Ram Jam: "Black Betty" (1977)

The song was first recorded in the field by U.S. musicologists John and Alan Lomax in 1933, performed a cappella by the convict James Baker (also known as Iron Head) and a group at Central State Farm, Sugar Land, Texas (a State prison farm).[13]

The Lomaxs were recording for the Library of Congress and later field recordings in 1934, 1936 and 1939 also include versions of "Black Betty". It was recorded commercially in New York in 1939 for the Musicraft label by Lead Belly, as part of a medley with two other work songs: "Looky Looky Yonder" and "Yellow Woman's Doorbells". Lead Belly had a long association with the Lomaxs, and had himself served time in State prison farms.

In 1977, the rock band Ram Jam — whose members included Bill Bartlett, formerly of Starstruck and The Lemon Pipers — rereleased an edit of the Starstruck recording of the song with producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz under Epic Records. The song became an instant hit with listeners, as it reached number 18 on the singles charts in the United States and the top ten in the UK and Australia. At the same time, the lyrics became the cause of a boycott by civil rights groups NAACP and Congress of Racial Equality.


- Lyrics:

Ram jam
(h. ledbetter)

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)

Oh, 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)

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-lam