Ram Jam "Black Betty" REACTION Video | best reaction videos to 70s rock music 

Random Person: You can't make a music video for the costs of a 6 pack. Ramjam: hold my beer.

$50.00 bucks, 3 cases of beer, and the drummers back yard. Your own video !!!

im 63, graduated in 78, this was an everyday thing, we never thought it would end, new favorite song every two months

This was from my high school days, I graduated in 79. We didn't even know how good we had it. It was just turn on the radio and you could count on hearing something you liked. Was it rock, country, pop, R&B? We didn't care, if it sounded good we liked it.

Ledbelly actually wrote this song about 100 years ago! What you just heard was Ram Jams' rendition of the original. Great rendition though!

Gap ladies, Fun fact, That lead singer who is playing the guitar is Bill Bartlett. He was originally the guitar player in the band, The Lemon Pipers, who had the number 1 hit song, "Green Tambourine" in 1968.

If someone came to this country and had never heard a Rock and Roll song, this is the song you should play for them. It packs a lot into a short space, and it has enough of all different styles to let the person catch up real quick. If they don't like it, hey that's on them. This song IS Rock and Roll!!!

IM BRITISH this definitely made it across the pond to the UK 🇬🇧. I remember it well .

One hit wonders, but man what a song.

I was a teen in the late 60s and the 70s.......best music ever ! Went to just about every concert !

The actual song is actually longer. The video cuts out the whole instrumental section in the middle. Look for that!

This is the short version of this song. You should hear the longer one with the guitar solo and everything.

A school party in 1977. This song is played. I look at her, she looks at me. Love at first sight. Now in 2023 we are still together. Black Betty: Thank you!

"i blinked and it was over". well, time flies when you are having fun.

The album version is longer , which basically is just a longer guitar solo . It's actually a mash up from a old Led Belly song from way back who i think is the originator. I am also sure this was not actually a Ram Jam song , it was from the singers ( Bill Bartlett ) previous band Starstruck, and just added on the album.... Not sure its been a long time and i am getting old lolololol ! Lots of things going on with this song . Love your reactions ! Cheers from down under 😎🤘

There is a longer version of this song. A lot of the guitar solo was cut out for the video. Look for the audio version.

During the sixties garage bands were all over the neighborhoods especially in the backyards with beer and partying

Another classic song... that everyone has heard some time.

'How fun'!! Said mum. :)...and I have to watch 3 or 4 reactions to this song because I can't get enough.

I have played this song in a cover band. lol It's one of those tunes that guarantee a packed dance floor much like Shook Me All Night Long, Play That Funky Music, and I Will Survive. Nice work ladies!

It makes my heart sing to see young people falling in love with the music of my generation! Recent music makes me cringe! And hearing the young woman say "I was born in the wrong time!" Makes me scream "There's HOPE for America!!!!!!!!!!!" Love it! That's it. You win. I'm gonna sub now.

I teach aerobics/fitness classes. I have this song on a couple of my playlists for classes. Everyone gets fired up as soon as it starts. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

This song has a pretty interesting controversy on its meaning. The song is *at least* 150 years old and 'Black Betty' was the name of a kind of whiskey, two different guns, a bull whip and a couple different famous women. No one knows for sure what the song is about but, well Ram Jam used it to give us THIS so...whatever the case its awesome. Please react to 'Poor Wayfaring Stranger - Epic Version Feat. Chris Rupp' by Simon Khorolskiy. It is really amazing.

This one and Frankenstein are my best jam songs to listen to.

This is a cover of the Legendary Leadbelly "1939" it is a traditional black work song from. The 1800's Many artists covered Leadbelly House of The Rising Son- The Animals Gallows Pole- Led Zepprlin Midnight Special - CCR Where Did You Sleep Last Night- Nirvana Just to name a few

We still have backyard and basement jams. Your musician friends show up with acoustic instruments. Then you need mics for the vocals. Next thing you know, there’s a drum kit and systems set up to blast the whole neighborhood.

