MP3 Monday: Jeff Lang & Stagger Lee

Ladies and Gentleman, a fine song done by someone - By Morgan Short, Jul 27, 09

MP3 Monday is a weekly SmartShanghai column, serving up mp3s from bands living and making music in China (or coming to China, or thinking about coming to China, or whatever). Right click on the links and choose "Save Link As..." to download 'em. Click play to rock 'em.

Today��s MP3s are in fervid anticipation of the Jeff Lang show on August 1 at Yuyintang. Jeff Lang is an Australian singer / songwriter famous for delivering religious epiphany via the busted blues.

This MP3 here is Jeff Lang with the late Chris Whitley, doing a version of "Stagger Lee". Whitley is often credited as re-introducing roots music into contemporary relevance, fusing blues, gospel, and folk with that ineffable, modern "experimental" impetus -- people like the New York Times compare him to Sonic Youth and Chet Baker in the same sentence. Like Whitley, Jeff Lang is in that new school of blues and folk that traces itself back to original roots music, but presents itself as post everything -- blues for the self-aware.

Chris Whitley & Jeff Lang - Stagger Lee

The song "Stagger Lee" is the blank slate on which blues musicians have carved their initials for the last hundred years. It takes as its subject material the true story of the bar-room slaying of William Lyon by "Stag" Lee Shelton in 1895. The story goes that the two were friends but got into an argument. It climaxed when Lyon snatched Shelton's Stetson hat of his head. When Lyon refused to give it back, Stagger Lee "shot that poor boy so dead."

Stagger Lee is thus a symbol of the great bad-ass in rock n roll -- or as Nick Cave sings, he's the "bad motherfucker called Stagger Lee."

Here are some more versions:

Mississippi John Hurt - Stack'O'Lee Blues

Jerry Lee Lewis - Stagger Lee

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Stagger Lee

Over at Squidoo, they have a pretty great little article on the permutations of the song -- from Elvis to The Clash -- and here's a comprehensive website on everything to do with Stagger Lee.

Jeff Lang sneaks into Yuyintang this Saturday and tickets are only 50rmb. It promises to be really good if you like anything to do with the blues or the guitar. Lang is well-known for doing improvisational sets, so it's going to be really interesting to see what he comes with. Check out his site here for audio samples and more information on Lang.

He's even got extensive writings on his equipment. Neat. Here��s his MySpace.

The images with this article are from the River Front Times "Story of Stagger Lee." Click here for the main article and click here to check out the PDF of the comic book. Awesome.