There are many different versions (of this song) but James "ironhead" Baker 1933 was credited for being recorded (his version) story has it it's about a prison whip they used on the prisoners in Texas and still do black Betty was the whip and the guards were knows as crackers thats now used as a derogatory description of white people. That's the story I heard anyway. But who knows 😂🤣😂
Yes yes yes absolutely right ! imagine if at time of swing or other dixie land , have this drum line ...? i'm a electronic music DJ and sometimes find amasing primtive electronic tunes from the 40s50s ....
The song has a lot of meanings. Before Leadbelly’s 1939 adaptation of it, the song was first recorded in 1933 performed a cappella by the convict James "Iron Head" Baker and a group at Central State Farm, Sugar Land, Texas (a State prison farm). ua-cam.com/video/tiCEVl_9-MM/v-deo.html It’s actual origin was probably from a 1700s military marching cadence about a flintlock musket. A new model of the Black Betty was the Brown Bess. Hence Black Betty had a child (OR) the child is the round discharged by the rifle which was not accurate; Damn thing went wild and it's violent recoil; Damn thing gone blind. Also bam-ba-lam being the sound of the musket when fired
what 5min on wiki gave me.. origin of the term "Black Betty" varies.. 1: was a common term for a bottle of whisky in the borderlands between northern England and southern Scotland, which later was adapted in us(1700s) 2: was whip that was used in some Southern prisons.(18/1900s) 3: was used by prisoners to refer to the "Black Maria" - the penitentiary transfer wagon(1900s) As late as the 1960s, the vehicle that carried men to prison was known as "Black Betty," though the same name may have also been used for the whip that so often was laid on the prisoners' backs, "bam-ba-lam." Also the prisoner vagon/car would make sense in context of the song as black betty(car) had a child(prisoners getting out), but then the phrase that "she is from birmingham and now shes in alabam" would fit the first meaning as she is alcohol and her child are people that are drunk? But true that the fact that she makes him sing could fit the whip description
There are numerous meanings to "Black Betty" including objects of a musket, a bottle of whiskey, a whip, and a prison transfer wagon. Thats the beautiful thing about music, you can make the lyrics out to be anything you want them to mean. Thanks for reacting very cool song.
Yup, and to anyone complaining it's offensive, well yeah, considering the song's history, military march cadence, work gangs, filtered through country folk and the blues - the lyrics are all meant to be offensive, double- and triple-entendre, about more than one thing at once, often getting away with saying something very naughty in other words... so yeah, it's about all that, and yeah, could damn well be about heroin usage in the 70s too, that could be a new interpretation too, nothing wrong with that. Woah, Black Betty.
"Black Betty" is an old Prison Blues song. Blues/Folk singer Leadbelly spent time in prison for two separate murders that he did not commit (both cases were overturned on appeal). He learned this song during his time in prison, and recorded it in 1939. Ram Jam recorded the primary verse of the song, and added two new verses to the song, but Leadbelly's estate got the full writing credit for the song.
From “Songfacts”… This is a traditional song that folk singer Leadbelly popularized before his death in 1949. Leadbelly's version is a cappella and commonly sung by laborers to pass the time while working.
Gun Reference, bullshit. Nothing else in this song is referencing guns. It says she has a child that went wild, She's always ready, she's from Birmingham...This is talking about a woman of loose morals. This is like Queens - Fat Bottom Girls. They are celebrating ladies of low virtue for letting them get their rocks off with them. Not drugs, not guns, it's about a whore.
@@DarthPoyner please look all this up... It is all in reference to the gun... Your statement just proves more about it being the gun. It's not about a women of loose morals.
I saw something about the meaning of the song, the 1st verse is about a gun, black Betty's child is the bullet/shot. 2nd verse is about whiskey and 3rd is actually about a woman
I think the alcohol one is about a moonshine still, and the child was a smaller still made from black betty's spare parts which made bad shine and caused temporary blindness. 😁
This song is about an old rifle, I forgot the details, but it was a solid rifle, and then they made a smaller version of that gun that was actually either jamming or exploding spontaneously killing its user.
'Brown Bess' was the nickname of the standard issue musket of the British Army during the Revolutionary War. It was derived from an expression indicating a plain woman of low caste. 'Black Betty' was the fantasy lover of the men on a Southern chain gang in the early 20th century.
It's never a bad thing to stop and analyze music, but I'd think the very first time one should listen to it in full before one stops and dissects it. Of course, reactors listening to the entire song isn't conducive to the UA-cam algorithms, nor really the concept of "reacting", then they are just "listening".
For sure. I have on old Leadbelly recording were he sings "Ohhh black betty had a baby. Bamb-a-lamb Ohh black betty. Damn thing gone crazy, Ohh black betty ..." and so on. Not sure when it's from, probably the 1920's?
@@jamesy1979 I heave read that too, the bullwhip would have been a tool used on the the chain gang workers to keep them in line, the musket reference potentially dates back to the civil war. I think personally it could be that both stories are true, and the song was later adopted a different meaning to different people.