Hi Ladies, the song is a variation of Lead Belly's song that has been morfed into Ram Jams version, you can look on You Tube and find the video, and forgive the language but it was a long time ago when things were very different, it's called Negro Sinful Songs sung by Lead Belly 3 songs "Looky Looky Yonder, Black Betty , Yallow Woman's Door Bells"

I remember driving home one night on the black highway from Las Vegas, playing this repeatedly on my cd player. I've seen young reviewers hear it and they always love it. I always thought there was something wrong with me for enjoying it so much.

One of the only videos that I'm aware of that's shorter than the recorded version.

So glad you reacted to this banger!

Always love the guy in the black jacket, hey I cant play any instrument but ill sing a few lines and dance crazy for ya!

Another great tune and they’re having the time of their lives filming the video.

I saw at one time a longer version but I don't know where. They were in concert somewhere. It was great...

Baby Gap, I have to say, I totally agree with you. I lived in Florida when this came out, and it was common to have little get-togethers like this on the weekends and, in fact, they had quite a few hide-away bars that were of this style, older, not necessarily run down but, let's just say, "lived in", with live, outdoor bands there, out amongst the trees and grassy areas. You'd find these places just driving down 1 of the more rustic backroads. It was a hoot🦉, and you would have been exactly the kind of person I would have wanted and would have expected to see there ... my kind of people😉👍🤗😎 !!! You were definitely born in the wrong time, but we are all so blessed and happy to share these things with you now !!! So glad to see Mom enjoy this so much too. BTW, I love the hair today. It would go with the environment I described too. So, is there anyway or anytime that you DON'T L👀K stunning ??? I hope that's ok with you to say😱😨 ...

This is one of the best songs for car chases especially the Spiderbait version.

I grew up in the 60s and 70s-We had parties every weekend all over the countryside at someone's barn or field with at least one band. People singing, dancing, and partying. People (including me) would bring instruments and jam with the bands after they were done playing for the general public and usually crash there for the night. I've never had so much fun in my life! It was a great time to grow up. I'm sorry you missed it. So much great music.

I love the fact that MUM loves it,but what got me so excited is that the DAUGHTER was into it so much and it really showed.I love this song as well,so up tempo and so catchy,and being a drummer myself,I just have to give props to the drummer as well for the constant 4 on the floor and his playing and solo work.Great reaction Ladies..Stay safe and well..

You should check out Huddie 'Lead belly' Ledbetter's version of Black Betty. It is very different. It was a work song from working on a chain gangs. Search for Lead Belly - "Black Betty"

This song is great! Another song that is similar, and I love, is Blackfoot “Train, Train “. It’s another great, catchy song. I love this reaction by the way. Keep it up.

Great reaction to a great song. This is a shortened version of the original song off the album. They shortened up the guitar solo... So you're actually missing about two minutes of absolute brilliance. Would suggest you check out the longer studio version. This is the shortened version they did for radio. Keep up the great work

Hi lady,s loved this driving my car in my teens nice choice , love from uk xx

My daughters tell me that they like the music from my era too. Lol 😅

Hello, there is a longer version of this song on their LP. Go find their LP version and listen to that. Great song…love it! ❤

Excelente reaccion, saludos desde Costa Rica, pura vida !!!

Spider bait did a cover of Black Betty in the 2000s with a black hotrod towing a trailer with the drummer & my big sister's eldest grandson asked me if the original was about a car, I said doubt it, there was a big stink kicked up in the southern states of America about it being disrespectful to African American women, and a lot of radio stations in the south refused to play it. That's what I heard hear in Australia. As a teenager all I was a POWER ROCK song

I remember this one hit wonder. Man, those 70s styles. When they sang this song then, I could always picture a Black Betty dancing. Glad ya'll did this song. I was back from overseas then.

Really an iconic banger! Thanks for your reaction.

We actually listen to this one also in youth discos back in late 70s in Norway. One of the fun ones!🤣😎❤️🇧🇻

Hiya gals I have the original L.P. It has the extended version of BLACK BETTY approx 5 minutes long which is FabTastic. Actually the whole album is lotsa fun. A bit like U.S. version of Statua Quo 1970s.

You should check out the warning. 3 sisters from Mexico they are the next generation of rock a power trio with relatable lyrics and powerful voices. Start with choke ,evolve money, dust to dust or either one of their covers or metallicas entersandman one from 2014 when the youngest was 9 or 2021 version from the black list album.

Such a great driving song. I wonder how many people got speeding tickets to this song.

