The story behind this video is that the record company gave them $500 to make a music video, so the band spent $450 on weed and beer, and threw this party with it, and just filmed it.
Hearing an interview . . The band on the video is not the same as the one that recorded the single . . That came from a Bill Bartlett interview .. hes the lead on the video . .
@@rogerreed905 Bartlett said that they were told one morning to get their gear and go out ti shoot the video for a promoter in England. He didn't even see the final cut until 40 years later when his dentist showed it to him. The song itself is an old folk song. The best known previous recording was by the great bluesman Leadbelly (Huddie Leadbetter, whom the band thought had written it), but he probably learned it in prison, as the first recording was a Lomax field recording. The Ram Jam record is a 1977 remix of a 1973 recording by Bartlett's previous band, Starstruck. After Starstruck broke up, Bartlett was contacted by the producers he his earlier band, the Lemon Pipers, had worked with in the late 60s. Ram Jam was organized aground the song. Ram Jam lasted for two albums, mostly decent blues-rock, but this was their only hit.
@@danadnauseam Great info, but don''t forget there was also the B side to the single edit version of "Black Betty," which was not on either Ram Jam album, "I Should Have Known." Also, the professional name "Lead Belly" was two words.
@@BadderSanta WHILE THIS SONG WAS NOT BLASTING IN 1973 BARTLETT AND HIS BAND STARSTRUCK RELEASED THE SONG ON TRUCK STAR LABEL IN 1975. IT WAS EDITED AND RELEASED IN 1977 WITH THE BAND RAM JAM. SO YOU'RE BOTH WRONG.
@@theoriginalscottmalkinson6161 and the version here was ... Which is what people who pay attention are talking about ....was a. 1977 release Sop shouting.... Comment on the video... Have the counselor in your group home check your post before hitting return
@@powertothebauer296 You'd think so, but it really isn't. There are different ways to count covers/ sampled songs, but I've seen several different lists and Black Betty isn't on any of them. It's important to remember the existence of songs like White Christmas, My Way, Hallelujah!, and the libraries of the Beatles, Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Hoyt Axton.
@@cmlemmus494 This song is original from somewhere 1880 (the accurate year I don't recall) and I m to lazy to look it up again and over the years this song is from so many Artists interpreted that everybody lost count of it. so yes it is probably the most covered song in history.
You can see the "glory days" starting to fade back in for Donna. 😅😅😅 It's so cool to see today's kids not only listening to but actually enjoying the music we "boomers" grew up listening to. The 60s, 70s, and 80s were an awesome time to be alive, man.
Black Betty was a Civil War black powder musket. It had a child the damn thing went wild. An unexpected discharge the bullet went in an unknown direction. It was an old cadence song for chain gangs in the south.
Additionally, the Alabama gun manufacturer marketed a 2nd gun (the 'child') it did not fire straight either, this surely "...the damn thing went blind."
Donna's eyes widenig when the guitar kicked in was priceless. I'd think even a big country fan would recognize the fuzzy chords of Southern Fried Rock.
Ohh yeah!! Donna was ready to join that backyard party right then and there. She wanted to get up out of that chair and Jam out with Ram Jam!! Great stuff that was fun.
Black Betty was a metaphor used for a lot of different things. Whiskey to slaves. It was a song done by the blues singer Lead Belly and said to have been a slave song. However, Ram Jams version is said by its creator to be about Betty Paige, a 1950s pinup model. The last two verses are specifically about her....
Huddie Ledbetter was also known as Leadbelly. He was a legendary blues singer and songwriter from way back. He preceded the era of rock and roll. 😅 Leadbelly recorded his version of Black Betty in New York in 1939.
I was born in 1959 and I'm into Blues, Soul and Rock and I have looked up a lot of songs to see if there was an original artist. Little Eva, Mama Thornton, Robert Johnson just to name a few that their songs were covered and became big hits.
Possibly the best thumbnail of the week right here,when all 3 has an expression of laughter at the same time,you know the reaction will be really GOOD! And i was right,this might be the best reaction i have seen to this song! I have seen people with a stankface and diggin` this song alot,but this was on another level of fun reactions!
