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Murder Ballads Blog Entries View Archive - 35 Entries Total

Stagger Lee Shot Billy TheCabinet.com Blog - By TheCabinet     The night was clear and the moon was yellow,     And the leaves came tumbling down.     I was standing on the corner, when I heard my bulldog bark.     He was barking at the two men, who were gambling in the dark.     It was Stagger Lee and Billy, two men who gambled late. The song is Stagger Lee by Lloyd Price - the first commercially successful version of a folk murder ballad that had long been a mainstay in nightclubs throughout the South. It may have also been one of the first versions of the tune (also known as Stagolee, Stack Lee, etc.) that was also commercially viable, as early renditions were often more graphic with more than a few of those words that George Carlin warned us all about. It was also not entirely accurate. The weather at the time is not known, but it most definitely was not the fall. In fact (and perhaps ironically), the legend of Stagger Lee was born on Christmas Night, 1895 in the Bill Curtis Saloon in an area of St. Louis, Missouri that at the time was the red light district. The two men were Lee "Stack Lee" Shelton (an area pimp with political connections) and William "Billy" Lyons. And despite the song's portrayal of a night of gambling gone bad, the conflict really began over an argument of politics after an otherwise innocent night of drinks and laughs.     Stagger Lee shot Billy.     Oh, he shot that poor boy so bad.     'Till the bullet came through Billy     And broke the bartender's glass. That much is true, though the fate of the bartender's glass is unclear. In fact, the bartender was one of the few witnesses left in the saloon after Shelton had pulled out his .44 and took aim. Like the song suggests, he was after his white Stetson hat; though not because he lost it in a bet but rather because Lyons had snagged it after Shelton had broken his Derby in the heat of the argument. The end result was the same though - Shelton shot once and calmly walked out of the bar, while Lyons was rushed to the hospital where he later died. So how did a known pimp and a murder in an area that was infamous for crime transform into one of the most well-known murder ballads of all time? It is not entirely known, though it is worth pointing out that Duncan killed Brady (Duncan and Brady) quite literally across the street just five years earlier, while Frankie shot Johnny (actually Allan Britt - of Frankie and Johnny fame) four years later a couple blocks away. It is safe to say that some balladeer was kept busy. At any rate, Stagger Lee has come to represent the baddest of the bad in musical form; not unlike Mack the Knife or Bad, Bad Leroy Brown, though if you listen to some renditions of Stagger Lee, he could take them out without breaking a sweat too. And it all started on Christmas Day. The Bill Curtis Saloon may no longer exist, but a few blocks away is a historic home (photo above) that looks somewhat out-of-place in a primarily industrial area and was once the home of Lee Shelton - complete with the "crib houses" for Shelton's working girls. Also in town is the St. Peters Cemetery where Billy was buried in an unmarked grave. Ironically, Shelton is buried only a block or so away at the Greenwood Cemetery (also in an unmarked grave), where he was laid to rest after succumbing to tuberculosis while serving time at the Missouri State Penitentiary for a separate crime. And though it has since been closed town, the story even inspired a local bar and grill to take on the name of the city's local legend for awhile - Stagger Lee's. So I leave you with this often overlooked Christmas legend and wish you and your family a very happy and safe holiday. -Casey H. This entry was edited on December 17, 2010, 10:57 pm. Filed under: General, Music, Dark Destinations, Murder Ballads 12/24/2008, 6:01 pm | Rating: 0/0 | Permalink | 0 Comments   Frankie and Johnny Were Sweethearts TheCabinet.com Blog - By TheCabinet On October 16, 1899, Frankie Baker fired one shot and killed Allen Britt in Saint Louis, Missouri. 17-year old Britt would die three days later at the City Hospital and the shooting was ruled justifiable and in self-defense. According to Baker, Britt had been abusive and on that fateful night had come into their apartment and threw a lamp at her while she slept. As she tried to get up, he pulled out a knife and came at her. It was then that she reached under her pillow and pulled out her pistol and fired the fateful shot.     