⬇❤HELLO BEAUTIFUL HUMANS! Hope You Are Well. If You have a minute, please do check out MY LATEST COVER (HELLO - LIONEL RICHIE) on my music channel → ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3hPQY-kxNN0.html
Hi Schnell Jordan! Black Betty cover in Need for Speed: Undergund II videogame playlist... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Q7_9qivK_Ew.html
If you want to be a one-hit wonder this is the song to do it with. All these years later people are still listening to it and still enjoying. 1939 a musician named Leadbelly recorded it.
"Black Betty" was Ram Jam's only big hit in 1977. But it is one of the most fun & energetic songs. Just some dudes hanging out in someone's back yard & jamming out. Love it! "Black Betty" is a 20th-century African-American work song often credited to Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter as the author, though the earliest recordings are not by him.
yea the song goes back before Lead belly but like many songs they carry over the years. Here is Lead Belly and the known rift you can see starting about the 1+ minute mark. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SJUSGuNxt-4.html
Hi Schnell. This song was big when I was in high school. The precision and bluesy feel made this a standout. The lead singer is so rhythmic! Great reaction.
Loved your reaction. Glad you loved the song and music. Most reactors waste their time wondering who Black Betty is and what the song is about. It was made to be enjoyed. Thank you again for your reaction...
The story on this video is...the band wanted to do one...the label gave them 400 bucks to do it. They spent 300 on weed and booze and shot this for a hundred bucks.😂😂😂
Yeah, they really should jam this on for at least another 5 minutes. That would be cool. It's also the coolest video with the bikes, chicks & bellbottoms. :)
What you see in the video is literally what happened. The band was all just hanging out at one of their houses knocking back a few beers and having a cookout. And they decided to just knock out a music video. It was one take and done in a couple of minutes and they called it good.
Rocking one hit wonder from back in the day. It seems a bigger hit now on RU-vid than I remember it being then. The live performance really adds to the song, though.
Johnny Depp walked through the airport to this song in the movie Blow. I think you have also had opportunity to hear it in other forms of Pop culture. There is a version by a band called Spiderbait that has also been used in movies.
YES!! I love that someone finally mentioned Johnny Depp's airport strut in Blow! I've watched a lot of reactions to this song, and waited for someone to mention that iconic walk, and, I probably just didn't feel like scrolling to the beginning of the comments, but I didn't see anyone mention that. I actually picture that scene every single time I hear this song. ❤❤❤
If you feel like seeing energy unleashed, check out "Hocus Pocus" by the group Focus, live on the Midnight Special in 1973. The story behind this version is that the released single was much longer, but they only had a 4 minute slot in which to play it. They were told they'd have to cut some of the song and they said, "Nope". They sped up the pace to make it fit.
The diversity is greater now than ever before though. It's just that we got so much more music (and all sorts of media) that finding the good stuff has become harder. Every single day now (on average) 120,000 songs are released. More than 45 million songs every year. As opposed to like 10-15,000 songs per year in the 70's...
It's a really old song, a very early blues from Lead belly circa 1939 that was covered by Ram Jam in the 1970's. They made the video in their backyard for next to nothing. The radio version had a longer instrumental. Verse 1 is about an old flintlock musket, Verse 2 and 3 is about a lady obviously but a great rendition.
One explanation was that Black Betty was a rifle. Linked with production in the American Southern States. Bam Alam is the sound when fired. So the child is a round in the chamber, the blind reference is because the aim is off. She’s so rocksteady is how he feels about the rifle, she’s always ready is because there’s a round primed. The South is again referenced by Birmingham, Alabama. She’s shaking that thing, is the recoil, she’s making me sing, adrenaline from fighting. That’s one interpretation I’ve heard.
These outdoor parties w/bands was a thing in my area in the 70’s. Many folks had the space and distance between properties to not have any hassle (to coin a phrase from the era 😉). So so so much fun!! RamJam done it alright!
