Stagolee Shot Billy and Bojangles Danced
The song “Stagolee” has been wailed by Fats Domino, Wilson Pickett and the great James Brown. Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Huey Lewis and the Grateful Dead have all taken turns as well.
Strangely, the story is true.
It happened in 1895 in the red-light district of St. Louis when a man was killed in an argument over a hat. Here's how Hogman Maxey sang it in 1959: I was standin' on the corner when I heard my bulldog bark; He was barkin' at the two mens who gamblin' in the dark. It was Stagolee and Billy, two men who gamble' late. Stagolee throw seven, Billy swore that he throwed eight. Stagolee told Billy, “I can't let you go with that; you have won my money and my brand new Stetson hat.” Stagolee went home and got his forty-four, says, “I'm goin' to the bar room, to pay the debt I owe.” Stagolee went to the bar room, stood four feet from the door. Didn't nobody know when he pulled his forty-four. Stagolee found Billy, “Oh please don't take my life! I got three little children and a very sick little wife.” Stagolee shot Billy, Oh he shot that boy so fas' that the bullet came through him and broke my window glass. Some folks don't believe Oh Lord that Billy dead. You don't believe he gone? Jus' look what a hole in his head.
And you thought Gansta Rap was new.
According to author Cecil Brown, the real 'Stagolee' was a pimp named Lee Shelton who led a gang called the Stags. The conflict began on Christmas night, 1895, when 'Stagolee' Shelton walked into the Curtis saloon and asked, “Who's treating?” In reply, someone pointed to Billy Lyons. The two men drank and laughed together for some time until the conversation turned to politics. As their talk grew heated, 'Stagolee' Shelton grabbed Billy Lyons' derby and knocked it out of shape. Lyons said he wanted payment of 'six bits' – 75 cents – for damages. When Shelton refused, Lyons grabbed Shelton's hat, a new Stetson. In an attempt to make him give it back, Shelton pulled his .44 Smith & Wesson revolver from his coat and hit Lyons over the head with it. Still, Billy Lyons would not give up the hat. Shelton demanded it again, saying that if Lyons didn't give back the hat immediately, he was going to shoot him.
Evidently, 'Stagolee' Shelton wasn't kidding.
A happier story, purported to be true, flowed from the pen of songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker in 1967: I met him in a cell in New Orleans. I was down and out. He looked to me to be the eyes of age as he spoke right out. He talked of life, he talked of life. He laugh-slapped his leg a step. He said the name 'Bojangles' and he danced a lick across the cell. He grabbed his pants, a better stance, he jumped up high. He clicked his heels. He let go a laugh, he let go a laugh, shook back his clothes all around. Mr. Bojangles, Mr. Bojangles, Mr. Bojangles… dance. He danced for those at minstrel shows and county fairs throughout the South. He spoke with tears of fifteen years how his dog and him had traveled about. His dog up and died, he up and died. After 20 years he still grieves. He said “I dance now at ev'ry chance in honky tonks for drinks and tips. But most o'the time I spend behind these county bars 'cause I drinks a bit.” He shook his head, and as he shook his head I heard someone ask him “Please, Mr. Bojangles… dance.”
Actress Shirley Temple remembers Bojangles; “He was a classy guy.” But she hates the song. “It drives me up the wall since it's not about him at all. He was never a bum in jail.” My bet is that Shirley's memory of Bojangles is accurate, because the real Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson – her dancing partner in all her better films – died when songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker was only 7 years old. But I'm not saying that Jerry Jeff invented his story. It's fairly likely that another dancer adopted that famous name and lived exactly the life J.J. describes in his tune made famous by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
It's these kinds of irrelevant facts that cause me to be so often compared to that immortal postal worker on the bar stool, Cliff Clavin. Now both of us better get outta here and get some work done before we get into trouble. Have a great week.
Roy H. Williams
PS – Have you begun readingBird by Bird yet? Our discussion group about it is now online.