This episode, we return to the “Creation & Evolution” theme as we trace the history of the song called “Black Betty”. It’s a fascinating story, from its origins as an African-American work song to its transformation into a rock anthem by Ram Jam. We’ll explore the musical evolution of this enduring track. Join us for this captivating musical journey.
“Black Betty” New Words & Music Adaptation by Huddie Ledbetter – Copyright 1963 (Renewed) 1977 (Renewed) Folkways Music Publishers Inc.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome back to the “I’m In Love With That Song” Podcast on the Pantheon Podcast Network. I’m Brad Page, host of the show, where each episode we take a song and put it under the microscope, so to speak, looking at all the elements that make the song work. We look at the performance, the arrangements, the production, all the various components that go into making a great song. No musical expertise is required here, this show is for anyone who’s curious about the strange alchemy, the magic of music.
This episode is the second in our occasional series that I call “Creation and Evolution”. This is where we look at songs that have an exceptionally long, involved, and sometimes convoluted history. You may remember that back on episode 152. I used the “Creation and Evolution” theme to explore the song “Midnight Train To Georgia”, that classic track from Gladys Knight and The Pips. Some songs are written pretty quickly, in a burst of inspiration. Other songs might be meticulously worked on, written and rewritten over time. But some songs, passed through various hands, are recontextualized or mutated as different writers and performers add their interpretations and revisions. Sometimes this can happen over generations.
Case in point, the song we’re discussing today has its roots, at the very latest, in 1935, but probably much older than that. Eventually, it made its way onto a single in 1977 by an unknown rock band who became a one-hit wonder thanks to this song. This is Ram Jam with “Black Betty”.
Tracking the history of the song called “Black Betty” is difficult to do with any certainty. Its origin is considered to be as an African-American work song. The first recorded version was by a prisoner named James “Ironhead” Baker. John Lomax and his son Alan traveled across the country recording and documenting the folk music of America. During a visit to the state prison in Sugarland, Texas, they recorded James Baker, along with other inmates, singing a version of “Black Betty”.
The most well-known version for quite some time was recorded by Huddie Ledbetter, otherwise known as Lead Belly. He was also a former prisoner, convicted of murder, who recorded dozens, maybe hundreds of songs for the Lomaxes that made Lead Belly famous… but never rich. In April 1939, Lead Belly recorded a medley of three work songs, “Looky, Looky Yonder and “Yellow Woman’s Doorbells”, with “Black Betty” sandwiched in between.
Lead Belly was credited as songwriter on that version, and his name still appears in the credits sometimes today. But the song surely predates him.
So, who– or what– exactly is “Black Betty”? Well, the first reference we know of was published by Benjamin Franklin, of all people, in 1736. Appears in his “Drinkers Dictionary” as a term for being drunk; when someone was pretty tipsy, you could say “he’s kissed Black Betty”. It could also refer to a whiskey bottle.
Others have described “Black Betty” as a whip that was used against prisoners. Some say it refers to a gun. And some people said it was a term for the transfer wagon at the penitentiary. That later morphed into referencing a cardinal or motorcycle. One thing that seems pretty clear in all of these early interpretations is that Black Betty was probably not a woman.
There are many more versions of “Black Betty”. Some notable versions include one by Odetta in 1964. Like Lead Belly, she included it in a medley with “Looky Yonder”.
You’ve probably noticed at this point, we’re getting some musical accompaniment with guitars, and not just the acapella version.
As far as I can tell, it first appeared in a rock context by Manfred Mann in 1968. But in their version, they called it “Big Betty”.
And by this time, the “Black Betty” in this song appears to have transformed into a woman.
Now, there was a band called the Lemon Pipers in the late sixties. They were signed to Neil Bogart’s Buddha label, home to quite a few bubblegum pop bands in the sixties and seventies. The label pushed the band into a more pop direction, and they did score one big hit, the psychedelic pop classic “Green Tambourine” in 1967.
By 1969, the Lemon Pipers had split up. Their guitarist and singer, Bill Bartlett, formed a Band called Starstruck. In 1973, Starstruck recorded their version of “Black Betty” as a single and released it on their own label. It ran 4:45 seconds and was performed by Tom Kurtz on rhythm guitar, David Fleeman on drums, David Goldflies on bass and Bill Bartlett on lead guitar and lead vocals.