I think Brad is on to something with his nostalgia theory. This may be why I find it difficult to find a modern song or music I truly like or relate to. What's that old saying? "They don't make them like they used to"
It applies some times not all, I think the music of Bach,Beethoven and Mozart and that era is the best ever composed and i have no nostalgia for the 18th century, mordern pop music os just bad, its a fact
I don't know, I didn't grow up with this music, but I'll listen to actual bands with actual instruments as opposed to some generic sounding electronic beat some producer made every day of the week. The mainstream has definitely changed to extremely commercialized and artificial sound compared to bands like these. I don't think it's just nostalgia, there are objective reasons why modern mainstream music mostly sucks.
@@EaterOfBaconSandwiches I have a group currently playing that you might want to check out. Larkin Poe is two sisters, with two cousins playing when they tour. They write original songs and have great covers of older songs. "Mad as a Hatter" is their original about mental health.
Thx! Pertaining to Brad’s theory on exposure: he’s right! Familiarity plays such an important part in music! This is why composers and writers repeat a theme or riff or musical phrase! Then they will throw variations in now that the mind has a point of reference! -Terry
This is the greatest one hit wonder ever, IMO. Gotta admit, I'm kind of disappointed that Lex didn't rock out to this one. This is one song I can't help but move to.
The original is a really old deep south folk song, the meaning is disputed though the cannon is one of the suggestions, some classic old musicians did it as well, maybe leadbelly if memory serves
No it's not. The gun nick-name is coincidental. The lyrics are all about a girl. 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) 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) Get it! 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 So where's the gun tie-in?
The song is an old cover as others have pointed out, but like "House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals, this is the definitive version. I always wondered why this band wasnt bigger...Ive always been impressed by how good they are with their instruments and how tight they are as a band. It would be hard to believe they dont have SOMETHING else worthwhile in their discography.
@@scottfrench4139 While true, I kinda meant that with such a lineup, it still didnt get near LZ and their careers after. Personally I think maybe 1 yardbirds song
The song was first recorded in the field by US musicologists John and Alan Lomax in December 1933, performed a cappella by the convict James "Iron Head" Baker and a group at Central State Farm, Sugar Land, Texas (a State prison farm). Baker was 63 years old at the time of the recording. Black Betty is referring to a musket, the child in the song is very likely referring to the musket ball. The "bam-ba-lam is the sound that the Musket made when it was fired. "The damn thing went wild" meaning the ball didn't always go where it should. "The child is blind" meaning it did not care who it hit friend or foe, "Black betty don't care" meaning the musket also doesn't care who is killed by its child, "that child ain't mine" meaning "it wasn't me who shot my buddy in the back of the head". This is supported by multiple descriptions of the use of the musket in the battlefield. During the Napoleonic/ Russian campaign 1/4 of all French casualties were caused by the rear ranks shooting their own front ranks. The line "she's from Birmingham" also fits as the place where muskets were manufactured.
@@kellyslate7536 Yes,and it was less reliable as well. The bullets would go astray,as in the song when he says "The damn thing gone wild" and "The damn thing gone blind",meaning it would a lot of the time not hit its mark,blindly flying off into the distance.
The song is a cover. The Original man who made the song is called Leadbelly. A few of his songs have been covered, like Nirvana- where did you sleep last night, and The Animals- The House of the Rising Sun are all covers
Black Betty was a musket used in the American civil war. Bamalam is a reference to the noise it made when fired and having a child was reference to the round leaving the barrel I believe.
I think, in Ram Jam's minds, it is about a Black girl that was hot 🔥 and about how they "appreciated" her ... a LOT. Many will argue the origins of the song and what it's original meaning is. The term, "Black Betty" is known for many things, a Black slave woman, an "old negro work song, "the carriage that took prisoners to prison", a hearse, a musket with a black painted handle (possibly where the "Bam-A-Lam" comes from), a pair of sunglasses that won't put a hole in your wallet, drug ... so, an almost unlimited number of things that anyone wants to say it means. However, since it's been around for a century or so, it's meaning NOW is possibly quite different than it's original one so, whatever the singer thought it meant at the time ... to them. At the time it was recorded, no one would be singing derogatory songs about a Black Woman, even though there are those who say it created quite a stir. I was around back then and heard nothing negative about it. Lots of others say the same thing. Obviously, at this point, you would have to ask the group what they thought it meant to them when they recorded it, because that's what they meant when they sang it. It doesn't matter what it COULD have meant over time. Many things are adopted to new purposes so, something old becomes something new again. We have to get off this cancelling everything or implying that everyone had "kill" or "hate" in their minds from some earlier time, as we do not know what they intended. Let it be.
The song is about the nickname for the whip used in southern prisons back in the day. The chain gangs used to actually sing the song or something similar, the original song was sang by an artist named Leadbelly who was actually in an old chain gang
Ya but this song is from 1939. Actually it even goes back before Leadbelly Leadbetter did it to some african-american prisoners. The original accapella is on UA-cam.
