Comments: 48

• Old Bill from Grand MesaLeadbelly will explain it to you.
• Steve from Dallas, TxIt means whatever the person singing it at the time THINKS it means, because, we often hear things differently or don't think about something the same way as another. Take the current trend to cancel everyone for just about anything that the accuser doesn't like, even though THEIR interpretation has nothing to do with the person(s) they are accusing. What I mean by this is, no one really know what the song originally meant, and someone doing it nowadays would take on the meaning THEY got from it or that THEY implied. So, for this song, if they meant it was about a HOT black girl that they really liked, then that's what the song means, and it has nothing to do with what the author of the song OR Leadbelly, for that matter, meant. Sometimes you find something, like it and do with it what YOU want to do. If they liked it and didn't know about any derogatory meaning, then they are innocent, and you can like the song too.
• Mark Mitera from Iowa, UsaThe songs origins go back further than Leadbelly. It was a 'work song' from the 1800s. A recording of the song predates Leadbelly and was done by an inmate. It is believed Leadbelly learned the song while on a chain gang.
• David Edwards from Ojai CaThe 70s video for this song is hilarious. I wonder if this was supposed to be funny in a Spinal Tap sort of way. Probably not!
• Dave Stewart from Oxford OhioRam Jam did not actually record this. This was recorded by former members of the Lemon Pipers including Bill Bartlett. It was recorded by Bills band Starstruck and later the producers remixed the song and stuck it on the Ram Jam album.
• Onestubbornlass from Phoenix, Az, United StatesThis song was a working song, a folk song and my peers today would claim it as racist all because a white group sang it.
• Sxchzx from Spainthis song appears in nfsu2 (2004 game) soundtrack, and i love it
• Jack from CaThe original lyrics to this song, when sung by Ram Jam, do not match Google’s rendition! Listen closely to the line after “gone wild” ...
• Eric from WisconsinThis was used on an episode of That '70's Show. The episode was entitled "Van Stock".
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn June 5th 1977, "Black Betty" by Ram Jam entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #92; and on August 28th it peaked at #18 (for 1 week) and spent 17 weeks on the Top 100...
  It was the quartet's only Top 100 record...
  As already stated, Spiderbait's covered version reached #1 in Australia, and that was for three weeks on May 23rd, 2004.
• Meister from California, CaThis song sounds like it was influenced by Dave Brubeck's Unsquare Dance, which makes sense since it was adapted from early blues songs.
• Joseph from Fort Worth, TxIan Kinsler of the Texas Ranger's baseball team uses this song as he steps up to bat.
• Laura from El Paso, TxI remember when that movie starring Johnny Depp "Blow" first came out I had no interest in seeing it. It was only after an advertisement for the movie showing a scene with him walking to this song did I want to see it. I love this song!
• James from Chicago, IlThis song means whatever you want it to mean. That's the beauty of music. Only the writers know what it meant to them when they wrote it. Anyone who claims they know the writer's original meaning to any song they didn't write themselves (unless told by the writer) is ignorant.
• Michael from Cincinnati, OhTom Jones turned this into a hip hop song back in 2003. As Tommy from New York says above, it's awful. Video is available on Youtube.
• Thomas from Somerville, AlI got fired from a small southern radion station in 1977 for playing this song. The program director said it was too "hard core" and could cause some "tension" in the town. What a load of B.S. Now, I'm alive and succesful and he is in the penitentary.
• Marissa from Akron, OhThis song is also the background music of a Spider-Man Flash player game my brother plays on the computer. I don't know what it has to do with Spiderman but whatever works.
• Nora from Orlando, Flit's just a really good 70's rock classic saw their tour bus on the interstate one time closest i ever got to them
• Dominick from New York, NyActually, I'm not really a huge Tom Jones aficionado, but I heard his version of Black Betty and thought he did a great job with it. He's 67 and he can still belt it out.
  
