Song picture
Stagolee (live performance with Anne Price)
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Traditional African-American folk song. Back-up vocals by Anne Price. Recorded live at Walthamstow Folk Club in London, England, May 9, 2010.
americana roots music folk music political music old time country traditional folk music suffet
Artist picture
Old fashioned folksinger in the People's Music tradition.
Born Stephen Lawrence Suffet in 1947, Steve Suffet is best described as an old fashioned folksinger. His repertoire is a mixture of railroad songs, trucker songs, cowboy songs, union songs, old time ballads, blues, ragtime, Gospel, bluegrass, topical-political songs, and whatever else tickles his fancy. He takes songs from whatever sources he wishes and then he sings them his own way, maybe rewriting the lyrics on the spot, flatting a 7th, or changing a major key to a mountain modal.Steve also writes his own songs, sometimes set to the tunes of traditional folk songs, but more often set to tunes he has composed in traditional styles. Photo credit: Jody Kolodzey
Song Info
Charts
Peak #125
Peak in subgenre #13
Author
Traditional
Rights
Public domain
Uploaded
July 30, 2010
Track Files
MP3
MP3 3.4 MB 128 kbps 3:44
Story behind the song
Traditional African-American folk song. The character of Stagolee was likely inspired by a Saint Louis taxicab driver and pimp named Lee Shelton, also known as Stag Lee, Stack Lee, or Stagger Lee. Shelton shot and killed one William Lyons on Christmas Eve 1895 after Lyons had snatched his hat. Shelton, however, was never hanged for the crime. He was instead sentenced to life imprisonment, and he died of TB behind bars in 1912.
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