Black Betty is actually an old chain gang song. Prisoners would sing it as the were breaking rocks. Leadbelly recorded it, too. But, Ram Jam syncopated it and made it theirs.
I heard a interview recently from Bill Bartlett he said this song from their version was about a pin up girl he liked she actually was white but her name was black Betty cause she wore black in the pin up. Starstruck is who bill actually sang this song with....before ram jam.
Bill Bartlett on the lead guitar and vocals kills this song. This is a cover of an old "Lead Belly" song that people would sing on the chain gang in prison. The original song doesn't have as many lyrics but is just as powerful.
Glad it stopped raining so you could get back to your Reactions :) Gives me a whole new appreciation and admiration for what you guys do. Keep it up and stay strong you two!
So many songs are written with lyrics open to interpretation. 10 people can hear the same song and all 10 can get a different meaning. I’ve heard Black Betty could mean a musket, a bottle of whiskey, a whip, heroin, a promiscuous woman, a moonshine still or a prison transfer wagon. But in the end, it doesn’t really matter. It’s music, not an educational lecture.
I don't know how many times my kids used to ask to play this song and turn it up all the way. It didn't matter if we were headed to the school or the store. Lol 😂😂. My kids loved it..
I watched a video by a music historian. He said the term "Black Betty" may go back to Ben Franklin. Over the years it meant other things, as pointed out by some of the other commenters. Who used the term also varied: Slaves, prisoners, soldiers, etc. The song goes back maybe hundreds of years. And it has evolved. For me, if your morning coffee doesn't get your blood moving, play BLACK BETTY.
Yes. Queen of Spades is 13 points. Unless you shoot the moon (getting this queen and ALL the hearts in a hand) at which point you give all other players 26 points.
Did you ever have these people that could play spades all day but just couldn't wrap their heads around hearts? I know so many people that play spades but can't be bothered with hearts because "I just don't get it". Such a more fun have that I never get to play lol!
what he's doing is called "scat" where you make sounds instead of words, it used to be very popular ! He got the song from Leadbelly who got it from the chain gangs back in the day.
This song was originally released in the late 40's as a prison work song. Ram Jam bought the rights from them and put there own spin on it. It is in reference of a civil war black powder musket. He is saying Bam-a-lam, that was the noise the gun made when it was fired.
Black Betty was most likely the prisoners reference to the "Black Maria", a van used to transport prisoners, might also mean the whip used as it was also called the "black betty", later the black betty reference was put as names of a motorcycle and a hot rod, which I believe Ram Jam sung about, the hot rod called Black Betty, well thats how my father told me about it and researching on internet seems to confirm this
That's not quite accurate, it's a much older song than that, the song was originally about a gun, which was called the Black Betty. There was a second model of the gun which was defective, hence "Black Betty had a child, the damn thing gone wild".
Back in the day, a lot of people referred to pharmaceutical methampetamine as Black Betty. But I had always heard that this song is about a musket and had nothing to do with drugs.
"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. The origin and meaning of the lyrics are subject to debate. Historically, the "Black Betty" of the title may refer to the nickname given to a number of objects: a bottle of whiskey, a whip, or a penitentiary transfer wagon. As late as the 1960s, the vehicle that carried men to prison was known as "Black Betty," though the same name may have also been used for the whip that so often was laid on the prisoners' backs, "bam-ba-lam." In later versions, "Black Betty" was depicted as various vehicles, including a motorcycle and a hot rod
It's actually a very old blues song from Leadbelly ... from the end of the twenties, early thirties last century ... so now almost a hundred years old ! And he based it on an even older song
Gun Reference, bullshit. Nothing else in this song is referencing guns. It says she has a child that went wild, She's always ready, she's from Birmingham...This is talking about a woman of loose morals. This is like Queens - Fat Bottom Girls. They are celebrating ladies of low virtue for letting them get their rocks off with them. Not drugs, not guns, it's about a whore.
I think you're putting too much emphasis on the "so rock steady" line as being about drugs The term "rock" for coke wasn't really a thing back then as it was being mostly snorted back in those days. Smoking it was known as freebasing. The term rock really wasn't used until years later when crack started showing up on the streets I was never a user myself lol.... but where I grew up it was hard not to know about those things
Some of us baby boomers used to dig listening to those old blues guys like Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Bumble Bee Slim, Mississippi John Hurt, and Funny Papa Smith. I believe Lead Belly wrote and sang about Old Black Betty.
John Reyes 1 month ago this is a cover of a military cadence from prior to civil war, where "Black Betty" was many things: in the first verse she is a musket that was very inaccurate due to lack of rifling, so the child (bullet) went wild (off target) and gone blind (the heavy smoke blocking vision after firing the weapon), 2nd verse is alcoholic drink of available for cheap to give to soldiers, and 3rd verse is an actual woman who "serviced" the soldiers at a local "men's club" in Alabama. "Bam a lam" is the reference sound of the musket firing and the beat of the singing cadence
I heard it was about 3 different things, first was a black powder gun, 2nd was a liquor, and last was a sexy woman. This is an old song sung on the chain gangs that was remade by Led Belly, and then this remake in the 70's. one hit wonder.