• Mr.fact from New York, NyACTUALLY, The song is Definitely not about drugs at all.It can be interpreted that the song is about a woman, as is was in the Leadbelly version, And subsequently the Ram Jam version. "Black Betty" however was originally a work/marching song that reffers to a flint-lock musket with a black painted stock; the "bam-ba-lam" lyric referring to the sound of the gunfire.
• Robert from Chicago, IlRumored to appear this fall in Guitar Hero III on PS3.
• Anthony from Nashville, Vtlynard skynard sung black betty
• Donna from Russell Springs, KyIn 1977 I was driving around with my boyfriend in my VW listing to the radio. When it came on (Black Betty) we just looked at each other and headed straight to the record shop where we bought the 8 track. We couldn't wait to listen to it. Our excitment soon turned to be a disapointment we could not belive that a band that had such a hit,such great sound could not have another song that was even worth listing to. But it still remains one of my favorite songs and brings back wonderful memories of the 70s.
• Walter from Antwerp, BelgiumThe earliest known recording of 'Black Betty' was made by he Lomaxes in Sugarland Prison (TX) in 1933. Not by Leadbelly but a fellow convict named James 'Ironhead' Baker & Group. A sample can be heard here: http://www.amazon.com/Popular-Songbook-Alan-Lomax-Collection/dp/B0000AUHRE
• Darrell from EugeneMy girlfriend and every single friend of hers (they are all young enough to be my daughters) all think that this song is by Black Oak Arkansas. It is by Ram Jam, and anyone who thinks that Black Oak Arkansas did "Black Betty" will know who really sang the song by reading my comment and all of the rest.
• Ian from Whitby, EnglandI remember reading the sleevenotes to a Leadbelly album and "Black Betty" was a work song and the Betty in question was the whip used to keep the workers in line. Makes sense, when I was at school we had names for all the canes and other weapons of "class Instruction", humanise it and make it less scary, simple!
• Ashley from Beaver Falls, PaI think this song goes good in the movie blow but i dont think its about drugs someone once told me it was about a white man fallng in love with a black women
• Tank! from Wellington, New ZealandIt's actually about a rifle, and the "original" marching song (not as we know it today) comes from the 19th Century.
• Wade from Katy, TxThe Spiderbait cover of this song is one of the tracks in the video game "Need for Speed: Underground 2".
• Arun from Chennai, Indiaalso features in the John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson movie 'Basic'
• J.p from Hamilton, AlThe comment that was made about the song sounding choped up is very true. in fact it is choped up. the song was recorded in a number of diffrent studios. one of them being Fame Racording Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Rick Hall tries to say it was all recorded there but it wasnt. my dad worked at Fame in the 70's and is playing rytheme in this song.they took all the recordings that they did in diffrent studios and mixed them all together....why they did this i dont know.
• Marlow from Perththe aussie band spiderbait did a excellent version of this which featured on a couple of movies 'the dukes of hazzard' and 'without a paddle'
• Jack from Jacksonville, FlIf you watch the movie BLOW and actually listen to the lyrics its about cocaine and other drugs derrived from cocaine hense black betty had a child=crack and spiderbait's version isn't half as good.
• Howard from St. Louis Park, MnRam Jam was a one hit wonder who hit it big with the Leadbelly song Black Betty. This was one of the few 70s hits that was a remake of an old folk song. I have never heard Leadbelly's version so I cannot make a comparison of both versions.
• Leo from Detroit, MiActually, I don't think the song is about drugs in any way. From reading the lyrics and discussion with others, I believe the song is about a party woman who had syphilis (child goes blind & wild).
• Betty from Montgomery, AlAlabama legend states that this song pertains to Betty, who was somewhat of a local legend amongst bar-goers in the early '40s. She was a blues-enthusiast and performed all across Alabama, performing under the name, "Black Betty."
• Alan from Albuquerque, NmBlack Betty is slang for speed in pill form, the pills arent even black at all.. not that that has any bearing, but its clear what the song is about. SPEED.
• Ben from Wellington, New Zealandi thought it was about a black car called black betty
• Tara from Holiday, FlRamjam is a good band because there song Black Betty is very good because me and my brothers love to listen to the song.I love listening to ramjam because i just relized how wonder full the band is and that is all thanks to the song Black Betty.The reason i like Black Betty is because oh all the words and i like how they say bama lamb because it says my favorite animal it is a lamb and i think that Black Betty is very good.So i wouold love to thank the band on person but i can't so this is to Ramjam Thanks ramjam for all that you have done you make my life very good
• Jude from Thomasville, GaI haven't heard Ram Jam's version, but I do have Leadbelly's original version that he recorded as a medley with "Looky Looky Yondet" and "Yellow Woman's Doorbells". All three are work songs -- you sing them while you're doing hard physical labor so you can build up a rhythm and get done faster. Leadbelly knew over 500 folk and blues songs like these. He sings all three acapella, puts in hand claps for hammer strokes and even imitates a cross cut saw. Unless you are allergic to wotk, there is nothing offensive here. (We don't even need to mention that Leadbelly was black himself.}
• Jenn from East Rutherford, NjThe above "fact"that Ram Jam took heat from civil rights groups is true, but the song is NOT about a black woman, it is about herroin.
  
  And on most of Ram Jam's other songs the drummer is the lead singer, this was one of the few he did not sing on.
• Jes from Wheaton, Ili heard a really cool remix of black betty. it was very r&b, almost rap. if anyone knows who did the song, that'd be great.
  thanks!
  jes
• Tommy from Richmond Hill, NyTom jones also did a really awful version of this song. Of course a real Tom Jones fan may not agree with me. This song always amazed me because it just sounds like when it was recorded it was chopped up and edited together rather slopilly.
• Dave from Cardiff, WalesOriginally made No.27 in the UK in 1977. A remix in 1990 returned the song to the UK charts, when it reached No.12, but it is still their only hit to date.
• Victor from Vienna, VaFeatured in the 2001 film "Blow," as George Jung (Johnny Depp) was entering the airport
• Geo from Eugene, OrThe lead guitarist was also in The Lemon Pipers of "Green Tambourine" fame.
• Brad from Brisbane, AustraliaNick Cave recorded a cappella version of this song with the Bad Seeds. Just the band singing with a guitar being slapped to provide the beat. Definitely mode bluesy than the RamJam or Spiderbait versions!
  -Brad, Brisbane, Australia
• Fred from Longs, ScThere is also a rare extended version of this where tha singer slash bassist tears it up on the bass now.

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