Root-a-toot-toot that gal did shoot     Right through that hardwood door     She shot her man     'Cause he was doin' her wrong           - Frankie and Johnny (Traditional) Within a month, Baker had been cleared and it would seem that the crime would quickly fade away. Then a song came out. The ballad version of events immediately moved the location of the shooting to a bar, added in a love triangle, and Al Britt's first and last names were combined to produce the "Albert"-part of Frankie and Albert. Even that name would later change altogether and the song Frankie and Johnny was born. The song had been written, but the story was far from over. Al Britt was buried in nearby St. Peters Cemetery (where Stagger Lee victim Billy Lyons was also laid to rest). Contrary to the events depicted in some versions of the song, Baker did not come to the funeral and was fairly unrepentant for shooting him. However, the song soon became a sensation and first came to Baker's attention while she was walking down the street one day. She would soon become well known in the area for being that "Frankie" from Frankie and Johnny and people would sing the song aloud as she approached. Humiliated, she would flee the area. Baker moved first to Omaha, Nebraska but soon found that the song had reached even there and she would move again. She ultimately settled in Portland, Oregon and took a job and secured a home. Her notoriety was far from over though. In 1935, a movie based on the events called She Done Him Wrong and starring Mae West opened and she once again became known as "that Frankie." She subsequently sued and lost, but was further humiliated a year later when another film adaptation, this time using the name Frankie and Johnny hit screens. She sued for defamation again and was forced to return to St. Louis to argue her case. While her colorful character got a lot of press, she once again lost the case. Baker returned to Portland but both her physical and mental health declined. She was admitted into the Eastern Oregon State Hospital (now Eastern Oregon Correctional Institute) in Pendleton, Oregon in the early 1950s and died there in 1952. Before her death, the Missouri House of Representatives had hired Thomas Hart Benson to paint a mural at the State Capitol, depicting various events in Missouri's history. His work was completed in December 1936. It can still be found today in the room called the House Lounge. There, alongside such things like a Jesse James robbery, Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, and the Civil War, is a mural depicting the events of the song Frankie and Johnny. Visit the Missouri History of Frankie and Johnny at the Missouri State Capitol. -Casey H. This entry was edited on October 16, 2008, 11:11 pm. Filed under: General, Music, Dark Destinations, Murder Ballads 10/16/2008, 3:18 pm | Rating: 0/0 | Permalink | 0 Comments   The Origins of Duncan and Brady TheCabinet.com Blog - By TheCabinet 118 years ago to this date, an event would transpire that would serve as the basis for the murder ballad Duncan and Brady that is still commonly played to this day. On October 6, 1880, Patrolman James Brady was shot and killed at the Charles Starkes Saloon in downtown Saint Louis, Missouri. A man by the name of Harry Duncan would be arrested, convicted and executed for the crime. The prevailing legend is that the crime was something of a reaction to police harassment of African-Americans in the area, which at the time was the "red light" district of Saint Louis. It all started with a simple brawl at the saloon that exploded into gunfire when police arrived on the scene and tried to take suspects into custody. Brady was hit in the hail of bullets and would die from his wounds. Saint Louis has long been known as a hub for cranking out ballads. In fact, two other well-known murder ballads were spawned from separate incidents within a half-mile radius of the saloon within the next decade. The song Stagger Lee reportedly emerged from a crime that took place quite literally across the street from the Charles Starkes Saloon at the former-Bill Curtis Saloon in 1895. A crime at an apartment building a couple blocks away served as the inspiration for the murder ballad Frankie and Johnny in 1899. Like many murder ballads, the events depicted in Duncan and Brady are loosely based on the actual events. Due to different variations and/or alternate lyrics that have been added over the years depending on the locale of the performance, the song today probably differs substantially from the original version. In the popular variation of the song, Patrolman James Brady is depicted as a corrupt officer who has "...been on the job too long," drives around in an electric car, and is looking to "...shoot somebody just to see them die" (sound familiar?). His death is typically depicted as such: Duncan, Duncan was tending the bar In walked Brady with a shining star And Brady says, "Duncan you are under arrest!" And Duncan shot a hole in Brady's breast As is the case with most murder ballads, the truth can be even more interesting than the actual song. Harry Duncan was arrested for the murder of Patrolman James Brady, despite his pleas of innocence. According to Duncan, the crime had actually been committed by bar owner Charles Starkes, who denied it at the time. Duncan was convicted and sentenced to hang for the crime, but fought the decision with a series of appeals that took the case all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Lawyer Walter Moran Farmer presented his