This song makes me think of my great grandmother. She had black hair and darker features, whereas most of the family had blonde hair and light features. Her nickname was black-haired Betty.
1:38 it's called ad-libbing(ad-lib). Many different ways to ad-lib in singing, but it's just adding a word or syllable/s to spice up the line "bam ba lam"
The lead singer was also the lead singer in a group from the Sixties known as The Lemon Pipers. They had a one hit wonder called Green Tambourine. Need to check it out.
The song has a bunch of references; an old musket and its next version, a bottle of whiskey, a whip, a woman, a prisoner transport wagon. I've never heard it being a reference to drugs, but I wouldn't be surprised since I know I probably missed a few!
There are many stories, not sure if they're all true, but the consensus is that they spent most/all of their music video budget on weed and beer. 😂
Fit the looks for sure hahahah
I approve. lol.
Love it!!!!
was a great decade when you could afford the party
I would hope they spent their money on dat weed and beer. That's what I would do.
"Brown Bess" muskets were made in England, "Black Betty" muskets were made in Birmingham Alabama. This song is a rocked up version of a very old song.
civil war era song
The singer himself claims the song is about Betty Boop (or at least the verses he wrote are)
There are many different versions (of this song) but James "ironhead" Baker 1933 was credited for being recorded (his version) story has it it's about a prison whip they used on the prisoners in Texas and still do black Betty was the whip and the guards were knows as crackers thats now used as a derogatory description of white people. That's the story I heard anyway. But who knows 😂🤣😂
Yes yes yes absolutely right ! imagine if at time of swing or other dixie land , have this drum line ...? i'm a electronic music DJ and sometimes find amasing primtive electronic tunes from the 40s50s ....
Black Betty...Bottle of whiskey.
The song has a lot of meanings. Before Leadbelly’s 1939 adaptation of it, the song was first recorded in 1933 performed a cappella by the convict James "Iron Head" Baker and a group at Central State Farm, Sugar Land, Texas (a State prison farm). ua-cam.com/video/tiCEVl_9-MM/v-deo.html It’s actual origin was probably from a 1700s military marching cadence about a flintlock musket. A new model of the Black Betty was the Brown Bess. Hence Black Betty had a child (OR) the child is the round discharged by the rifle which was not accurate; Damn thing went wild and it's violent recoil; Damn thing gone blind. Also bam-ba-lam being the sound of the musket when fired
No. Just NO. This is pure folk blues out of the south that had NOTHING to do with ANY marching cadence.
what 5min on wiki gave me..
origin of the term "Black Betty" varies..
1: was a common term for a bottle of whisky in the borderlands between northern England and southern Scotland, which later was adapted in us(1700s)
2: was whip that was used in some Southern prisons.(18/1900s)
3: was used by prisoners to refer to the "Black Maria" - the penitentiary transfer wagon(1900s)
As late as the 1960s, the vehicle that carried men to prison was known as "Black Betty," though the same name may have also been used for the whip that so often was laid on the prisoners' backs, "bam-ba-lam."
Also the prisoner vagon/car would make sense in context of the song as black betty(car) had a child(prisoners getting out), but then the phrase that "she is from birmingham and now shes in alabam" would fit the first meaning as she is alcohol and her child are people that are drunk? But true that the fact that she makes him sing could fit the whip description
Wow that is a great breakdown of the song
wrong. it's about a bull whip. it has nothing to do with brown bess
You're all right and you're all wrong.
There are numerous meanings to "Black Betty" including objects of a musket, a bottle of whiskey, a whip, and a prison transfer wagon. Thats the beautiful thing about music, you can make the lyrics out to be anything you want them to mean. Thanks for reacting very cool song.
Yup, and to anyone complaining it's offensive, well yeah, considering the song's history, military march cadence, work gangs, filtered through country folk and the blues - the lyrics are all meant to be offensive, double- and triple-entendre, about more than one thing at once, often getting away with saying something very naughty in other words... so yeah, it's about all that, and yeah, could damn well be about heroin usage in the 70s too, that could be a new interpretation too, nothing wrong with that.
Woah, Black Betty.
"Black Betty" is an old Prison Blues song. Blues/Folk singer Leadbelly spent time in prison for two separate murders that he did not commit (both cases were overturned on appeal). He learned this song during his time in prison, and recorded it in 1939. Ram Jam recorded the primary verse of the song, and added two new verses to the song, but Leadbelly's estate got the full writing credit for the song.
From “Songfacts”… This is a traditional song that folk singer Leadbelly popularized before his death in 1949. Leadbelly's version is a cappella and commonly sung by laborers to pass the time while working.
ua-cam.com/video/Fii6PX0-VXs/v-deo.html
This is the story I heard and if you go back to the original version it sounds appropriate for this story.
This is a cover of an old blues song from the 1930's. They rocked it up.
