Wilson Pickett and the “Ballad of Stackalee”

Interesting story about Stagger Lee -- as noted herein, great playing by the American gang on this one.

https://blog.oup.com/2017/02/wilson-pickett-stackalee/

From the site:

On the night of 27 December 1895, at the Bill Curtis Saloon in St. Louis, Missouri, two black men, “Stag” Lee Sheldon and Billy Lyons, got into an argument. They were, supposedly, friends and drinking partners, but politics was about to come fatally between them: Sheldon, reputedly a pimp on the side, was an organizer for the Democrats, seeking to win over the black vote that had traditionally gone to the Republicans, for whom Billy Lyons recruited. At some point during an increasingly drunken debate, Lyons seized Sheldon’s Stetson hat; when he refused to return it, Sheldon took out his revolver, shot Lyons in the stomach, picked up his hat and calmly walked out; Lyons later died from his injuries.

Marty Lacker on Elvis’ 1969 Memphis recording sessions

http://www.goldminemag.com/article/marty-lacker

From the site:

One of Elvis’ trusted friends, Marty Lacker was instrumental in arranging Elvis’ seminal recording sessions at American Sound Studios with producer Chips Moman in January and February of 1969. Marty shares the genesis behind those historic sessions, which yielded the hits, “Suspicious Minds,” “In The Ghetto,” “Don’t Cry Daddy,” and “Kentucky Rain” and marked an artistic rebirth for the singer.

Marty Lacker: I quit working for Elvis because I got tired of traveling and the atmosphere changed a bit when he married Priscilla. I was the co-best man at his wedding. This is late ’68. At the same time I got an offer from Pepper-Tanner, a major jingle and barter company here in Memphis. They asked me if I’d be interested in starting a record company for them, Pepper Records, which I did. I discovered Rita Coolidge and cut the first hit on her. I started cutting over at Chips’ studio, American. I slowly but surely started getting involved in the Memphis music industry. This was in its heyday when we were the third largest recording center in the world because of all the hits that had came out of here.