Yea. I've watched this video before and it did have the guitar solo. Now it seems to have had the audio replaced with the cut down radio version. I swear, I despise I heart radio. They cut everything down except Free Bird.
Given that there are about half a dozen semi-apocryphal interpretations of the lyrics, being ready to play ball is just as good as any other. The *nudge nudge wink wink* interpretation is actually not one of the major ones.
"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. Some sources say it is one of Lead Belly's many adaptations of earlier folk material.
Very good song. Written over 100 yrs ago ( maybe 200). Black Betty was a musket used by the military. Strong reliable and very accurate. The next generation was called a Brown Bess. So black Betty had a child, brown bess. Brown Bess was junk, not accurate ( gone blind) and not reliable ( gone wild). The third verse was added by Ram Jam to make the song longer. They should have added a few more verses.
English settlers from Northumberland and Cumberland who settled the Appalachians called their Whiskey 'Black Betty' it refers to the still they used to make their whiskey with, having a child is the whiskey being born and it can send you blind, it gets you high and when she shakes that thing it really makes you sing.
I was told the blind part came because of the smoke that was made from firing the musket and if you didn’t load the weapon properly it would blow up in your face or as the song said “Go wild” and blind you.
Led Belly recorded this song in 1939. You can find it on RUclips. Take a look. The origins of the song go back much further. Ram Jam released this recording in 1977. It hit me like a ton of bricks. They were a one-hit wonder.
This version has been the entry music I played in my head when I walked into a room full of strangers for about two decades when I first heard Leadbelly's. The cadence is the same, but otherwise it blues and Southern Fried Rock. I should have known it came from a blues artist being a fan of George Thurogood.
lead guitarist was also lead guitarist in the 1960's Lemon Pipers My Green Tambourine ... and you're right in the 1970's it was nothing to have a live band party in your back yard ...
This was a drinking song in pre-revolutionary English pubs and black Betty is what the English called (Scotch) Whiskey. Benjamin Frankllin refered to it in some of his letters back to the Colonies. English soldiers brought the song with them to fight the insurgence. The song subsequently underwent several/many changes over the years. It became famous in 1933 when James "Ironhead" Hayward was the first to record it but, before that, it was sung by convicts, like Huddy "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, in chain gangs, in the south. Huddy also recorded a version of it in 1939, after his release from prison . . . . . for murder.
Another great classic, this song just wants you to stomp your feet and move along, another great for Lulu to experience. Kathy and Donna you are amazing.
First video I've seen from you guys and Donna's *"I LIKE IT"* put a big smile on my face. This was fun! And a clever idea for a reaction series. Gotta see what else you got going on.
Even though Ram Jam had some regional success, this is their one-hit-wonder. This was used in quite a few soundtracks for action movies, so it may sound familiar to some people without knowing about it. The video does look like my kind of backyard BBQ. LOL Growing up I was lucky to have a few great garage band musicians that wound up playing as studio musicians in Nashville and played around the world with the USO, so we did a few jam sessions like it.
I use to take my grand daughter to pre school when she was 4 years old and I would play this song to get pumped up for work after a few days of rocking out and singing it I happened to look in the rear view mirror and my grand daughter was singing every word. I almost had to pull over because I was laughing so hard.
English settlers from Northumberland and Cumberland who settled the Appalachians called their Whiskey 'Black Betty' it refers to the still they used to make their whiskey with, having a child is the whiskey being born and it can send you blind, it gets you high and when she shakes that thing it really makes you sing.
Lead Belly was a pioneer of folk/blues, and sometimes bluesmen would just string together a bunch of thoughts and words just because they sounded good and flowed well. "Black Betty" could in fact be a patchwork of the different interpretations. I know Birmingham Alabama was once a major iron/steel producing city. If Black Betty was a musket, the iron could've been from Birmingham, way down in Alabam.😁
Bill Bartlett, the one singing, was the former Lead guitarist for The lemon Pipers. Howie Blauvelt, on the bass, was formerly in The Hassels with Billy Joel.