Spiderbait rocked it up even more
Recorded in the 30's but dates back as early as late 1700's
Yeah the original is a lot slower.
Lead Belly I think did this version, Nirvana also did a remake of his song “Where did you sleep last night”
Black Betty is an old war reference to black powder musket. Bam-a-lam is the sound of a shot being fired.
Original black betty:
ua-cam.com/video/tiCEVl_9-MM/v-deo.html
Gun Reference, bullshit. Nothing else in this song is referencing guns. It says she has a child that went wild, She's always ready, she's from Birmingham...This is talking about a woman of loose morals.
This is like Queens - Fat Bottom Girls. They are celebrating ladies of low virtue for letting them get their rocks off with them. Not drugs, not guns, it's about a whore.
Really reaching there. Other than the name, there's no gun reference in the lyrics here and I never heard any musket I fired sould like Bam a lam.
@@DarthPoyner please look all this up... It is all in reference to the gun... Your statement just proves more about it being the gun. It's not about a women of loose morals.
@@DarthPoyner she's from Birmingham.Is where the Brown Bess musket was produced Birmingham England.
I have a close friend we called Black Betty, and this was her entrance song to all the parties 😆. Brings back some great memories. Awesome reaction.
😂🙌🏼 Love it!🎉
It’s a freakin classic! The vibe is all it’s own!!
I saw something about the meaning of the song, the 1st verse is about a gun, black Betty's child is the bullet/shot. 2nd verse is about whiskey and 3rd is actually about a woman
That makes the most sense of anything I've seen so far.
Cool!
This!
Yes!
I think the alcohol one is about a moonshine still, and the child was a smaller still made from black betty's spare parts which made bad shine and caused temporary blindness. 😁
This song is about an old rifle, I forgot the details, but it was a solid rifle, and then they made a smaller version of that gun that was actually either jamming or exploding spontaneously killing its user.
Interesting, i did not know this
Musket, bullwhip, canon, drugs. Nobody knows. First known recording is pre Leadbelly, chain gang, 1930s.
Blunderbuss
Not a "rifle",but a civil war Musket.
'Brown Bess' was the nickname of the standard issue musket of the British Army during the Revolutionary War. It was derived from an expression indicating a plain woman of low caste. 'Black Betty' was the fantasy lover of the men on a Southern chain gang in the early 20th century.
Sweet, I love this song... they rock the shit out of it instrumentally
I’ve tried numerous times to get bands in Nashville to play this and they’ll never agree to it lol
@@jaydepiper8058 they probably can't rock that hard lol
I never really thought much about it but a while back saw Sina doing a drum cover of this, it's quite a workout.
Ha! Never has anyone ever paused this song this many times to figure it out. It's a jam -- just rock out!
It's never a bad thing to stop and analyze music, but I'd think the very first time one should listen to it in full before one stops and dissects it.
Of course, reactors listening to the entire song isn't conducive to the UA-cam algorithms, nor really the concept of "reacting", then they are just "listening".
The lead guitar player is Bill Bartlett, former lead guitar player of the Lemon Pipers. Huge international hit in the late 60's, "Green Tambourine".
This song is based on an old chain gang song from the 1800's, black Betty refers to a musket!
A musket+
I heard it refers to the bullwhip
Ah ok. I was slightly off with my comment but that sounds right
For sure. I have on old Leadbelly recording were he sings "Ohhh black betty had a baby. Bamb-a-lamb Ohh black betty. Damn thing gone crazy, Ohh black betty ..." and so on. Not sure when it's from, probably the 1920's?
@@jamesy1979 I heave read that too, the bullwhip would have been a tool used on the the chain gang workers to keep them in line, the musket reference potentially dates back to the civil war. I think personally it could be that both stories are true, and the song was later adopted a different meaning to different people.
I think Brad is on to something with his nostalgia theory. This may be why I find it difficult to find a modern song or music I truly like or relate to. What's that old saying? "They don't make them like they used to"
It applies some times not all, I think the music of Bach,Beethoven and Mozart and that era is the best ever composed and i have no nostalgia for the 18th century, mordern pop music os just bad, its a fact
Love his memory of the song.
I don't know, I didn't grow up with this music, but I'll listen to actual bands with actual instruments as opposed to some generic sounding electronic beat some producer made every day of the week. The mainstream has definitely changed to extremely commercialized and artificial sound compared to bands like these. I don't think it's just nostalgia, there are objective reasons why modern mainstream music mostly sucks.
@@EaterOfBaconSandwiches I have a group currently playing that you might want to check out. Larkin Poe is two sisters, with two cousins playing when they tour. They write original songs and have great covers of older songs. "Mad as a Hatter" is their original about mental health.
Lead Belly, a black man, wrote this song soon long ago.
Thx! Pertaining to Brad’s theory on exposure: he’s right! Familiarity plays such an important part in music! This is why composers and writers repeat a theme or riff or musical phrase! Then they will throw variations in now that the mind has a point of reference! -Terry
I love the guitar riffs just by themselves...I could listen to 5 mins of that alone
This is the greatest one hit wonder ever, IMO. Gotta admit, I'm kind of disappointed that Lex didn't rock out to this one. This is one song I can't help but move to.
