, from a woman in Texas. According to the prison record, he had a face and torso that boasted several scars. Phi Beta Kappa [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). Lee Shelton (March 16, 1865 March 11, 1912), popularly known as "Stagolee," "Stagger Lee," "Stack-O-Lee," and other variations, was an American criminal who became a figure of folklore after murdering Billy Lyons on December 25th, 1895. Billy Spacey lyons. [8], The song tradition embellishes the story with sometimes inaccurate or fantastic details. When little Lillie Sheldon she first heard the news In 1909, then-Missouri governor Joseph Wingate Folk gave Shelton a full pardon on Thanksgiving day. The latter indignantly demanded its return. As a born-and-bred Oklahoman, the scene immediately caught my attention. 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. Keith has been like a brother to me for almost 40 years. A Caring Friend. OnChristmasEve, 1895, a shooting occurred in a North St. Louis saloon that was destined to find a prominentand permanentplace in American oral tradition. She was sitting on the bedside lacing up her shoes The only remaining option for the deceased killer is hell, and again Stagger Lee asserts himself, this time for control over the Devils domain: Even in death, the larger-than-life figure of Stagger Lee triumphs. Annie I. Bang/Invision, via Associated Press. The film begins in Hugo, Oklahoma. 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. 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. Lee Sheldon is also known as 'Stag' Lee. [2][1]:4243 He was not a common pimp as described by Cecil Brown, "Lee Shelton belonged to a group of pimps known in St. Louis as the 'Macks.' We deeply regret the situation into which our unfortunate brother has fallen.. Billy was the best of the best at Sac PD. Join to connect 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. He has touched so many lives. Several of them knew their lineage as far back as Florence Lyons, but not her fathers famous name. Because that need for vicarious freedom never went away, Stagolee then stuck around for a century, with an occasional aftermarket modification to reflect the tastes of the day. In their New Book of Rock Lists, Dave Marsh and James Bernard name 15 Sons of Stagger LeeRecords That Would Be Inconceivable Without Him, including the Geto Boys Mind of a Lunatic, Cypress Hills How I Could Just Kill a Man, and Ice Cubes The Na You Love to Hate.. He was 80 years old. Mr. Lyons was preceded 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. June 4, 2022 Episode #17 of the Motorcycle Knuckle Busters podcast. Below we countdown to Billy Lyons upcoming birthday. I've heard of the Billy Lyons case. Whats dat he killed him wid? 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. Billy Lyons is an actor, director, teacher, and producer living in New York City, where he's trained with and been the close assistant to Wynn Handman for many years. Principal photography began in April 2015 in Georgia.The film is a co-production between the United States, the . Why did this seemingly unexceptional crime enter our folklore, and remain there, when a million others faded from memory? He was nicknamed Stag Lee or Stack Lee, with a variety of explanations being given: he was given the nickname because he "went stag", meaning he was without friends; he took the nickname from a well-known riverboat captain called Stack Lee; or, according to John and Alan Lomax, he took the name from a riverboat owned by the Lee family of Memphis called the Stack Lee, which was known for its on-board prostitution. Despite the tendency of folktales to grow taller, the canonical Stagolee story has remained impressively stable over the years: Stagolee is a bad man who objects to Billy Lyonss stealing his Stetson. The original Stack Lee may have been a petty thief and gambler, Eberhart writes, but he was no murderer, much less the bloodthirsty, heartless bad man perpetuated in myth and music. The State of Missouri charged Lee Shelton, alias Stack Lee, with the murder of Williams Lyons (from the papers of John Russell David). Upon Sheltons arrival in St. Louis he will at once report to Mr. James D. Anderson. It never came to that. 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. Nuno Marques Planeamento e Atividades Econmicas at Municpio de Setbal . 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. However, the definitive version of the song came out in 1959 when rhythm-and-blues singer Lloyd Price topped the charts with his snappy, horn-drenched version. Because somebody wrote a catchy song, its tempting to say. According to the testimony given the Coroner, David writes in his dissertation, Lyons made no appeal for his wife and children. Mr. William Hunter "Billy" Lyons, a native of Mobile and resident of Spanish Fort, died Tuesday, June 8, 2021, of complications from a stroke. 