Stagolee Shot Billy

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4546804
AutoresEdward Margolies, Cecil H Brown, Cecil Brown (0000-0002-9482-9471)
Año2004
Volumen38
Número1
Páginas171
Fecha de publicación2004-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAfrican American Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1062-4783 • E-ISSN: 1945-6182
EditorialPenn State Press (Project Muse) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/1512250
OpenAlexW619380399
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas7

Although his story has been told countless times - by performers from Ma Rainey, Cab Calloway and the Isley brothers to Ike and Tina Turner, James Brown and Taj Mahal - no one seems to know who Stagolee really is. Lee? Stagger Lee? He has gone by all these names in the ballad that has kept his exploits before us for over a century. Delving into a subculture of St. Louis known as Deep Morgan, Cecil Brown emerges with the facts behind the legend to unfold the mystery of and the incident that led to murder in 1895. How the legend grew is a story in itself, and Brown tracks it through variants of the song Stack Lee - from early ragtime versions of the '20s, to Mississippi John Hurt's rendition in the '30s, to John Lomax's 1940s prison versions, to interpretations by Lloyd Price, James Brown and Wilson Pickett, right up to the hip-hop renderings of the '90s. Drawing upon the works of James Baldwin, Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison, Brown describes the powerful influence of a legend bigger than literature, one whose transformation reflects changing views of black musical forms, and African Americans' altered attitude toward black male identity, gender and police brutality. This book takes you to the heart of America, into the soul of circumstances of a legend that has conveyed a painful and elusive truth about our culture

Art · Literature · Shot (pellet · Chemistry · Music History and Culture · Race, History, and American Society