Episode 76: “Stagger Lee” by Lloyd Price
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
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I Won't Find a Bully, and I'm Finding a 'Bully'
The first vocal recording of the song that we would now recognize as being Staggley was by Ma Rainey, in 1925. By 1927, the song was being recorded in many different variants. Long cleave reed and Little Harvey Hull recorded a version that clearly owes something to the bully of the town. According to Wikipedia, Louis Armstrong is playing Cornet on that song - but I can't find any other evidence for that.
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