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. Lyons was taken to the Dispensary, where his wounds were pronounced serious. Stagolees work is done, too. Killer Mike spoke about him on Hell of a Week with Charlamagne tha God on Comedy Central on October 8, 2022. In 2006, Image Comics published the graphic novel Stagger Lee, written by Derek McCulloch and illustrated by Shepherd Hendrix, examining the historical murder of Lyons by Shelton, and the folklore that came out of it, in the framing setting of a fictionalized version of the African-American community in Saint Louis. As a man, the lowlife pimp and murderer Lee Shelton has all but sunk into obscurity. 2023 Missouri Life Magazine. 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 . "Billy Lyons" redirects here. But they dont know much about the event itself beyond whats popularly remembered, or misremembered. [9], A song called "Stack-a-Lee" was first mentioned in 1897, in the Kansas City Leavenworth Herald, as being performed by "Prof. Charlie Lee, the piano thumper". Lyons died from his wound shortly afterwards. Nationality. The song's title comes from Shelton's nicknameStag Lee or Stack Lee. 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. Sheltonalias Stack Leewould be memorialized in song, becoming perhaps the most significant figure in African-American folklore. When that failed to produce the desired results, Lee fi ed a round into Billys abdomen. He has been involved in controversial and politically influential motion pictures as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; The China Syndrome, Wall Street and Traffic, as well as such popular films as Romancing the Stone, Fatal Attraction and Marvel's Ant Man and Ant Man and the Wasp. It had remained latent in his lungs for several years, but the chemotherapy he needed for a bone marrow transplant weakened his immune system, forcing him to take an enervating TB medicine. That bad man, oh cruel Stack O Lee, Gentlemans of the jury, what do you think of that? 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. Turn-of-the-century St. Louis was a musical placethe cradle of ragtime, full of barroom bards and river roustabouts who were constantly turning scuttlebutt into song. 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 . [8] The name was quickly corrupted in the folk tradition. In the course of an argument, Billy snatched Lees Stetson hat from his head, whereupon Lee first struck and then shot him. In addition to being a sporting circle, it strongly supported the citys Democratic Party. Handman is survived by daughters Laura Handman and Liza . He was paroled in 1909,[1] but was imprisoned again two years later for assault and robbery. Daniel Burgess Director at Freelance Norwich e Regio, Reino Unido. [8] The song was well known in African American communities along the lower Mississippi River by 1910. The scholar John W. Roberts says that such figures exist more as a projection than a role model, providing an expression of wish-fulfillment a safety valve or release. Into this historical moment strode Stack Lee Shelton, a notorious bad man with a memorable name who would leave your children fatherless if you tried to steal his Stetson hat. Here are prison records with Stack Lees signature and fingerprints. So there are actually two plausible narratives in which Billy Lyons left behind a wife and kids. 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.. I got two little babies, and a darlin lovin wife The story was first covered in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat on December 28th, 1895. When shes given a name, its often either Lillie or Nellie Sheldon. Another version was recorded later that year by Frank Westphal & His Regal Novelty Orchestra, and Herb Wiedoeft and his band recorded the song in 1924. September 8, 2019. The simplest answer may be racism. Author and music critic Greil Marcus explicitly ties the Stagger Lee archetype to Sly Stone and his album There's a Riot Goin' On in his book Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock 'n' Roll Music. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stagger_Lee&oldid=1139901017, The song is sung by an African American prisoner in Jack Black's autobiography, The song "Wrong 'Em Boyo" by the Jamaican, In John Hornor Jacobs' 2019 horror novella. No appeal for his wife and kids the Motorcycle Knuckle Busters podcast often! And by some accounts the wealthiest Black man in St. Louis, his..., when a million others faded from memory Shelton has all but sunk into obscurity once to! 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