I have an old recording of the song Stagger Lee about which I have not heard or read elsewhere. I understand that the story of Stagger Lee has a complex folklore, written in many different ways, including Stagolee, Stackolee, Stackerlee, Stack O'Lee, Stack-a-Lee, etc. It has been performed by Lloyd Price, Taj Mahal, Tina Turner, the Grateful Dead, etc. But I have no idea who sings on this old tape that I have, which I have recorded from the radio about 25 years ago.What is peculiar about this particular recording is that it has a wonderful dark blues rhythm to it, there is nothing rock-and-rollish about it, not too slow, not too fast. The beat is very heavy, almost like in a hiphop song.
Then there is the lyrics. The lyrics are quite obscene so I am not going to post them here. But it starts with the words "in 1956 when times were hard..." In this version he has been left by him woman and he is "going from ho to ho." He walks into a bar where the bartender is disrespectful with him and he shoots him dead. Then when the dead man's wife walks in, he takes her upstairs... Then he shoots a policeman. Towards the end he is sentenced by a judge who says,
The judge said, Stagger Lee, you're a friend of mine,
I'll give you ninety nine years, that's your time.
Ninety nine years ain't enough to make my bed,
I'll do it in the corner, standing on my head.
Anyone knows anything about this version?
1 comment:
It's by Johnny Otis, found on an "adults only album" from the late 60's entitled: "Snatch and the poontangs" by the Johnny Otis Show. Most of the lyrics on the album are pretty raunchy, even by todays standards, but it's a great listen. It has been re-released on CD along with another R&B album of Johnny Otis' from the same era called "Cold Shot" Great package with bonus tracks, and the works.
You can order it from Amizon.
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