This song actually consists of two parts. The first part is an old slave/blues song. The 2nd part was written by the lead singer, and it is about his favorite pin-up girl, Betty Page. Another interesting factoid is that the band in the video is not Ram Jam. It is an earlier band (cannot remember the name). Lastly, the lead singer never got any royalties from this song. Long story. In fact, if you want to know more, there is a video on RU-vid where someone tracked down the lead singer and interviewed him about this track. Fascinating video and well worth checking out.

Today is the first time I watched your videos. I really enjoy them. I can’t wait to see what you will react to in the future. I hope you react to Steelheart - I’ll Never Let You Go, Skid Row - Wasted Time and Slaughter - Fly to the Angels.

Love the reaction, thank you ladies. There is a longer version you can listen to, no video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4cn_woPvjQI.html

One backyard a few hundred bucks for beer & weed, reportedly, & voila. Those were the days. ;o) No live band, but. Back in the '70s as teens we lived in a subdivision but the house sat on about 1.5 acres. A hill & trees wrapped around 2 sides of the property. While my parents were out of town my brother, sister & I had a party. We put speakers on the house roof pointing down to the backyard to blast tunes like this. We told a few friends about it, that's all. That night by about 9 PM the place was swarming with teenagers. Both sides of the street was bumper to bumper parked cars. The pool parking lot across the street was full. I was talking to some people I'd never met & asked them how they found about it. Guy said a dude at the gas station up the street was giving directions. I didn't know anybody that worked at a gas station, much less the one up the street. About midnight the cops show up. Take me aside, wanted to know were my parents were. Uhhhh??? Gives me an hour to clear the place out or else. The next day we had to rake up the beer can tabs in the backyard. Also got a phone call from a lady looking for her daughter. I have no idea how she got our number or knew that something was on at our place that night. I swore we didn't have any daughters hanging around. Try that today & see how far you get. LOL

Giirls, I was a ten during this time. A great time for music.

This song will never die 🤘

Actually, there are two longer versions of this, at 4:44 and 3:59, but first some background. "Black Betty" was originally an African American work song, which was first recorded in 1933 (and can be found on RU-vid). Lead Belly's 1939 cover was the most well-known version before Ram Jam, but Koerner, Ray and Glover and Manfred Mann both recorded notable takes in the mid 1960s. Bill Bartlett is the singer/guitarist seen in this video. He was originally with the pop/psych band "The Lemon Pipers" in the 1960s. He went on to form "Starstruck", who released the aforementioned original 4:44 version on their own "Truckstar" label in 1973 (also available on RU-vid), which became a local hit, but went nowhere nationally. In 1977, producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffrey Katz (who, as Kasenetz Katz, "manufactured" numerous bubblegum groups in the late 1960s), created a studio group centered around Bartlett, named Ram Jam. They then took the original Starstruck studio tapes for "Black Betty", and re-edited them into two new versions, a 2:24 single (which is heard on the video), and a 3:59 album cut. The single went on to be a huge national hit. The two Ram Jam edits are markedly different than the Starstruck original in places, and Bartlett is the only musician in the video who actually played on the recording. Unfortunately, Bartlett never received any royalties for the Ram Jam versions.

I wish this video was made using the longer album version. It has a wild solo and a great duel guitar part. When I was a teenager back in 1977 a record store in the Los Angeles area called Tower Records had a stack of promotional 7”, four-song records sitting at the counter that they were giving away. I took one home and spun it. Three of the songs from other bands were forgettable, but the closer was the long version of Black Betty and I fell in love with it instantly. My friend and I cranked that thing on his mother’s stereo all summer long while she would be away at work. She would not have approved of us using her stereo, and certainly not at the volume we subjected that thing to. I still have the record. A great memory

This song is actually a cover of an old song of the same name by Leadbelly. It’d be interesting to see y’all react to that as well

Just jammin' in the back yard with my friends...

Of your into 70's style rock, there is a group of young ladies from Mexico who rock it out with the best. The Warning Band. Check them out, they are awesome.

This sounds very familiar. I don’t think I’be heard recently. Definitely a great jam kind of song.