So this is an old folk song, authorship unknown, but it was popularized by two Blues artists in the 1920s and 1930s, "Ironhead" and "Lead Belly" respectively. "Black Betty" isn't a person, it's the whip that was used to beat black prisoners on the chain gang. "Bam la Bam' is the sound of the whip... "She's so rocksteady, always ready"... pretty ominous, and when she "makes me sing" the implication is screaming in pain. There have been hundreds of versions of this song, and in typical Blues fashion, every artist has taken their own interpretation. In some versions, Black Betty is a gun, in other's it's a drug. But it is never a person, that is clear, it's an allegory for something that keeps people down. RamJam's version is the most popular recording to date, and it's the version most other bands cover now, but it's quite far from the original already.
During Covid my friends, they have a band , they did many, many backyard concerts irl and over RUclips as well. I have always loved this song, thanks ladies.
Rock music nightclubs I'd go to in the early and mid and late 1980s ALWAYS played this song. The dancefloor would ALWAYS be filled. Hearing this song start always caused a lot of excitement in rock nightclubs in the 1980s (in "Ehhd-Inn-Bra"/Edinburgh, Scotland/"Sco-Lun"). 1980s: Wild times, wild people. Having "a boogie" to this rough-edged old 1977 song.
I loved your laughter, so real. This is how I learn this song. 1 verse is about a black powder gun that goes 0ff "wild" gun slang. 2 verse is about liquor 3 verse is about a woman.
Awesome reaction from you all and in particular Donna almost couldn't keep in her seat😅 Great tune from a bygone Era. I am 61 and remember and still listen to this timeless Jam. On another note I was sharing with my younger sister a little about Lulu's goats as we grew up on a hobby farm and that include 5 goats. Mrs. Cooper(you didn't dare turn your back on her lol not after the first time. Set of horns) then there was baby and her 3 kids Poppy, Petunia and Pansie. Of course all the othe usual suspects of horses, cows chickens and geese were present. My younger ❤ sisters were the keeper of the goats. Good memories so keep up the great reactions as this one was over the top entertaining. Bluesfingers1
I watched a documentary about this song. It's a really old song, possibly revolutionary war era old. There are old recorded versions from the 1930's. Ram Jam played it faster and added a few lines. Several theories about what it means but most agree that it was about a musket rifle. Guns at that time were wildly inaccurate. The bam a lam is the sound of the gun, child gone blind is the musket ball going off target, it was not mine is saying not my fault, somebody else's shot. Ram Jam probably meant the lyrics to mean something else.
OhMyGosh!!! **DonnaDonnaDonna!!!** I SO freakin **LUV** your reaction to THIS!!! Ha YAY! & OMG yea i freakin **LUV** this song there was a place i used to hang out where whenever i would go into the room they would blast this song for me cuz they knew it was one of my MOST fav songs such a **FUN** song really gets ya **Hyped** & **Dancin** cept man i totally agree i WISH it was WAY longer!!! oh WoW well the song made your day & your reaction made my day! **Thank You ALL** for THAT!!! SO needed a pick me up & this did it! **PixieHugz&LuvzALL**
Since you enjoyed this, in the same vein, I'd recommend Lynryd Skynyrd - Gimmie Three Steps, Black Foot - Train Train, Molly Hatchet - Flirtin' Disaster, UFO - Doctor Doctor I'm sure you'll like these.
"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. 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.
English settlers from Northumberland and Cumberland who settled the Appalachians called their Whiskey 'Black Betty' it refers to the still they used to make their whiskey with, having a child is the whiskey being born and it can send you blind, it gets you high and when she shakes that thing it really makes you sing.
You would think this is some guys from the South, but the band was based on Long Island New York. The video was filmed at their house in Nassau County.
Black Betty refers to a Blunderbuss manufactured in Alabama during the civil war. The child was a smaller version that had so many problem that the soldier's were afraid it would blow up in there hand's. They would say Damn thing gone wild.
The story behind this video is that the record company gave them $500 to make a music video, so the band spent $450 on weed and beer, and threw this party with it, and just filmed it.
💯 true
Hearing an interview . . The band on the video is not the same as the one that recorded the single . . That came from a Bill Bartlett interview .. hes the lead on the video . .
If this is 1977, they may have shot this on Super 8 film. What we used to call home movie film.
