Kaiser Records recording artistes Thee Crucials are coming to Lemmons on Friday December 12! These Altanta cats really know how to throw down so don’t miss out!! They gonna shake it up! They gonna ball it up! Appearing with them on stage will be (you know ‘em, you love ‘em) Thee Fine Lines from Springfield, Mo., and The Nevermores from right here in St. Louis. We’re talking one fun night of wild-ass garage R&B punk mayhem!! And don’t forget Lemmons’ excellent PIZZA and HOT WINGS… and, of course… BEEEEEERRR!!! See you’s there.
A controversial ranking of U.S. metropolitan areas’ crime rates indicates St. Louis, Missouri, has the 127th worst crime rate, while Pine Bluff, Arkansas, has the highest and Logan, Utah, the lowest.
The CQ Press “Metro Crime Rankings” list named St. Louis not anywhere near its most crime-ridden metro area in 2007.
The CQ report rated 356 metropolitan areas (not including Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, and Minneapolis/St. Paul, among others), some of which ranked very differently from their core cities alone.
St. Louis, MO-IL includes Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair counties in Illinois, and Crawford (pt.), Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis, Warren, and Washington counties and St. Louis city in Missouri.
The data is drawn from FBI statistics on murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft and motor vehicle theft.
The location of Lee Shelton's whorehouse is still standing.
William Lyons, 25, colored, a levee hand, living at 1410 Morgan Street, was shot in the abdomen yesterday evening at 10 o’clock in the saloon of Bill Curtis, at Eleventh and Morgan Streets, by Lee Sheldon, also colored. Both parties, it seems, had been drinking and were feeling in exuberant spirits. Lyons and Sheldon were friends and were talking together. The discussion drifted to politics and an argument was started, the conclusion of which was that Lyons snatched Sheldon’s hat from his head. The latter indignantly demanded its return. Lyons refused, and Sheldon withdrew his revolver and shot Lyons in the abdomen. Lyons was taken to the Dispensary, where his wounds were pronounced serious. He was removed to the City Hospital. At the time of the shooting the saloon was crowded with negroes. Sheldon is a carriage driver and lives at 911 North Twelfth Street. When his victim fell to the floor Sheldon took his hat from the hand of the wounded man and coolly walked away. He was subsequently arrested and locked up at the Chestnut Street Station. Sheldon is also known as ‘Stag’ Lee.
-Saint Louis Globe-Democrat, December 28, 1895
That, in a nutshell, is the story of Lee Shelton (the name had been misspelled in the newspaper), both known as “Stag” and “Stack” Lee. The Bill Curtis Saloon was located in the epicenter of what was then St. Louis’ thriving vice district. The saloon was located at 1101 Morgan Street (now Delmar and at this location, Convention Plaza), at the corner of 13th Street, a few blocks away from a notorious bordello called The Bucket of Blood. Incidentally, this is also just a few blocks from where I work, at 10th and Washington.
Lee Shelton may have earned himself the nickname of “Stag” from his reputation as a pimp and a loner. But there’s also evidence that he called himself “Stack” after the riverboat Stack Lee, part of the Lee Line of riverboats, known as Cecil Brown relates in Stagolee Shot Billy, “…for speed, sumptuous cabins, elaborate cuisine—and prostitution.”
At the bar, Shelton asked “Who’s treating?” Someone pointed to Billy Lyons. Shelton sat at his table, where, according to several witnesses, they drank companionably until the talk turned to politics. They started throwing blows at each other’s hats, Shelton eventually breaking the brim of Lyon’s derby.
In turn, Lyons grabbed Shelton’s Stetson, saying he wouldn’t give it back until Shelton paid him for his damaged hat.
Instead, Shelton pulled a .44 Smith & Wesson revolver, shot Lyons, snatched his hat, and, without a word, walked out of the bar and back to his boarding house on 6th Street. He was arrested early the next morning after police, following a tip, found him asleep in bed.
Billy Lyons died from his wounds, and Stag Lee was put on trial for murder—twice. The first trial ended in a hung jury amidst a lot of political controversy. In the second trial, Shelton was convicted and sentenced to 25 years at the state penitentiary. He was released early, but went right back to a life of crime. He ended up pistol-whipping a thug and was sent right back to prison where he died, at age 46, in 1912.
The story and, subsequently, the song traveled down the Mississippi River from St. Louis to New Orleans, where it took on a life of its own. The scoundrel’s name variously became “Stag” Lee, Stagger Lee, Stag-O-Lee, Stagolee, Stackolee, Stack-A-Lee, and even Stack-O-Dollars, and the song traveled around the country. The words to the song were first published in 1910 by folklorist John Lomax under the title “Stagolee.” In most versions of the song, the dispute involves gambling and the Stetson hat. One of the first recordings was by Frank Hutchison in 1927. Blues singer and guitarist Mississippi John Hurt recorded the song in 1928 under the title “Stack O’Lee Blues.” Stack O’Lee is hanged in Hurt’s version. The tune became well known throughout the South and has been immortalized in song over the last century, performed by the likes of Mississippi John Hurt, Bob Dylan, Jerry Lee Lewis, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Ike and Tina Turner, Wilson Pickett, PJ Proby, Pat Boone, The Grateful Dead, Champion Jack Dupree and Lloyd Price, amongst many others. There are hundreds of different versions of the song, variously called Stagger Lee, Stagolee, Stackerlee, Stack O’Lee, Stack-a-Lee and several other spellings, sung by musicians as far apart in style as W.C. Handy (”Stack O’Lee”) and The Clash (”Wrong ‘Em Boyo”).