case and holds the distinction of being the first African-American attorney to argue a case before the Court. The appeal was denied and Duncan was executed by hanging on July 27, 1894. According to some, Charles Starkes would later confess to the murder on his deathbed. Like the other buildings listed above that witnessed crimes that would later be represented by song, the Charles Starkes Saloon no longer exists today. However, a walk through downtown Saint Louis is both a walk through the history of American crime as it is something of a tutorial on the birth of American folklore through murder ballads. Through these simple tunes, the events of yesterday are still being recreated through music at bars and saloons around the world to this day. Revisit American folklore at the Charles Starkes Saloon. -Casey H. Filed under: General, Music, Dark Destinations, Murder Ballads 10/06/2008, 3:13 pm | Rating: 0/0 | Permalink | 0 Comments   Track of the Week - 11/12/07 TheCabinet.com Blog - By TheCabinet Bruce Buckley - Pearl Bryan Listen to Pearl Bryan on Rhapsody I do not typically pull from a similar genre for back-to-back horror tracks, but in this case I cannot help it. You see, I am currently in the middle of researching the sad, tragic tale of Pearl Bryan for several entries on Dark Destinations and it makes sense to tackle it as a Track of the Week when the subject is so fresh in mind. Okay, so both Pearl Bryan and Whiskey in the Bottle are murder ballads, but I could argue that we are switching from a classic rock tune over to a more traditional folk variation, but it is all a matter of definition I suppose. The story of Pearl Bryan was something of a media sensation in the late 1800s. It began on February 1, 1896, when a farmhand stumbled across a headless corpse in an isolated field in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. After some fieldwork, the police were able to track down the identity of the body as one Pearl Bryan from Greencastle, Indiana, who happened to be several months pregnant at the time of the murder. This discovery then led police to two men named Scott Jackson and Alonzo Walling in nearby Cincinnati, Ohio as potential suspects. A series of interrogations soon broke down the two men and both then began accusing the other of the atrocious crime, while still proclaiming their own innocence. Regardless, investigators had enough evidence and witness statements to charge both men for the crime. What really happened to Pearl Bryan might never be known. The evidence presented at both trials was fairly convincing, if not largely circumstantial, and led to the conviction and execution by hanging of Jackson and Walling. In summary, the prosecution (and ultimately the jury) believed that Bryan had become impregnated after a fling with Jackson and had come from her home in Indiana to Cincinnati to either have an abortion or discuss her future with Jackson. Meanwhile, Jackson recruited fellow dental student Walling to assist in the abortion. However, somewhere along the way (after a series of public arguments between Jackson and Bryan), the plan changed. Jackson secured a large quantity of cocaine, which was still legal at the time, and mixed it Bryan's drink. Some suggest that perhaps the drug was meant to serve as an anesthetic during an abortion, but Jackson accidentally gave the girl too much, while others insist the motive was to deliver a fatal dose. Regardless, Jackson and Walling loaded a very sick Bryan into a trolley and transported the girl into nearby Kentucky, where they dumped her body in the field and removed her head to avoid identification. The head was then carried away from the scene by Jackson in Bryan's own bag and later disposed of. The horrendous nature of the crime would grab the attention of the entire country and the trial and execution would become a sensationalized event. In fact, the spot where Bryan's body was found (and probably her murder scene as well, considering that experts determined that given the amount of blood around her body, she had been alive when the decapitation was performed) became a popular tourist destination for curiosity-seekers who quickly grabbed pebbles and branches from the scene as mementos. Despite the media coverage of the case, the story of Pearl Bryan also began to make its way around the nation in the form of a ballad, which was fairly typical of its time and early delivery format for news. As was somewhat normal for this type of storytelling, there were several versions of the ballad written and the name of "Pearl Bryan" even made it into versions of the traditional ballad, The Jealous Lover. In some cases, the balladeer managed to bungle some of the key facts (including names) of the case, while others stayed close to the facts. The version here, titled simply Pearl Bryan, is probably the best-known variation of the tale. Little did Pearl Bryan think when she left her home that day The grip she carried in her hand would hide her head away She thought it was her lover's hand she could trust both night and