This song is dope. It is about an old cannon, I believe.
The original is a really old deep south folk song, the meaning is disputed though the cannon is one of the suggestions, some classic old musicians did it as well, maybe leadbelly if memory serves
No it's not. The gun nick-name is coincidental. The lyrics are all about a girl.
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)
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)
Get it!
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
So where's the gun tie-in?
@@stevenbeall9637 thank you for the effort you’ve taken to explain.
All of you are right. It has multiple meanings.
Thumbs up for your YT handle.
The song is an old cover as others have pointed out, but like "House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals, this is the definitive version. I always wondered why this band wasnt bigger...Ive always been impressed by how good they are with their instruments and how tight they are as a band. It would be hard to believe they dont have SOMETHING else worthwhile in their discography.
Well the yardbirds is the best lineup in history but never had a hit
@@hairlokk8672 "For Your Love" and "Heart Full of Soul" were top 10 in the U.S. They had five top 10 hits in the UK.
@@scottfrench4139 While true, I kinda meant that with such a lineup, it still didnt get near LZ and their careers after. Personally I think maybe 1 yardbirds song
@@hairlokk8672 And Clapton quit over :For Your Love." No desire to be pop. But an incredible collection of music.
I love how clean you keep your channel but still keep it super entertaining to watch. You guys are good peeps!
The song was first recorded in the field by US musicologists John and Alan Lomax in December 1933, performed a cappella by the convict James "Iron Head" Baker and a group at Central State Farm, Sugar Land, Texas (a State prison farm). Baker was 63 years old at the time of the recording.
Black Betty is referring to a musket, the child in the song is very likely referring to the musket ball. The "bam-ba-lam is the sound that the Musket made when it was fired. "The damn thing went wild" meaning the ball didn't always go where it should. "The child is blind" meaning it did not care who it hit friend or foe, "Black betty don't care" meaning the musket also doesn't care who is killed by its child, "that child ain't mine" meaning "it wasn't me who shot my buddy in the back of the head". This is supported by multiple descriptions of the use of the musket in the battlefield. During the Napoleonic/ Russian campaign 1/4 of all French casualties were caused by the rear ranks shooting their own front ranks. The line "she's from Birmingham" also fits as the place where muskets were manufactured.
Wasn't the "Brown Betty" just a latter version of the "Black Betty" = it's baby?
@@kellyslate7536 Yes,and it was less reliable as well. The bullets would go astray,as in the song when he says
"The damn thing gone wild" and "The damn thing gone blind",meaning it would a lot of the time not hit its mark,blindly flying off into the distance.
I love when this song is played in the movie "Blow".... rock steady, she gets me going...i would imagine you are right on with the "Double" .
This has great energy and I love the beat!!
Music IS a time machine the older you get.
The song is a cover. The Original man who made the song is called Leadbelly. A few of his songs have been covered, like Nirvana- where did you sleep last night, and The Animals- The House of the Rising Sun are all covers
This song is a masterpiece and I’m glad you reacted
I'm glad that they filmed at a garage sale. I love this song, I have since my dad put this record on 30 or so years ago.
Another song you guys need to hear if you haven't already is Mama Told Me Not to Come by Three Dog Night. Definition of a banger!
Black Betty was a musket used in the American civil war. Bamalam is a reference to the noise it made when fired and having a child was reference to the round leaving the barrel I believe.
I think, in Ram Jam's minds, it is about a Black girl that was hot 🔥 and about how they "appreciated" her ... a LOT. Many will argue the origins of the song and what it's original meaning is. The term, "Black Betty" is known for many things, a Black slave woman, an "old negro work song, "the carriage that took prisoners to prison", a hearse, a musket with a black painted handle (possibly where the "Bam-A-Lam" comes from), a pair of sunglasses that won't put a hole in your wallet, drug ... so, an almost unlimited number of things that anyone wants to say it means.
However, since it's been around for a century or so, it's meaning NOW is possibly quite different than it's original one so, whatever the singer thought it meant at the time ... to them. At the time it was recorded, no one would be singing derogatory songs about a Black Woman, even though there are those who say it created quite a stir. I was around back then and heard nothing negative about it. Lots of others say the same thing.
Obviously, at this point, you would have to ask the group what they thought it meant to them when they recorded it, because that's what they meant when they sang it. It doesn't matter what it COULD have meant over time. Many things are adopted to new purposes so, something old becomes something new again. We have to get off this cancelling everything or implying that everyone had "kill" or "hate" in their minds from some earlier time, as we do not know what they intended. Let it be.
This was the era of GOLDEN music ....
Been waiting for this one. Always on the must react to list.
This song has so many meanings. Originally it was a Marching Hymn in the British Military . Black Betty is a Musket. Bam o Lam
Black Betty is about a gun!! Love this song!! It’s played in Blow with Johnny Depp!!