The boarding house at 911 N. 12th Street (now known as Tucker Blvd.), where, according to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat story above, “Stag” Lee Shelton lived, is still standing; it’s the only house remaining on the block (directly across from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch building). But, according to Cecil Brown, this was actually the location of Shelton’s “Lid” club (whorehouse), since police arrested him at his residence on 6th Street… but I am not sure if this “Lid” club was the same nightclub as his infamous “Modern Horseshoe Club.” While it once housed a restaurant (the Sommer House) in the early 1990s, it now appears to be a private residence. I snapped the photo above last week.
Lee Shelton is buried in an unmarked grave in Greenwood Cemetery in Hillsdale, Mo., and William Lyons’ grave is also unmarked. He is buried in St. Peter’s Cemetery in Normandy.
Featuring the following songs:
Mississippi John Hurt - Stack O’Lee Blues
Lloyd Price - Stagger Lee
Bob Dylan - Stack a Lee
Don & the Goodtimes - Stagger Lee
PJ Proby - Stagger Lee 1965
Bassholes - Stack O Lee
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Stagger Lee
The Clash - Wrong ‘Em Boyo
Lola van Ella is bringing her fantastic burlesque show to The Wedge tonight for the premier of a fun show with a very South City vibe that will combine punk/rock’n'roll with a grittier, edgier burlesque act. This monthly event will feature guest performers along with a special guest band. Screw U Burly-Q debuts tonight, featuring Siren (glam rock drag queen), Foxy la Feelion (sultry but with a real rock’n'roll edge), Sturdy Gurlesque (a totally hot and awesome fire performer), Gravity Plays Favorites (an amazing pole acrobatic duo), plus the music of TIRC Records’ own LEFT ARM. The Wedge is a new rock n’ roll bar/pizza joint now open at the intersection of Virginia, Compton and Bates in South St. Louis. Admission is $12. Doors open at 8:00 p.m., show is at 9:00. 21 & up only.
LOUD Technologies, the company that purchased St. Louis Music in 2005, has closed this long-time (since 1922) locally based company, a designer and distributor of Ampeg, Crate, Dan Armstrong, and other top brands of musicians gear. In May 2007, Loud closed the Ampeg and Crate engineering department in St. Louis, preferring to have new models designed by their own engineers, as well as an Asian engineering group. This followed Loud ceasing manufacturing of Ampeg and Crate at the Yellville, AR, manufacturing facility, outsourcing the manufacturing to contract manufacturers in Asia, and firing the entire sales staff. As if all of this wasn’t bad enough, Loud has also decided to put the final nail in the SLM coffin by eliminating the distribution facility.
Hence, some of the former employees of St. Louis Music are throwing a funeral/party on Saturday December 13 at the Kat Club, 1440 North Broadway, next to Shady Jack’s. Doors open at 7:00 p.m., the cover is $5 and is restricted to 21 & up. The event will feature bands whose employees are part of the SLM family, featuring The Trip Daddys, Giants in the Sky and TBA. Steve Dachroeden is leading the eulogy as well as putting together some pretty cool shit to give away, rumored to be Ampeg and Dan Armstrong shtuff and maybe some of the platinum records that have been given to the company by sponsored artists. There will be two tattoo artists and a mobile soul food unit and I believe PBR is donating beer. Hopefully I’ll have more details to come.
ANYONE can come to this; this event is for past and (until recently) present employees of St. Louis Music/Loud Technologies, as well as SLME. It is ALSO for anyone who has worked with SLM, used or admired Crate, Ampeg, Dan Armstrong, etc., as well as ANYONE who is sad to see a St. Louis company that started eighty-six years ago die.
I just found out that an old friend of mine from St. Louis (and a contributor to an old punk-rock fanzine called Pipeline that I put out while in college at CMSU), LarryMorrisey, not only works as Heritage Program Director for the Mississippi Arts Commission, but also hosts its weekly podcast occasionally, a program broadcast on Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s digital radio network, as well as on WLEZ (103.7 FM) in Jackson, Mississippi. The show features interviews with Mississippi artists, musicians, craftspeople, and others involved in arts and culture from around the state. Cool!
Click here for an MP3 of Larry’s most recent show (from November 6) where he talks with delta blues musician (he plays a diddley bow), Bill Abel.
A Saint Louis-based band from the early ’80s, The Obvious was among the first bands to play the New Wave/Punk styles of the late ’70s in St. Louis, a city a little behind the times. Drums: Kevin Brueseke, lead guitar: Alex Mutrux, bass: Jim Saltsider, vocals: Tony Patti, synth: Sally Barnes.
This video comes courtesy of Lo-Fi Saint Louis. Bill Streeter wrote:
This is a video sent to me by Tony Patti. In 1981 he and his band, The Obvious, made this video (shot on Super 8mm film) on the banks of the Mississippi River in downtown St. Louis under the famous Eads Bridge. In it you can see many young St. Louis scenesters of the time, including Steve Pick and the famous (or some might say infamous) Beatle Bob. I really love this piece. Thanks, Tony, for submitting this one!
One of the really interesting things about this video is that it was made before the days of MTV, yet is interestingly enough done in true early ’80s MTV style. So in that respect, The Obvious was slightly ahead of the times.
For a lot more info on the early days of the St. Louis punk/new wave scene, please visit Tony Patti’s excellent St. Louis New Wave Nostalgia site.