@@rogerreed905 Bartlett said that they were told one morning to get their gear and go out ti shoot the video for a promoter in England. He didn't even see the final cut until 40 years later when his dentist showed it to him.
The song itself is an old folk song. The best known previous recording was by the great bluesman Leadbelly (Huddie Leadbetter, whom the band thought had written it), but he probably learned it in prison, as the first recording was a Lomax field recording.
The Ram Jam record is a 1977 remix of a 1973 recording by Bartlett's previous band, Starstruck. After Starstruck broke up, Bartlett was contacted by the producers he his earlier band, the Lemon Pipers, had worked with in the late 60s. Ram Jam was organized aground the song.
Ram Jam lasted for two albums, mostly decent blues-rock, but this was their only hit.
@@danadnauseam Great info, but don''t forget there was also the B side to the single edit version of "Black Betty," which was not on either Ram Jam album, "I Should Have Known." Also, the professional name "Lead Belly" was two words.
I'm 72 yrs old I blasted this song in 1973 when I. College.
Luck as hell
It was released in 77
@@BadderSanta WHILE THIS SONG WAS NOT BLASTING IN 1973 BARTLETT AND HIS BAND STARSTRUCK RELEASED THE SONG ON TRUCK STAR LABEL IN 1975. IT WAS EDITED AND RELEASED IN 1977 WITH THE BAND RAM JAM. SO YOU'RE BOTH WRONG.
@@theoriginalscottmalkinson6161 the 75 release was only local.... So .... Yeah
@@theoriginalscottmalkinson6161 and the version here was ... Which is what people who pay attention are talking about ....was a. 1977 release
Sop shouting.... Comment on the video... Have the counselor in your group home check your post before hitting return
This is basically a rock cover of an old blues song. It's a great interpretation, with a lot of energy and musical invention.
This is probably the most covered song in History
i miss the solo section mid song on the album version...wish they included it in the video! great rendition...rock n roll at its best
@@powertothebauer296 You'd think so, but it really isn't. There are different ways to count covers/ sampled songs, but I've seen several different lists and Black Betty isn't on any of them. It's important to remember the existence of songs like White Christmas, My Way, Hallelujah!, and the libraries of the Beatles, Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Hoyt Axton.
@@cmlemmus494 This song is original from somewhere 1880 (the accurate year I don't recall) and I m to lazy to look it up again and over the years this song is from so many Artists interpreted that everybody lost count of it. so yes it is probably the most covered song in history.
@@cmlemmus494 sorry for the late reply. All I have to say look again. this song goes back to 1800s
You can see the "glory days" starting to fade back in for Donna. 😅😅😅
It's so cool to see today's kids not only listening to but actually enjoying the music we "boomers" grew up listening to.
The 60s, 70s, and 80s were an awesome time to be alive, man.
This look like my backyard when I grew up. This literally looks like my photo albums when I was a kid, this song been around forever
This is the 70's I remember. Man we had fun.
Black Betty was a Civil War black powder musket. It had a child the damn thing went wild. An unexpected discharge the bullet went in an unknown direction. It was an old cadence song for chain gangs in the south.
Hes talking about heroin.
Additionally, the Alabama gun manufacturer marketed a 2nd gun (the 'child') it did not fire straight either, this surely "...the damn thing went blind."
@@mcgee227no it's about a musket, the last line is about the iron works In Birmingham Alabama
The name Black Betty predates the American Civil War by about 150 years. The term Black Betty was later superseded by Brown Bess.
@@the_bottle_imp We all get to learn some history.
So cute the 550 mark all three start bobbing their heads in sync lol.
Girls, up and shake it. You know you want too
gotta smile when you hear this
That was some of the best reactions to this song that I've seen. Donna is a hoot.
Thank you. I agree Donna is hoot. Lol
Donna's eyes widenig when the guitar kicked in was priceless. I'd think even a big country fan would recognize the fuzzy chords of Southern Fried Rock.
With fried eggs on the album cover!
Ohh yeah!! Donna was ready to join that backyard party right then and there. She wanted to get up out of that chair and Jam out with Ram Jam!! Great stuff that was fun.
LUlu: "maybe a baseball game"
Donna: "I doubt it"
ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I literally laughed out loud to that! Oh god, so good.