Love the reaction guys!! This song just epitomizes 70’s southern rock! Two songs that I feel are similar are “Blitzkrieg Bop” by The Ramones and “Ballroom Blitz” by Sweet! 🤟🤟🤟

Leave 'em wanting more.

Ladies Home Free just released the title track from their new album 😉 You have to check it out. An original written by Tim, Austin and Chris Chatham Chris plays guitar in it. So Long Dixie.

Love your hair ❤

I had a little Benz two seat convertible black on black we named Black Betty 😂 Turn this up loud and haul.

I know it just gets you going bobbing your heads and gets into your body

If you liked this take a look at the video of "Sum 41 - Fatlip" its basically a bunch of youngsters doing a more modern version of this with their audience joining in but slightly more outrageous, (very outrageous) but live and likeable

I remember a story about this song that its a chain gang song or possibly earlier, ive heard it on you tube . but what a song.

There exists a longer version with longer guitar solos.

Ram Jam's version is definitely good, but I am shocked no one ever reacts to Leadbelly's version.

It is said their manager gave them $250 and said make a music video, they spent $249 of it on beer and weed.

Great song .. written in the 30's I think .. and covered by a few artists. My favourite cover is by Australian band 'Spiderbait' .. but then again, as an Aussie, I'm probably biased. Check them out on RU-vid.

Ok I'm interested to see where your musical journey goes...Hopefully it's more into Rock maybe even into some Metal (I doubt that though 🤣) but I'll stick around to see.

Hello guys, nice reaction as always. As a big Nightwish fan (and Jukka), want to let u know why he did step down from Nightwish. It's a short documentary, just under 6 min. It's a great thing to react to, or if u rather want to c it privately, thats ok as well. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3W7TJcuuYgQ.html. Love from Sweden and take care xxx ps it's in Finnish, but with English subs.

your lucky to be in this era where you just press a button and the 70s appear then another button and the best of the 60s was there when actually back then it really depended on our radio DJs if we heard the songs or not If you want to hear how important the DJs were, there was a series called Crusin and it had the DJs the commercials and the music of a radio station My favourite was Crusin 57 I think it goes from Crusin 55 to Crusin 65

Filmed in the backyard In Long Island New York!

You should do a band called Moontemple next! They're new!

This song transcends many generations. Its over 100 years old and was a railroad workers chant. There is a longer studio version with more meat on the bones. 😊

Checking up Chuck Berry doing his song called My Ding-a-Ling 👏👏👏

That lead singer could be my father’s twin lol

You two should start a band, and call yourselves the GAP band.

I think it cost them 15 or 20 dollars to make this video, at the time that may have included the video tape, beer and the weed.

So happy that this video and the Meatloaf one got unblocked by RU-vid please enjoy everyone 😊

I like your bear ears

You ever hear of the gap. It is when cute girls play music that rocks. Band Maid is the band, and Dice the official mv is the song.

This song is very old. The first recorded version was by Ledbelly.

Somebody to love, Queen 1981 live Montreal #challenge...

Do yourselves a favor and check out Spiderbait’s version of Black Betty. They take it to another level of intensity, and it runs for over 3 and a half minutes. And the music video is amazing!

Also sang by Leadbelly

This is the A.M. Radio edit version. The original recording is longer.

There are many opinions as to what Black Betty is. There was a Revolutionary war musket called a black betty, pecursor to the Brown Bess, that was extremely inaccurate.

Just putting this out there. Are you familiar with "2 Cellos"? A great duo that does covers, and has a lengthy rabbit-hole to fall into. I suggest starting with "Thunderstruck" or "Smooth Criminal." Also, love your content. Keep the videos coming!

Great song. I love that most reactors do this version. BUT, the studio version is even better in some ways. It has some really cool extra instrumentals. It's longer (not much, but still)

Alright boys, let's make a video! What's our budget? Two bucks! We can do this.

Always leave them wanting more lol

I almost think I had this on 8-Track. I do remember rocking out to this album in my younger years. You mentioned being born in the wrong era for your taste in music. Fortunately there are some good bands bringing back the rock and roll. My current favorite lately has been "The Warning". Great lyrics and musical talent. Check out Evolve ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3_RB0tRI624.html or Disciple ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-p9GcS8ptpCY.html. They have many others as well.

Time for some Blackfoot Train Train and Highway Song