The lead said the song is about 100 years old. He says Black Bettye, in his mind, was a stripper from the '50s named Bettye Paige who usually wore black...when she wore anything at all. This was the only hit by RamJam and was recorded in the very early '70s. All the guys in the band had day jobs. The Lead was a high school music teacher and the bass player drove a delivery truck. The only one still alive is the drummer. No matter what kind of music you like....this song will make you bounce, and smile while you're doing it.
@Barb5001 the song Black Betty is said to be a railroad workers song from over a hundred years ago. The words change over the years. The lead singer, Bill Bartlet, said the WORDS HE ADDED refers to Bettye Paige, a 1950s stripper who usually wore black. HIS version of the song was recorded in 1977. A blues guy named Leadbelly made a recording of Black Bettye in the 1930s.
This song was originally a prison work song, to help establish a steady work flow, so that the prison workers would not tire out as easily. In the 1930s, Blues/Folk singer Leadbelly had served time in prison for two separate murders that he did not commit (he was released both times on appeal). While in prison, Leadbelly became familiar with this prison work song, and recorded it in 1939. Since no one had published or copyrighted the song, Leadbelly got the songwriting and copyright credit for the song. In 1977, Ram Jam recorded “Black Betty”. They sang the original first verse, then added two new verses to the song. Ram Jam gave the Leadbelly Estate the full songwriting and copyright credit for their version of “Black Betty”.
Bet's get real..shall we? Black Betty refers to a musket. The origin is said to be a very old marching cadence tune It has little to do with Lead belly (born Huddie William Ledbetter) other then he covered it
Our 70's music was a high all on it's own. Black Betty was one of the first songs we had that talked about race and we were proud of it. Mixed culture was not the norm and those who acknowledged and embraced it were hit with scrutiny and distain for many years. Ram Jam helped to change that. It's sad though that today's society hears these lyrics and considers them to be drug related. Black Betty was just great music in a time of racial change.
The Lomaxes were recording for the Library of Congress and later field recordings in 1934, 1936, and 1939 also include versions of "Black Betty". A notated version was published in 1934 in the Lomaxes book American Ballads and Folk Songs. It was recorded commercially in New York in April 1939 for the Musicraft Records label by Lead Belly, as part of a medley with two other work songs: "Looky Looky Yonder" and "Yellow Woman's Doorbells". Musicraft issued the recording in 1939 as part of a 78-rpm five-disc album entitled Negro Sinful Songs sung by Lead Belly. Lead Belly had a long association with the Lomaxes, and had himself served time in State prison farms. Lead Belly was first recorded by the Lomaxes in 1933 when he was approximately 44 years old. John Lomax helped Lead Belly get the recording contract with Musicraft in 1939. Post-1939 While Lead Belly's 1939 recording was also performed a cappella (with hand claps in place of hammer blows), most subsequent versions added guitar accompaniment. These include folk-style recordings in 1964 by Odetta (as a medley with "Looky Yonder", with staccato guitar strums in place of hand claps), and Alan Lomax himself. Singer Dave Ray of the folk-blues trio Koerner, Ray and Glover also recorded the song unaccompanied on their 1964 album Lots More Blues, Rags and Hollers. In 1968, Manfred Mann released a version of the song, arranged for a band, on their LP Mighty Garvey!, with the title and lyrics changed to "Big Betty". In 1972, Manfred Mann's Earth Band performed "Black Betty" live for John Peel's In Concert on the BBC,[14] this version was released in 2019 on the double CD / triple LP Radio Days Volume 4, which also contains an earlier rendition from 1971 under the title "Big Betty". The same musical arrangement but with a new lyric and altered vocal melody appeared on the Earth Band's second album Glorified Magnified as "Look Around", credited solely to drummer Chris Slade. A studio version of "Big Betty" was recorded at the same sessions but remained unreleased until the 40th Anniversary box set in 2011. Ram Jam version Single by Ram Jam from the album Ram Jam B-side "I Should Have Known" Recorded 1974 Released June 1977 Length 2:32 (single version) 3:57 (album version) Label Epic Songwriter(s) Traditional, Huddie Ledbetter Producer(s) Jerry Kasenetz, Jeffry Katz Bill Bartlett had been in the Lemon Pipers and then formed a group called Starstruck. While in Starstruck, Bartlett took Lead Belly's 59-second long "Black Betty" and arranged, recorded and released it on the group's own TruckStar label. "Black Betty" became a regional hit. Producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz in New York formed a group around Bartlett called Ram Jam. They re-released the song, and it became a hit nationally. The Ram Jam version was actually the same one originally recorded by Starstruck (albeit significantly edited to rearrange the song structure). The song became an instant hit with listeners, and reached number 18 on the singles charts in the United States and achieved more success in the UK and Australia reaching the top ten. Both the Ram Jam and the Spiderbait versions appear in the 2005 film "The Dukes of Hazzard", with the Ram Jam version also appearing on the soundtrack album. Figure skating world champion Javier Fernández performed his short program to Ram Jam's version of "Black Betty" during the 2014-15 season, when he won his third European Championships title and his first World Championships gold medal. The level Castle Rock from the 2013 video game Rayman Legends is based on Ram Jam's version of "Black Betty". The song was remixed by Dutch DJ Ben Liebrand in 1989 as Rough 'n' Ready Remix and became successful, reaching number 13 in the UK as well as charting in several other countries. It appeared twice in the season twenty episode of Family Guy, "Cootie & The Blowhard". The song was used in the movie "Kung Pow! Enter the Fist", during a fight between the hero and a villain who called himself Master Betty. Spiderbait version Single by Spiderbait from the album Tonight Alright B-side "The Dog" "In This City" Released March 15, 2004 Length 3:26 Label Universal Music Australia Songwriter(s) Traditional, Huddie Ledbetter Producer(s) Sylvia Massy In 2004, Australian alternative rock band Spiderbait released a version of "Black Betty" as the lead single from their sixth studio album, Tonight Alright, on March 15. Produced by Sylvia Massy, this version is a slightly faster re-working of Ram Jam's hard rock arrangement. The song was a hit in Australia, reaching number one on the ARIA Singles Chart in May 2004, becoming Spiderbait's first number-one single in their home country. The song was released as Spiderbait's debut single in the United States on October 18, 2004, reaching number 32 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs chart in November of the same year. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2004, the song was nominated for Highest Selling Single and Best Video. Despite the song's success, Spiderbait's drummer, Kram, has considered their version of "Black Betty" a "fluke", as he wanted to perform three drum solos on the recording but was outvoted by the other band members.
UNH controversy In 2006, the University of New Hampshire administration controversially banned the playing of Ram Jam's "Black Betty" at UNH hockey games. UNH Athletic Director Marty Scarano explained the reason for the decision: "UNH is not going to stand for something that insults any segment of society".[64] In 2006 UNH students started the "Save Black Betty" campaign. Students protested at the hockey games by singing Ram Jam's "Black Betty", wearing T-shirts with writing on the front "Save Black Betty" and writing on the back "Bam-A-Lam", and holding up campaign posters at the game. The Ram Jam version was again played once at a UNH-UMaine hockey game on January 24, 2013, after a seven-year hiatus.
Hilarious... Give a drummer some u were air drumming like Anderson paak ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--OqrcUvrbRY.html....u will like this one too.... great job as always OG 👊 Rio. I forgot to tell you this was in Eastbound and down show fucking hilarious
When can we get some blue eyed soul, check out Joe Bonamossa High Water Everywhere Live at the Royal Albert Hall just a suggestion and if anybody see this go check it out
W reactions. You gotta check out more freestyles from juice wrld. Just came from that vid and he has so many more that are even better than the 1st sway one
You should check out Spiderbait's cover. They're an Aussie band. Kram, the drummer, sings and plays on the back of a moving flatbed. You won't be disappointed.