Thank you so much.
😂😂😂
sweet summer child
Black Betty was a metaphor used for a lot of different things. Whiskey to slaves. It was a song done by the blues singer Lead Belly and said to have been a slave song. However, Ram Jams version is said by its creator to be about Betty Paige, a 1950s pinup model. The last two verses are specifically about her....
Huddie Ledbetter was also known as Leadbelly. He was a legendary blues singer and songwriter from way back. He preceded the era of rock and roll. 😅 Leadbelly recorded his version of Black Betty in New York in 1939.
I was born in 1959 and I'm into Blues, Soul and Rock and I have looked up a lot of songs to see if there was an original artist. Little Eva, Mama Thornton, Robert Johnson just to name a few that their songs were covered and became big hits.
We had so much fun back then...btw there is a longer version with a good guitar solo in it
Lead guitarist Bill Bartlett also was in the band Lemon Pipers who did 'Green Tambourine'.
The 70s and 80s were decades ahead of us.
HELL YH 💫😎👏👌🎵⭐️✨️
@@JayKhwaja I 2nd that emotion best of best
Possibly the best thumbnail of the week right here,when all 3 has an expression of laughter at the same time,you know the reaction will be really GOOD! And i was right,this might be the best reaction i have seen to this song!
I have seen people with a stankface and diggin` this song alot,but this was on another level of fun reactions!
Thank you.
This is my ringtone lol. It's always funny to see new people react to this absolutely insane song lol.
Im 60 and still here it in the MC world. Best reaction ever ladys 🤣❤️🇮🇹🇧🇪
Thanks
One of the greatest one hit wonders ever!! Kathy, you hit the nail right on the head!!
Yes, it was!
Spiderbait did a great cover too and it was in the movie Miss Congeniality 2, with Sandra Bullock.
The studio version has a longer middle jam section! Ultimate party song!
Yea. I've watched this video before and it did have the guitar solo. Now it seems to have had the audio replaced with the cut down radio version. I swear, I despise I heart radio. They cut everything down except Free Bird.
This is the studio version. Just edited down for radio.
Donna's reaction is priceless 😊
Took miss Donna back in time . Loved her reaction
Yes, Lulu, "she's always ready" to play baseball. Betty was sporty, and that's all you need to know.
She is so adorable!! I love her! (ready for what?)😁
Always dressed and ready to go out. lol
Given that there are about half a dozen semi-apocryphal interpretations of the lyrics, being ready to play ball is just as good as any other. The *nudge nudge wink wink* interpretation is actually not one of the major ones.
Baseball game, bles her heart!
LOL…!
"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. Some sources say it is one of Lead Belly's many adaptations of earlier folk material.
Next up for you guys should be the cautionary tale as told by THE GEORGIA SATELLITES. You will absolutely LOVE it !!!
Awesome song!! It's so catchy you can't forget this song! Came out when I was young and you still hear people playing it in bars!
Bill Bartlett is one of the guitarists, he was in the "Lemon Pipers" band in the late 1960s, " Mr. Tamborine Man". Never stopped playing this tune.
That is worth looking up for the sheer contrast of styles. Lemon Pipers were sort part of the bubble gum scene compared to this Southern rock.
It was "Green Tamborine". Mr Tamborine Man was the Byrds.
@@BlackiePawless Yeah. "Green Tambourine" was more psychedelic.
Green Tambourine would be the title.
The Byrds did the Dylan tune you name. ✌️
Brilliant to see how happy music can make people.
Very good song. Written over 100 yrs ago ( maybe 200). Black Betty was a musket used by the military. Strong reliable and very accurate. The next generation was called a Brown Bess. So black Betty had a child, brown bess. Brown Bess was junk, not accurate ( gone blind) and not reliable ( gone wild). The third verse was added by Ram Jam to make the song longer. They should have added a few more verses.
English settlers from Northumberland and Cumberland who settled the Appalachians called their Whiskey 'Black Betty' it refers to the still they used to make their whiskey with, having a child is the whiskey being born and it can send you blind, it gets you high and when she shakes that thing it really makes you sing.