And the song became a regional hit around the Cincinnati area. A couple of producers out of New York, Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffrey Katz, who had done a lot of work for Buddha Records, they heard the Starstruck version of “Black Betty” and thought they could do something with it. So, they took Bill Bartlett and formed a whole new band around him, which they called Ram Jam.
Ram Jam released their first album, self-titled, in 1977, which includes “Black Betty”. It’s actually the opening track on the album. But except for Bill Bartlett, none of the members of Ram Jam play on the song. Producers Kasenetz and Katz took the original Starstruck recording and edited it; they reordered the parts and deleted some sections altogether, editing the 4:45 seconds Starstruck version down to just 2:25 seconds for the Ram Jam single. Now, the version released on the Ram Jam album is closer to the original’s length– it’s 3:57 seconds. But once you know that this track has been significantly edited, you can pretty easily hear where the edits were made.
So, now let’s get into the track– and remember, this is just the same musicians that played on the Starstruck version, re-edited into this Ram Jam version.
It’s the same intro as the Starstruck version, including a gong with a phasing effect on it.
Here comes that gong again with more of that phasing or flanging effect on it.
Now, right there, is the first of the edits, and it’s maybe the most noticeable edit in the whole Song.
Now this is interesting… it’s actually kind of crazy. They are going to take the intro of the song– which you just heard less than a minute ago– and they’re going to splice it in here, repeating the exact same intro, including the same guitar solo again.
There’s clearly another edit right there. It’s particularly noticeable in the way the cymbal or gong is abruptly cut off rather than its natural decay.
They’re double tracking his vocals here.
Now, the Starstruck version has this whole guitar riff thing that they do here, and then they go into a sped-up version of the verse. On the Ram Jam edit, they move that guitar riff to later in the song, and delete the sped up verse altogether. Instead, they take a different guitar riff from later in the song and move it up here.
We even get a little mini drum solo here.
After that, we get a short dual guitar harmonized part, and then the song speeds up, but only for the guitar solo. There’s no vocal part here.
Bill Bartlett is ripping it up on guitar there. But it’s equally impressive what the bass player and drummer are doing behind him. This was played by David Fleeman on drums and David Goldflies on bass, both from Starstruck.
And now here’s where they splice in that riff played earlier in the Starstruck version.
And here comes another drum break– It’s actually the same drum solo from earlier in the Song, edited back in again.
Here’s another twin guitar part. I really like this one. First, let’s hear just the guitars.
And now let’s hear that with the whole band.
“Black Betty” by Ram Jam. Or should I say Starstruck?
The song’s been covered quite a few times since then, including a version by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds; that version is pretty reminiscent of the old Lead Belly version.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that this song has had its share of controversy. The NAACP called for a boycott of the Ram Jam song when it first came out… and you can see why a bunch of white guys singing about “Black Betty” could be seen as offensive. But considering the fact that the song was originally written and performed by black artists, and it’s always been murky whether the song was about liquor, a gun, a prison wagon, a whip, or a woman, I feel comfortable enough including the song in this show. I hope you liked it, and maybe learned a little something about the creation and evolution of songs.
Thanks for joining me for this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” Podcast here on the Pantheon Podcast Network. If you’d like to support the show, one way to do it is to tell your friends about the show and help spread the word.
Another way you can support the show is to buy a t-shirt from oldglory.com. You’ll find shirts and merch from all your favorite bands at oldglory.com, and when you use our discount code, lovethatsong, you’ll get 15% off and you’ll be helping to support the show. The website is oldglory.com and the discount code is lovethatsong. Thanks in advance for helping us out. I will be back in about two weeks with another new episode. Until then, turn up your favorite version of “Black Betty”. Bam-a-Lam!
REFERENCES:
Ram Jam
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_Jam
Black Betty
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Betty
Midnight Train to Georgia
Creation & Evolution: Gladys Knight & The Pips “Midnight Train To Georgia” – The “I’m In Love With That Song” Podcast – Music Commentary, Song Analysis & Rock History (lovethatsongpodcast.com)
James Ironhead Baker
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/james-iron-head-baker-mn0001048749
John Lomax
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lomax
Alan Lomax
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Lomax
Lead Belly
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_Belly
Odetta
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odetta
Manfred Mann
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_Mann
Lemon Pipers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lemon_Pipers
Green Tambourine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Tambourine
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Cave_and_the_Bad_Seeds
NAACP
https://naacp.org/