Like previous #1-hit subject Tom Dooley, Stagger Lee (or “Stagolee,” or “Stack-O-Lee,” depending on which version you prefer) was a real person. Lee Shelton was a St. Louis pimp and ...

The song "Stack-O-Lee" or "Staggerlee" had been free-floating in blues and folk for more than a half-century. But when Price put it on the charts in 1958, it was a window into a totally new world ...