This song is about the first shoulder fired blunderbuss gun used during the American Revolution. It got “hung up” too often, and It was succeeded by another “rifled blunderbuss”.
he or a contemporary recorded it but the lore says it was a prison song from the 1800s or a bad rifle used in the civil war given mainly to black units.
The first known recording of this was in 1933 by John and Alan Lomax, though the song itself is much much older, it stems from the U.S. civil war era. John and Alan Lomaxs' recording was done acapella with hand claps for the beat. The original was only one verse "Oh, Black Betty (Bam-ba-lam) Oh, Black Betty (Bam-ba-lam) Black Betty had a baby (Bam-ba-lam) The thing went crazy (Bam-ba-lam) She said, I'm worried out of my mind (Bam-ba-lam) The thing went blind (Bam-ba-lam) I said Oh, Black Betty (Bam-ba-lam) Oh, Black Betty (Bam-ba-lam)" It was originally a marching cadence/work song, it was a bit slower than modern remakes because it was used to set a rhythm to march to or do repetitive work to, work such as swinging hammers or digging ditches, things like that, that go alot smoother if the work gang has a set cadence they all follow. The Ram Jam version is the best known modern version. The three verses are about a late 18th/early 19th century musket, a type of opioid and a type of whiskey. Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-lam) Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-lam) Black Betty had a child (Bam-ba-lam) The damn thing gone wild (Bam-ba-lam) She said, "I'm worryin' outta mind" (Bam-ba-lam) The damn thing gone blind (Bam-ba-lam) I said oh, Black Betty (Bam-ba-lam) Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-lam) Black Betty is the musket, Bam-ba-lam is the vocalization of the sound the musket made, the child is the bullet, it going wild is reference to the fact the gun was extremely inaccurate and the shot would often go really far off target, worryin outta mind references the fact the gun often misfired and would explode causing serious injury, it going blind references the fact the gun often gave off a huge cloud of smoke when fired causing the shooter to be "blind" till the smoke cleared. For the other verses bam-ba-lam was kept in to keep the songs rhythm smooth and has nothing to do with the subject of those verses. Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-lam) Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-lam) She really gets me high (Bam-ba-lam) You know that's no lie (Bam-ba-lam) She's so rock steady (Bam-ba-lam) And she's always ready (Bam-ba-lam) Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-lam) Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-lam) This one is about an opioid called black betty, I don't think the lines need to be explained. Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-lam) Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-lam) She's from Birmingham (Bam-ba-lam) Way down in Alabam' (Bam-ba-lam) Well, she's shakin' that thing (Bam-ba-lam) Boy, she makes me sing (Bam-ba-lam) Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-lam) Whoa, Black Betty Bam-ba-laaam, yeah, yeah This is about a whiskey that Benjamin Franklin wrote about called Black Betty that was made in Birmingham Alabama, again I don't think the lines need explaining. (edited for typos)
Howdy. I didn't think the lines need explaining either, but apparently they do. So I'll explain it to you. This version of the song is obviously about a woman. Not a gun. Not whisky. Not a whip. It's about a woman. A woman from Alabama. A Bama Lamb. "Bama" is common slang for Alabama. "Lamb" is slang for a pretty young woman. The woman has a child. Black Betty is an attractive young woman from Birmingham, Alabama who has a child. The song is about her. Guns don't have children. Whisky doesn't have children. Whips don't have children. Once you get this obvious fact straight, there is no confusion about what the song is about. It could not be more obvious, and there is no need to ignore the obvious and go down your rabbit hole. End of story.
@@ArcFixer Black Betty is the name given to those items. This is not about a woman. The words used at the end of each line are not Bama Lamb but bam ba lam, vocalizing the sound the gun made when fired. The whole song is euphemisms for other things, I'm not sure euphemism is the right word to use here, it's just the best word I can think of to describe what's going on. The child is a euphemism for the bullet the gun fired. The other verses say nothing about a child. In the second and third verse, the word she is euphemism for the opioid and whiskey. Go look it up if you don't believe me. I'd post links but youtube isn't letting me.
