Ram Jam - Black Betty !!REACTION!!

And that's how its done. Welcome to the 70s. Keep on rocking my friends. Texas

The story goes that they got money to shoot a video, but spent it all on weed. So they shot at the yard of this house

Bill Bartlett (lead singer/guitarist) is now 80. He was interviewed about 2 years ago and said Black Betty was rifle manufactured in Birmingham Alabama. The rifle had a 2nd edition (Black Betty had a child) and it was inaccurate (damn thing gone blind). That's his take.

So happy to see new reactions to this!! LITERALLY my childhood in the 70’s/80’s with bands jamming in our front yard in the summer!!🥰♥️🎶

It was in the movie "Blow" with Johnny Depp.

Was listening to this for 40 years

1970's into 80's era best music

When the band wanted to make a vidieo they asked the record company for $600 and they spent it on beer and Weed and shot the video in the back,backyard of one of their families houses. A black Betty was a flint pistol from the days of the American revolution.

This track has been used in several movies, the game Guitar Hero and been sampled by MANY other artists…including Tech N9ne in “Slam Jam”. Lead Belly was originally credited for the song almost a century ago although there were much earlier recordings. Since then though it has been rewritten by several artists who put their own spin on it…with the ’77 Ram Jam version being the most popular/well known. 🙂🎶💯🙏💜

Pretty sure its about a gun called black betty, if i recall correctly.

This was a Chain Gang work cadence song back in 1900,

I was a teen when ram jam came out with this, also, there's 1 thing people need to understand, in on song stanza, Black Betty had a child, dam thing gone wild, she said: worry not a mine, dam thing gone blind. (now, how can a gun have a child, and also say a worry not a mine)? And also, back when I was growing up, the term shakin that thing always meant a woman shaking her butt...I guess you may have to contact former band members to see if they meant a gun or a gal.

Ram Jam goes so hard, I can't lie. It's a great song, people debate the meaning of Black Betty, but either way, great song. This song was on the radio all the time, still is

Black Betty was a gun. A flint lock musket.

Hello Cam And Cris its a catchy song great beat i used to hear it on the radio years ago cool reaction best wishes new friend from Australia 👍

Rumour has it, the record producer gave them $500 to buy studio time to make this recording. They spent the money on beer and weed so they just recoded it i someone's back yard. There is a longer studio version out there that has extensive guitar solos. This spnh, with different words has been around over 100 years. It was first recorded in the 1930s by Leadbelly.

You hear that a lot at sporting events. Football games and baseball between innings. Still played to this day. I just heard the other day while standing in checkout line at Academy Sports. Lol

Legend has it the were paid $200 and a bag of weed to record this video. In their front yard.....lol

I appreciate your willingness to listen to this music. I've listened to this song since it came out, and it is on my playlist for every party. It's a short song, so if someone doesn't like it it's over quickly, but for those who love it, it's instantly recognized and they start to move to it. Thanks again, peace 💚

The song "Black Betty" is a 20th-century African-American work song. The origins of the song are thought to date back to the 19th century during slavery. Some sources say it is one of Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter's many adaptations of earlier folk material. Others claim that he adapted it from even earlier versions. The earliest recording of "Black Betty" is thought to be from 1933, when it was sung a capella by James Iron Head Baker, a career criminal who worked in a Texas prison. In 1939, Ledbetter commercially recorded the song, which didn't gain modern day popularity until 1977 when rock act Ram Jam released a version with slightly modified lyrics