Friday, August 25, 2006
Stagger Lee Blues
:: Posted by Bryan @ 8/25/2006 04:27:00 AM Exclaim! has a profile of Derek McCulloch and Shepherd Hendrix's new graphic novel from Image, Stagger Lee.
The book is part historical treatise/part noir thriller about the subject of the urban myth and blues standard Stagger Lee, really Lee Shelton, a gambler who shot a man in an argument over a hat in 1895. One of the original Murder Ballads, versions of the song have been covered by a Who's Who of 20th Century Pop Music, although the version I first heard was probably The Clash's "Wrong 'Em Boyo" from London Calling.
Treading a bit on Robert Crumb territory, McCulloch, who readers might remember from the back pages of Cerebus, circa 1985, has apparently attempted to weave the history of the song and the history of the event into one grand narrative, told in part from the point of view of the song's original composer, a ragtime pianist:
"I knew I wanted to tell the story of the murder and of the political events surrounding it. I knew I wanted to invent a character, a piano player, who would be the composer of an early version of the song. It hadn't occurred to me how thoroughly male the story was. I thought of a line that occurs in the [version] Nick Cave unearthed: 'There's something I have to say before you begin/You'll have to be gone before my man Billy Dilly comes in.' Similar lines occur in other versions. I started to imagine a scenario that would account for [that] element entering the 'Stagger Lee' canon, and suddenly realised that I had not only my female lead but the thread that finally tied the whole book together."
Despite the humdrum cover, the graphics in the article are quite intriguing.
And because everyone who writes about the song has to list their fave versions, here's mine:
1.Down Home Boys, "Original Stack O'Lee Blues",(Down in the Basement, Old Hat).
2.Woody Guthrie, "Stagolee" (Bound For Glory,Smithsonian/Folkways).
3.Duke Ellington and His Kentucky Club Orchestra, "Stack O’Lee Blues" (lots of versions).
4.Cab Colloway, Calloway, "Stack O' Lee Blues" (lots of versions).
5.Ma Rainey, "Stack O'Lee Blues" (Document: Complete Recorded Works, Vol 3, 1925-1926).
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