Glad you enjoyed this! It was the epitome of my Teenage years and young adulthood. Although I was never at one with a band quite like this! My brain is on overload with suggestions for you, there was so much innovative, different sounding bands back then.
OMG! You have a bright future ahead of you. The world is yours. Take it for ever what it is worth. Good luck, and God Bless! Don't lose your way. Stay true to yourself.
Schnell, I love your channel. I really love learning more about music from your commentary. I really think you would enjoy hearing Elvis Presley's cover of in the ghetto. The song was released in 1969 and made the career of it's composer Mac Davis. Your will not only hear incredible music but see the heart and soul of the singers. Thank you for all the fun I have had watching you channel. Mark Price.
Black Betty is an old English term for whiskey. It's an old folk song however Huddie William Ledbetter better known by the stage name Lead Belly is given credit as the composer. ------> Some sources claim that “Black Betty” was written by Lead Belly, though others claim that he adapted it from even earlier versions. Because of its populist origins, the song has many recordings-more recently, Tom Jones took a stab at it. But the most famous in modern day is Ram Jam’s rock version, which is sung with slightly modified lyrics. While some may think “Black Betty” refers to a woman, others claim it’s a nickname for any number of objects, including a bottle of whiskey, a whip, or even a penitentiary transfer wagon. In Northern England and southern Scotland, wrote David Hackett Fischer, the term “Black Betty” was offered used for a bottle of whiskey. That euphemism was later adopted in the country regions of the eastern United States. In 1736, American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin published The Drinker’s Dictionary and referenced the term, writing, “He’s kiss’d black Betty.” Other older references include the U.S. wedding tradition in which two groomsmen are pitted against one another in a race. The prize? A bottle of whiskey, known as “Black Betty,” according to Caldwell’s Illustrated Combination Centennial Atlas of Washington Co. Pennsylvania of 1876. In the 1934 book, American Ballads and Folk Songs, John A. and Alan Lomax write that “‘Black Betty’ … is the whip that was and is used in some Southern prisons.” There are several more references in early 20th century writings to the term referring to a whip. Still, others refer to it as a synonym for the “Black Maria,” which was a term used for the automobile that transferred prisoners to their holding centers.
New to your channel and love that you are checking out artists of the 70s. Have you ever reacted to Stevie Ray Vaughan doing Voodoo Child or Texas Flood. Even though he died at age 35 in 1990 in a helicopter crash after his concert with Eric Clapton, Eric said he didn't like taking the stage after Stevie because SRV was, and still is, the greatest guitarist ever. RIP SRV🎸
Radar Love by Golden Earring probably holds the title for speeding ticket honours. Rumour has it that if you told the cops, "sorry officer, I was listening to Radar Love..." they would let you off with a warning. It never worked for me though!
I think the best ‘One Hit Wonder’ Song of all time? It Jetisoned this band into music history!!! I recommend the song “Baby Come Back” by an unknown band call Player!!! Guarantee you’ll love it!
YOUNG People may never heard of this AND they may not realize that in todays world of electronics sound effects they did not all have that back then SO when you see the two guys Come close together and strum their guitars that is causing a FEEDBACK which gives the sound that WAVE Sound effect which was not done back then with synthesizers or other special effects.
ok i'm late to this party but if its seems familar and youre sure you havent actually heard this before it might be because apparently its was kinda used 3-4 years ago in this song: Pitbull - Get Ready ft. Blake Shelton i learned that from another reactor to Ram Jam's incredible song.
You might check out "La Grange? performed by ZZ Top, "Come and Get Your Love" performed by Redbone or "Radar Love" performed by Golden Earring. These all have excellent and interesting instrumentation, similar to this song.
Since it now appears you are starting to look into guitar players, you should start at the top as far as blues/rock goes and view Stevie Ray Vaughan Texas Flood live at El Mocambo! You are not ready for this! But you will love it!