I was told the blind part came because of the smoke that was made from firing the musket and if you didn’t load the weapon properly it would blow up in your face or as the song said “Go wild” and blind you.
UTTER NONSENSE....SMH
It is the best of one hit wonders!!!!!! I remember when it came out!!!!
Most underrated band in USA!
LOVED Donna's reaction!! It just brought back so many memories of that song back in the day I'd bet!!
Led Belly recorded this song in 1939. You can find it on RUclips. Take a look.
The origins of the song go back much further.
Ram Jam released this recording in 1977. It hit me like a ton of bricks. They were a one-hit wonder.
Leadbelly
@@bruceblackburn9423 Oops. I knew that. Huddie Ledbetter, to be precise.I guess have permanent "Led Zeppelin" on the brain.
This version has been the entry music I played in my head when I walked into a room full of strangers for about two decades when I first heard Leadbelly's. The cadence is the same, but otherwise it blues and Southern Fried Rock.
I should have known it came from a blues artist being a fan of George Thurogood.
lead guitarist was also lead guitarist in the 1960's Lemon Pipers My Green Tambourine ... and you're right in the 1970's it was nothing to have a live band party in your back yard ...
Black Betty is a Blunderbuss
You ladies rock..I dig your individual perspective and personalities..much respect and success.
Thanks
This was a drinking song in pre-revolutionary English pubs and black Betty is what the English called (Scotch) Whiskey. Benjamin Frankllin refered to it in some of his letters back to the Colonies. English soldiers brought the song with them to fight the insurgence. The song subsequently underwent several/many changes over the years. It became famous in 1933 when James "Ironhead" Hayward was the first to record it but, before that, it was sung by convicts, like Huddy "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, in chain gangs, in the south. Huddy also recorded a version of it in 1939, after his release from prison . . . . . for murder.
Thanks for info
I have a version by Manfred Mann on their Mighty Garvey album called Big Betty.
Nope it was a gun ,in England
@@michaelscott8443 yeah, a lot of people say that and a lot of people are wrong . . . it's documented history.
Loved dancing to this song in the 70s .
Another great classic, this song just wants you to stomp your feet and move along, another great for Lulu to experience. Kathy and Donna you are amazing.
Thanks
First video I've seen from you guys and Donna's *"I LIKE IT"* put a big smile on my face. This was fun! And a clever idea for a reaction series. Gotta see what else you got going on.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Even though Ram Jam had some regional success, this is their one-hit-wonder. This was used in quite a few soundtracks for action movies, so it may sound familiar to some people without knowing about it. The video does look like my kind of backyard BBQ. LOL Growing up I was lucky to have a few great garage band musicians that wound up playing as studio musicians in Nashville and played around the world with the USO, so we did a few jam sessions like it.
Number 1 in the UK for weeks
FINALLY! Somebody's accent I understand.. Y'all are great.
Donna's face lit up when the singing started, this song speaks to my old memories too. This video is a whole vibe.
Yes, it is.
I love the excitement from the lady to the right! 😄
This is a version of an old southern blues song often credited to Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter as the author, but it is way older.
Ladies, the reaction of the 3 of you to that has made me chuckle. Keep picking bangers
Will do
This version is the short version. There is an awesome guitar break near the end of the long version.
I use to take my grand daughter to pre school when she was 4 years old and I would play this song to get pumped up for work after a few days of rocking out and singing it I happened to look in the rear view mirror and my grand daughter was singing every word. I almost had to pull over because I was laughing so hard.
For those not in the know the Lead guitarist, Bill Bartlett was a member of the Lemon Pipers known for the song Green Tambourine.
Also, Huddy Leadbetter was blues musician from 1930s and 1940s better known as Lead Belly. This is a cover of his original song.
Apparently the 'Black Betty" was a musket and the first line refers to a blind shot, which happens when damp gunpowder is used to pack a musket!
No. That's a brown bess. A British gun.
English settlers from Northumberland and Cumberland who settled the Appalachians called their Whiskey 'Black Betty' it refers to the still they used to make their whiskey with, having a child is the whiskey being born and it can send you blind, it gets you high and when she shakes that thing it really makes you sing.
