Black Betty


"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 claim it is one of Lead Belly's many adaptations of earlier folk material; in this case an 18th-century marching cadence about a flintlock musket.
There are numerous recorded versions, including a cappella, folk, and rock arrangements. The best known modern recordings are rock versions by Ram Jam, Tom Jones, and Spiderbait, all of which were hits.

Meaning and origin

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 musket, a bottle of whiskey, a whip, or a penitentiary transfer wagon.
Some sources claim the song is derived from an 18th-century marching cadence about a flint-lock musket with a black painted stock; the "bam-ba-lam" lyric referring to the sound of the gunfire. From the early 18th century, the standard musket had a walnut stock, and was thus known in the British Army as a 'Brown Bess'.
David Hackett Fischer, in his book , states that "Black Betty" was a common term for a bottle of whisky in the borderlands of northern England/southern Scotland, and later in the backcountry areas of the eastern United States. In January 1736, Benjamin Franklin published The Drinker's Dictionary in the Pennsylvania Gazette offering 228 round-about phrases for being drunk. One of those phrases is "He's kiss'd black Betty." Other sources give the meaning of "Black Betty" in the United States as a liquor bottle.
In Caldwells's Illustrated Combination Centennial Atlas of Washington Co. Pennsylvania of 1876, a short section describes wedding ceremonies and marriage customs, including a wedding tradition where two young men from the bridegroom procession were challenged to run for a bottle of whiskey. This challenge was usually given when the bridegroom party was about a mile from the destination-home where the ceremony was to be had. Upon securing the prize, referred to as "Black Betty", the winner of the race would bring the bottle back to the bridegroom and his party. The whiskey was offered to the bridegroom first and then successively to each of the groom's friends.
John A. and Alan Lomax's 1934 book, American Ballads and Folk Songs describes the origins of "Black Betty":
John Lomax also interviewed blues musician James Baker in 1934, almost one year after Iron Head performed the first known recorded performance of the song. In the resulting article for Musical Quarterly, titled "'Sinful Songs' of the Southern Negro", Lomax again mentions the nickname of the bullwhip is "Black Betty". Steven Cornelius in his book, Music of the Civil War Era, states in a section concerning folk music following the war's end that "prisoners sang of 'Black Betty', the driver's whip."
In an interview conducted by Alan Lomax with a former Texas penal farm prisoner named Doc Reese, Reese stated that the term "Black Betty" was used by prisoners to refer to the "Black Maria" — the penitentiary transfer wagon.
Robert Vells, in Life Flows On in Endless Song: Folk Songs and American History, writes:
In later versions, "Black Betty" was depicted as various vehicles, including a motorcycle and a hot rod.

Early recordings (1933–1939)

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. Baker was 63 years old at the time of the recording.
The Lomaxes were recording for the Library of Congress and later field recordings in 1934, 1936, and 1939 also include versions of "Black Betty". A notated version was published in 1934 in the Lomaxes book American Ballads and Folk Songs. It was recorded commercially in New York in April 1939 for the Musicraft Records label by Lead Belly, as part of a medley with two other work songs: "Looky Looky Yonder" and "Yellow Woman's Doorbells". Musicraft issued the recording in 1939 as part of a 78-rpm five-disc album entitled Negro Sinful Songs sung by Lead Belly. Lead Belly had a long association with the Lomaxes, and had himself served time in State prison farms. Lead Belly was first recorded by the Lomaxes in 1933 when he was approximately 44 years old. John Lomax helped Lead Belly get the recording contract with Musicraft in 1939.

Post-1939

While Lead Belly's 1939 recording was also performed a cappella, most subsequent versions added guitar accompaniment. These include folk-style recordings in 1964 by Odetta, and Alan Lomax himself.
In 1968 Manfred Mann released a version of the song, arranged for a band, with the title and lyrics changed to "Big Betty", on their LP Mighty Garvey!. In 1972 Manfred Mann's Earth Band performed "Black Betty" live for John Peel's In Concert on the BBC, but this has not been publicly released.

Ram Jam version

In 1977, the rock band Ram Jam, which included former Starstruck and Lemon Pipers guitarist Bill Bartlett, re-released an edit of the Starstruck recording of the song with producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry 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.
Both the Ram Jam and the Spiderbait versions appear in the 2005 film The Dukes of Hazzard, with the Ram Jam version also appearing on the soundtrack album.
Figure skating world champion Javier Fernández performed his short program to Ram Jam's version of "Black Betty" during the 2014–15 season, when he won his third European Championships title and his first World Championships gold medal. The level Castle Rock from the 2013 video game Rayman Legends is based on Ram Jam's version of "Black Betty".

Weekly charts

Chart Peak
position
Australia KMR3
Canada RPM Top Singles46
France 25
-
New Zealand8
UK7
US Billboard Hot 10018
US Cash Box Top 10014

Chart Peak
position
France 2

Year-end charts

Chart Rank
Australia31
New Zealand34
UK56
US Cash Box Top 10063

Certifications

Spiderbait version

In 2004, Australian alternative rock band Spiderbait released a version of "Black Betty" as the lead single from their sixth studio album, Tonight Alright. Produced by Sylvia Massy, this version is a slightly faster re-working of Ram Jam's hard rock arrangement.
The song was a hit in Australia, reaching number 1 on the ARIA Charts in May 2004, becoming Spiderbait's first number one single in Australia. The song also made an impression in the United States, reaching number 32 on Billboards Mainstream Rock Songs chart in November of the same year.
Spiderbait's "Black Betty" was used in the following films: Without a Paddle, ', Guess Who, The Dukes of Hazzard, The Condemned, Death Race 2, The Hitman's Bodyguard, and Birds of Prey.
It was also used in episodes of Malcolm in the Middle and My Name Is Earl, and the games and Gran Turismo 6''.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

UNH Controversy

In 2006, the University of New Hampshire administration controversially banned the playing of Ram Jam's "Black Betty" at UNH Hockey games. UNH Athletic Director Marty Scarano explained the reason for the decision: "UNH is not going to stand for something that insults any segment of society". In 2006 UNH students started the "Save Black Betty" campaign. Students protested at the hockey games by singing Ram Jam's "Black Betty", wearing T-shirts with writing on the front "Save Black Betty" and writing on the back "Bam-A-Lam", and holding up campaign posters at the game. The Ram Jam version was again played once at a UNH-UMaine hockey game on January 24, 2013 after a seven-year hiatus.

Selected list of recorded versions

On Fleetwood Mac's 2003 album Say You Will, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham extensively quoted the chorus of "Black Betty" for his song "Murrow Turning Over in His Grave", an attack on the contemporary news media. For the "Black Betty had a child" line, Buckingham substituted the name of the reporter Ed Murrow.