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Cathy Wurzer

60 years since Lloyd Price reached #1 with the old folk song "Stagger Lee"

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It's been 60 years since Lloyd Price topped the Billboard pop chart with the old folk song "Stagger Lee."

It's inspired by an incident that reportedly took place in a St. Louis bar in 1895. "Stagger Lee" was the name of a pimp named Lee Shelton. He got into an argument with a man named Billy Lyons, and Lyons made off with Shelton's Stetson hat.

Stagger Lee was so upset over the loss of his hat that he returned to the bar with a gun and shot Lyons dead. Many people have recorded the song, but Price's version is the only one to top the charts.