Black Betty is a bullwhip used on people that were on the chain gang
@@gabreel8112 There's no evidence to support that but more impotently how would that relate to the words of the song.
Lead Belly was a pioneer of folk/blues, and sometimes bluesmen would just string together a bunch of thoughts and words just because they sounded good and flowed well. "Black Betty" could in fact be a patchwork of the different interpretations. I know Birmingham Alabama was once a major iron/steel producing city. If Black Betty was a musket, the iron could've been from Birmingham, way down in Alabam.😁
One of my all time favorite songs. Their reactions are so great! AND...now I know what the song is actually about!!
"What was she ready for? I don't know. A baseball game? I doubt it." Classic guys.
Lol
Donna looked so very happy! 😂 It's a joy seeing your joy.
They were essentially one-hit-wonders. But what a hit!! 👍👍
Bill Bartlett, the one singing, was the former Lead guitarist for The lemon Pipers. Howie Blauvelt, on the bass, was formerly in The Hassels with Billy Joel.
Wow
....also, this is the short version.
brilliant, this song is a classic! can't wait for more reactions!
The lead guitar player and singer was in the Band The Lemon Pipers and had a hit called Green Tambourine.
I thought he lookd familier. The video is much older than it appears.
Heehee, I love your reactions to this. It's a favourite from way back in '73!! I bought the record, but it was their only big hit!
So this is an old folk song, authorship unknown, but it was popularized by two Blues artists in the 1920s and 1930s, "Ironhead" and "Lead Belly" respectively.
"Black Betty" isn't a person, it's the whip that was used to beat black prisoners on the chain gang.
"Bam la Bam' is the sound of the whip... "She's so rocksteady, always ready"... pretty ominous, and when she "makes me sing" the implication is screaming in pain.
There have been hundreds of versions of this song, and in typical Blues fashion, every artist has taken their own interpretation. In some versions, Black Betty is a gun, in other's it's a drug. But it is never a person, that is clear, it's an allegory for something that keeps people down.
RamJam's version is the most popular recording to date, and it's the version most other bands cover now, but it's quite far from the original already.
During Covid my friends, they have a band , they did many, many backyard concerts irl and over RUclips as well. I have always loved this song, thanks ladies.
A blast from the past!🤘🎸
Rock music nightclubs I'd go to in the early and mid and late 1980s ALWAYS played this song. The dancefloor would ALWAYS be filled. Hearing this song start always caused a lot of excitement in rock nightclubs in the 1980s (in "Ehhd-Inn-Bra"/Edinburgh, Scotland/"Sco-Lun"). 1980s: Wild times, wild people. Having "a boogie" to this rough-edged old 1977 song.
LuLu was feelin' it! Rock~n~Roll will never die!
Of All the reactions on youtube, THIS ONE IS the BEST. Love you Ladies. Bravo Zulu ( job well done)
Wow, thank you!
I loved your laughter, so real. This is how I learn this song.
1 verse is about a black powder gun that goes 0ff "wild" gun slang.
2 verse is about liquor
3 verse is about a woman.
The way grandma perked up on the first beat made my day!
Awesome reaction from you all and in particular Donna almost couldn't keep in her seat😅 Great tune from a bygone Era. I am 61 and remember and still listen to this timeless Jam. On another note I was sharing with my younger sister a little about Lulu's goats as we grew up on a hobby farm and that include 5 goats. Mrs. Cooper(you didn't dare turn your back on her lol not after the first time. Set of horns) then there was baby and her 3 kids Poppy, Petunia and Pansie. Of course all the othe usual suspects of horses, cows chickens and geese were present. My younger ❤ sisters were the keeper of the goats. Good memories so keep up the great reactions as this one was over the top entertaining.
Bluesfingers1
Thank you so much. Donna did love this video. Those were some cute names for goats.
You'all made my night. I always have liked this since I was 14 years old. I'm 61 and I still like me some Ram Jam.
Thanks for watching
Lol knew they would all have fun with this one. Such a great song.
