Episode #149- Who Was the Real Stagger Lee?
Our Fake History
00:00
Stagger Lee's Trials
After serving 13 years of his sentence, lee shelton was paroled. Only two years later he was back in prison for breaking into a man's house and pistol whipping him. Folk lorists have determined that stagger lee's songs were being performed as early as 18 97. Lee shelton owned a place that was a key part of the saint louis black night life. His case would have been well known to the people who were making music. But outside their city they were far more anonymous. This anonymity allowed them to become archetypes.
Transcript
Play full episode