Great movie
The song is about the nickname for the whip used in southern prisons back in the day. The chain gangs used to actually sing the song or something similar, the original song was sang by an artist named Leadbelly who was actually in an old chain gang
This song is close to two hundred years old. It’s in reference to a musket.
No musket was ever called black betty
@@craigplatel813 Brown Bess.
i watched a few reacts to ramjam, and everyone smiles the moment he starts singing.
I dated a stripper back in the day, who did her routine to this song. It was pretty cool.
Weird... so did my dad.... ahaha!
that stripper may be my aunt
@@zmdp96 If so, she owes me back rent.
Tell me ya married her....she had a kid...and the dam thing went blind...lol
Black beauty was a drug in pill form, qualudes. I believe 70's were awesome
Ya but this song is from 1939. Actually it even goes back before Leadbelly Leadbetter did it to some african-american prisoners. The original accapella is on UA-cam.
Black Betty is actually an old chain gang song. Prisoners would sing it as the were breaking rocks. Leadbelly recorded it, too. But, Ram Jam syncopated it and made it theirs.
I heard a interview recently from Bill Bartlett he said this song from their version was about a pin up girl he liked she actually was white but her name was black Betty cause she wore black in the pin up. Starstruck is who bill actually sang this song with....before ram jam.
Graduated in ‘09. Would roll up to the high school jamming to this regularly in my stick shift F150. Probably came off like a douche. But Good times.
The song Black Betty was an old blues song from back in the 1920's or 30's. Black Betty was a woman who was always "ready".
This song is at least 100 years old. At this point “black Betty” can be anything you want it to be.
I have never seen a reaction to this that the people didn't just automatically start smiling.
It’s about a gun used in the civil war
I love how you both are listening to different kinds of music! Love your comments!
It is said that Grandma's neighbors are still complaining about all the noise they made that day!
Bill Bartlett on the lead guitar and vocals kills this song. This is a cover of an old "Lead Belly" song that people would sing on the chain gang in prison. The original song doesn't have as many lyrics but is just as powerful.
Spiderbait did a really cool cover of this song. I need to look that one up again.
Yes!! It's an Amazing Cover!!
Sooo good
You can tell a song is good when people just can't stop smiling😁😁
This song cracks my shit up. Love it
Glad it stopped raining so you could get back to your Reactions :) Gives me a whole new appreciation and admiration for what you guys do. Keep it up and stay strong you two!
So many songs are written with lyrics open to interpretation. 10 people can hear the same song and all 10 can get a different meaning. I’ve heard Black Betty could mean a musket, a bottle of whiskey, a whip, heroin, a promiscuous woman, a moonshine still or a prison transfer wagon. But in the end, it doesn’t really matter. It’s music, not an educational lecture.
What he said ^^^
This song is about a musket named black Betty.(old rifle) . Banging sound u can’t help but to jam with it
I believe all 3 segments of the song refer to different things
I don't know how many times my kids used to ask to play this song and turn it up all the way. It didn't matter if we were headed to the school or the store. Lol 😂😂. My kids loved it..
No one:
Brad and Lex: this song is about drugs
😂😂😂
Almost always lol
I watched a video by a music historian. He said the term "Black Betty" may go back to Ben Franklin. Over the years it meant other things, as pointed out by some of the other commenters. Who used the term also varied: Slaves, prisoners, soldiers, etc. The song goes back maybe hundreds of years. And it has evolved.
For me, if your morning coffee doesn't get your blood moving, play BLACK BETTY.
It’s not about drugs
I learned more about this song from the comments then I ever knew and I've listened to this song my whole life. Lol.
The longer version has a great guitar solo
This in the movie Blow was perfect. It fit the time and mood.
Yes. Queen of Spades is 13 points. Unless you shoot the moon (getting this queen and ALL the hearts in a hand) at which point you give all other players 26 points.
You've played my Mom 🤣😂😂🤣😭😭😭
Shooting the moon huh. I've heard it as taking control. But fuck yeah for hearts
Did you ever have these people that could play spades all day but just couldn't wrap their heads around hearts? I know so many people that play spades but can't be bothered with hearts because "I just don't get it". Such a more fun have that I never get to play lol!
what he's doing is called "scat" where you make sounds instead of words, it used to be very popular ! He got the song from Leadbelly who got it from the chain gangs back in the day.
This song was originally released in the late 40's as a prison work song. Ram Jam bought the rights from them and put there own spin on it. It is in reference of a civil war black powder musket. He is saying Bam-a-lam, that was the noise the gun made when it was fired.
Black Betty was most likely the prisoners reference to the "Black Maria", a van used to transport prisoners, might also mean the whip used as it was also called the "black betty", later the black betty reference was put as names of a motorcycle and a hot rod, which I believe Ram Jam sung about, the hot rod called Black Betty, well thats how my father told me about it and researching on internet seems to confirm this
This was a cover of Leadbelly's black Betty. He wrote some of the most influential blues songs of all time, and it is about a woman.