My childhood right here 😁😁😁😁, watching from new 🥝🥝🥝zealand, from a stinking hot summers evening 🍺🍺🍺🍺 cheers from below earth 🥳🥳🥳
I watched a documentary about this song. It's a really old song, possibly revolutionary war era old. There are old recorded versions from the 1930's. Ram Jam played it faster and added a few lines. Several theories about what it means but most agree that it was about a musket rifle. Guns at that time were wildly inaccurate. The bam a lam is the sound of the gun, child gone blind is the musket ball going off target, it was not mine is saying not my fault, somebody else's shot. Ram Jam probably meant the lyrics to mean something else.
OhMyGosh!!! **DonnaDonnaDonna!!!** I SO freakin **LUV** your reaction to THIS!!! Ha YAY! & OMG yea i freakin **LUV** this song there was a place i used to hang out where whenever i would go into the room they would blast this song for me cuz they knew it was one of my MOST fav songs such a **FUN** song really gets ya **Hyped** & **Dancin** cept man i totally agree i WISH it was WAY longer!!! oh WoW well the song made your day & your reaction made my day! **Thank You ALL** for THAT!!! SO needed a pick me up & this did it! **PixieHugz&LuvzALL**
Thank you so much
Glad you all loved it! Best video ever of the 70's. Such a banger!
LOL YOU ALL ARE SO FUNNY. "BLACK BETTY IS A REAL CLASSIC SONG . GLAD YOU ALL FINALLY GOT TO HEAR IT.
Typing in UPPER CASE = 'Shouting'. Could you maybe type in a LARGER typeface? We didn't quite hear you.
@@Drahculia IT SHOWS YOUR SMALL MIND SET. EXPAND YOUR MIND, AND STOP BEING A SHEEP. BAAAAAAAA AAAAAAA
You ladies reactions made me smile from ear to ear! Awesome! :)
Ram Jam formed in 1977, and they had split before the end of the year.
I love watching your reaction.I have heard this before years ago. I live in the UK heard it in the seventees
The 70's were great!!! Just look at how they dressed and how they were acting during this video🤣🤣🤣
Yes, it was great.
1977...what a great time to be in rock
This is the radio cut..the album version has a wild jamming interlude .. loved y'all's reaction 😁
Thanks
perfect reaction to a perfect video aaaaa++++ great job this was pure magic
those were the days.
Best Black Betty review ever! ❤
Thanks
This might just be my newest favorite reaction. Not just to this song but all time. Subscribing now
Thank you for subbing.
That song is always a hoot. 🔥💯
Since you enjoyed this, in the same vein, I'd recommend Lynryd Skynyrd - Gimmie Three Steps, Black Foot - Train Train, Molly Hatchet - Flirtin' Disaster, UFO - Doctor Doctor
I'm sure you'll like these.
Also, That Smell and Simple Man by Lynryd Skynyrd and anything by Boston!
You're better than Spotify.
Fantastic reaction. Loved seeing your enjoyment
Thank you so much 😁
"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.
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.
English settlers from Northumberland and Cumberland who settled the Appalachians called their Whiskey 'Black Betty' it refers to the still they used to make their whiskey with, having a child is the whiskey being born and it can send you blind, it gets you high and when she shakes that thing it really makes you sing.
The lead singer was also in a group from the Sixties known as The Lemon Pipers. They had a one hit wonder called Green Tambourine.
This song slaps so hard, you need a safe word.
👍😹😹😹
😂😂oh dang, excellent description 😂❤
You ladies crack me up! I love everyone of you 😂 😂 😂
Thanks
If you liked that one you’ll love their song “Keep Your Hands On the Wheel”. 😂
My favorite reaction from you girls. Especially you grandma! Great song.
I played at or went to many parties like this back in the 70s. LOL. Very fun and catchy.
You would think this is some guys from the South, but the band was based on Long Island New York. The video was filmed at their house in Nassau County.
Wow
One of the best rock one hit wonders of the 70’s
Agree
Black Betty was why they called the flint type pistols in the 1700's and pirates times.
I have watched a lot of reactions, this is by far the best one I’ve ever seen! I know and love the song. This made my day! Thank y’all!
Thank you for watching.
Black Betty refers to a Blunderbuss manufactured in Alabama during the civil war.
The child was a smaller version that had so many problem that the soldier's were afraid it would blow up in there hand's.
They would say Damn thing gone wild.