day Although it was her lover's hand that took her life away The song is commonly known as Pearl Bryan, The Ballad of Pearl Bryan, or The Jealous Lover (as mentioned earlier). This version comes from the 1955 album, Ohio Valley Ballads, by Bruce Buckley. The album is a compilation of similar tragic tunes that haunt the Ohio River Valley and are also based on actual events. The case of Pearl Bryan still apparently fascinates to this day. Jackson's trial itself is still recalled for its controversial decision from the state of Kentucky. His defense team had essentially argued that Bryan was dead from the fatal dose of cocaine (or at least Jackson believed this was the case) while still in Ohio, so there was no intent of murder when he removed her head in the state of Kentucky - Therefore arguing that Kentucky had no right to try him for the murder. The appeals board apparently believed that since it had been his intent to kill and he pulled it off, where it happened was irrelevant. Another interesting twist in the case has surfaced fairly recently when the "ghosts" of Bryan, Jackson, and Walling were tied to a haunting of a nightclub in nearby Wilder. In the recent non-fiction book, Hell's Gate: Terror at Bobby Mackey's Music World, author Douglas Hensley reframes the crime as an act of a local satanic cult, which Jackson and Walling were members. The murder is relocated to the nightclub (at the time a slaughterhouse) and it is suggested that Bryan's head was dumped down a well that is still located in the basement of the facility. The ghost of Bryan, with missing head, is apparently seen wandering around the establishment looking for her lost head, while Jackson and Walling are seen hanging in the basement. The story is most certainly intriguing, but not really backed up by the newspaper accounts or court documentation of the time. Filed under: General, Music, Dark Destinations, Murder Ballads, Track of the Week 11/13/2007, 8:25 pm | Rating: 0/0 | Permalink | 0 Comments   Track of the Week - 11/5/07 TheCabinet.com Blog - By TheCabinet Thin Lizzy - Whiskey in the Jar Listen to Whiskey in the Jar on Rhapsody Kicking off our horror Track of the Week is this classic rock tune that launched the band Thin Lizzy's career. Granted, this song has been around for a long time. In fact, some historians date it back as far as the 17th or 18th Centuries. It hails from Ireland and is one of the better-known songs that have that label of "Traditional," which basically means that no one knows who the original author was and/or how much the lyrics have changed since. Interestingly enough, the hero may have a solid connection to another popular figure from horror in music we have already covered - Mack the Knife. More on that later. The "narrator" of Whiskey in the Jar is a highwayman - a rogue thief that prowled the isolated roads of the British Isles and robbed innocent travelers of the valuables they had on them. In this case, somewhere on the Cork and Kerry Mountains (elsewhere in other versions), the highwayman robs one Captain Farrell (Pepper in other versions). He then takes his booty home to his lover Molly (sometimes Jenny), who betrays him. Being drunk and weary I went to Molly's chamber Takin' my money with me and I never knew the danger For about six or maybe seven in walked Captain Farrell I jumped up, fired off my pistols and I shot him with both barrels Sometimes Whiskey in the Jar ends with the narrator wilting away in prison and cursing Molly, but in other versions, he escapes and goes off to pursue the "good life" once again. In this version, it follows the path of the former. It is a fairly typical broadsheet song with love, murder, and betrayal. As mentioned, Whiskey in the Jar has been around for centuries, which makes Thin Lizzy's cover all the more fascinating. They covered the band in 1973 and it became their first big hit. Given the fact that the band is Irish probably didn't hurt either. Led by the iconic vocals of singer Phil Lynott, the song launched the band into the international spotlight. Their cover was so successful that most modern versions are a cover of Thin Lizzy's version. The version has been covered by the likes of U2 and, probably most famously by Metallica in 1998. So what does Whiskey in the Jar have to do with Mack the Knife? In the 1960 book, The Folk Songs of North America, author Alan Lomax traces the roots of Whiskey in the Jar. He finds some close resemblance between this song and the 1728 opera, The Beggar's Opera and appears confident that the former greatly influenced the latter. The highwayman of The Beggar's Opera is none other than MacHeath, who would undergo a sinister transformation in a 1928 adaptation. A new tune was penned to highlight that character's introduction to the audience and that tune just happened to be Mack the Knife. This entry was edited on November 13, 2007, 8:29 pm. Filed under: Music, Murder Ballads, Track of the Week 11/05/2007, 8:41 pm | Rating: 0/0 | Permalink | 0 Comments

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