That's not quite accurate, it's a much older song than that, the song was originally about a gun, which was called the Black Betty. There was a second model of the gun which was defective, hence "Black Betty had a child, the damn thing gone wild".
Thank you. That's exactly what I said.
This is the shortened radio version minus the guitar solo the album this comes from is absolutely great every song rocks 🤘
"Black Betty" is a very old song. As with the background of many songs, It was sung by black workers to get them through their work day.
Back in the day, a lot of people referred to pharmaceutical methampetamine as Black Betty. But I had always heard that this song is about a musket and had nothing to do with drugs.
Wat up Brad&Lex y'all after hearing this need to sample the group
Spider Baits cover of
Black Betty bamalam!
Absolutely rocks!
I came here to say this
Origin of Black Betty is pretty interesting as it draws from a lot of folklore and history from as far back as the 1800s.
"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.
The origin and meaning of the lyrics are subject to debate. Historically, the "Black Betty" of the title may refer to the nickname given to a number of objects: a bottle of whiskey, a whip, or a penitentiary transfer wagon.
As late as the 1960s, the vehicle that carried men to prison was known as "Black Betty," though the same name may have also been used for the whip that so often was laid on the prisoners' backs, "bam-ba-lam."
In later versions, "Black Betty" was depicted as various vehicles, including a motorcycle and a hot rod
It's actually a very old blues song from Leadbelly ... from the end of the twenties, early thirties last century ... so now almost a hundred years old ! And he based it on an even older song
Please do the greatest guitar solo song of all time, Outlaws “Green Grass and High Tides”
I also back that request🎸🎸🎸🎸
Every street dance when I was a kid had this song played.
Across, Brad, the song "Black Betty" is referring to a shotgun, referred to as a "Black Betty" as it's a Black Powder shotgun
Gun Reference, bullshit. Nothing else in this song is referencing guns. It says she has a child that went wild, She's always ready, she's from Birmingham...This is talking about a woman of loose morals.
This is like Queens - Fat Bottom Girls. They are celebrating ladies of low virtue for letting them get their rocks off with them. Not drugs, not guns, it's about a whore.
Love this reaction yall, congratulations Brad and Lex , beautiful baby boy ✌️🔥⛽️
I think you're putting too much emphasis on the "so rock steady" line as being about drugs
The term "rock" for coke wasn't really a thing back then as it was being mostly snorted back in those days. Smoking it was known as freebasing. The term rock really wasn't used until years later when crack started showing up on the streets
I was never a user myself lol.... but where I grew up it was hard not to know about those things
Some of us baby boomers used to dig listening to those old blues guys like Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Bumble Bee Slim, Mississippi John Hurt, and Funny Papa Smith. I believe Lead Belly wrote and sang about Old Black Betty.
You should listen to the four Horsemen by Metallica it has a great story and decipherable meeting for you guys to react to
They've done it already.
Song transforms instantly to immortality when he opens his month to sing.
Brad is right. The song is about drugs, a gun, and a car. But with that being said, it's always been up for interpretation
John Reyes
1 month ago
this is a cover of a military cadence from prior to civil war, where "Black Betty" was many things: in the first verse she is a musket that was very inaccurate due to lack of rifling, so the child (bullet) went wild (off target) and gone blind (the heavy smoke blocking vision after firing the weapon), 2nd verse is alcoholic drink of available for cheap to give to soldiers, and 3rd verse is an actual woman who "serviced" the soldiers at a local "men's club" in Alabama. "Bam a lam" is the reference sound of the musket firing and the beat of the singing cadence
We need you to react to The Lovin' Spoonful - Summer in the City
First time I've seen Brad smile while listening to a song!
The beat came from a marching cadence but was well known as a reference to drinking alcohol. It was a song very popular during Prohibition.
I heard it was about 3 different things, first was a black powder gun, 2nd was a liquor, and last was a sexy woman. This is an old song sung on the chain gangs that was remade by Led Belly, and then this remake in the 70's. one hit wonder.
All he Best and keep up the imaginative and highly articulate descriptions of these tracks you are right more then you are wrong
Long Live Brad & Lex
This song makes me think of my great grandmother. She had black hair and darker features, whereas most of the family had blonde hair and light features. Her nickname was black-haired Betty.
Lex is like a Queen oh my gosh! Such cute eyes and a smile that lights up your day :p
Black Betty went to the Butchers for some beef but the butcher said... Whoa black Betty we only got "ham or lamb..... 🤓
1:38 it's called ad-libbing(ad-lib). Many different ways to ad-lib in singing, but it's just adding a word or syllable/s to spice up the line "bam ba lam"
The lead singer was also the lead singer in a group from the Sixties known as The Lemon Pipers. They had a one hit wonder called Green Tambourine. Need to check it out.
The song has a bunch of references; an old musket and its next version, a bottle of whiskey, a whip, a woman, a prisoner transport wagon. I've never heard it being a reference to drugs, but I wouldn't be surprised since I know I probably missed a few!
Why did I click on this?!?!?! Now it's going to be in my head for a week again! UGH! :P