Black Betty#Post-1939

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 bottle of whiskey, a whip, or a penitentiary transfer wagon. However, in more modern song references, the term "Black Betty" alludes to a fast car or motorcycle.{{Cite web |last=Uitti |first=Jacob |date=2022-04-05 |title=Behind the Meaning of the Song "Black Betty" by Ram Jam |url=https://americansongwriter.com/behind-the-meaning-of-the-song-black-betty-by-ram-jam/ |access-date=2024-10-12 |website=American Songwriter |language=en-US}}

David Hackett Fischer, in his book Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America (Oxford University Press, 1989), states that "Black Betty" was a common term for a bottle of whisky in the borderlands between northern England and southern Scotland; it later became a euphemism 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."{{cite book|author=Franklin, Benjamin |author2=William Temple Franklin|author3=William Duane|title=Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 2|publisher=Derby & Jackson|year=1859|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_SrIEAAAAYAAJ/page/n512 496]|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_SrIEAAAAYAAJ}}{{cite web|url=http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf2/pg36-37.htm |title=The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, Volume II: Philadelphia, 1726 - 1757 -- Pennsylvania Gazette, 1736 - 1737 |access-date=January 1, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907064125/http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf2/pg36-37.htm |archive-date=September 7, 2008 }} Other sources give the meaning of "Black Betty" in the United States (from at least 1827) as a liquor bottle.Thorton, An American Glossary, p. 66: "Black Betty. A spirit-bottle. Obs. The N.E.D. has Betty, 1725. They became enamored of blue ruin itself. The hug the "black Betty," that contains it, to their bosoms.—Mass. Spy, Oct. 31 [1827]: from the Berkshire American."Collins, Historical Sketches of Kentucky, p. 163: "Pretty late in the night some one would remind the company that the new couple must stand in need of some refreshment; Black Betty, which was the name of the bottle, was called for and sent up the ladder."

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.Caldwells's Illustrated Combination Centennial Atlas of Washington Co. Pennsylvania of 1876, p. 12.

John A. and Alan Lomax's 1934 book, American Ballads and Folk Songs describes the origins of "Black Betty":

{{Blockquote|text="Black Betty is not another Frankie, nor yet a two-timing woman that a man can moan his blues about. She is the whip that was and is used in some Southern prisons. A convict on the Darrington State Farm in Texas, where, by the way, whipping has been practically discontinued, laughed at Black Betty and mimicked her conversation in the following song." (In the text, the music notation and lyrics follow.) |author=Lomax, John A. and Alan Lomax|source=American Ballads and Folk Songs. (1934; reprint, New York: Dover, 1994), 60-1 }}

John Lomax also interviewed blues musician James Baker (better known as "Iron Head") in 1934, almost one year after Iron Head performed the first known recorded performance of the song.{{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.afc.afc9999005.638/default.html |title=Black Betty / James (Iron Head) Baker [sound recording]:Bibliographic Record Description: Performing Arts Encyclopedia, Library of Congress |publisher=Lcweb2.loc.gov |date=November 23, 2011 |access-date=March 25, 2014}} 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".Lomax, John. "'Sinful Songs' of the Southern Negro", The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 20, Issue 2. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1934) 177-87, quoted in William G. Roy, Reds, Whites, and Blues: Social Movements, Folk Music, and Race in the United States. (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2010) 110-1. 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."Cornelius, Steven. Music of the Civil War Era. (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2004) 216.

In an interviewsee The Land Where the Blues Began, 1st Edition, Alan Lomax, Pantheon Books, 1993 conducted by Alan Lomax with former Texas penal farm prisoner Doc "Big Head" 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:

{{Blockquote|text=As late as the 1960s, the vehicle that carried men to prison was known as "Black Betty," though the same name may have also been used for the whip that so often was laid on the prisoners' backs, "bam-ba-lam."|author=Wells, Robert V. |source=Life Flows On in Endless Song: Folk Songs and American History. (Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, 2009) 156.}}

In later versions, "Black Betty" was depicted as various vehicles, including a motorcycle and a hot rod.

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 in Sugar Land, Texas (a State prison farm).{{cite web|author=Richie Unterberger|author-link=Richie Unterberger|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/deep-river-of-song-big-brazos-mw0000068690 |title=Deep River of Song: Big Brazos - Alan Lomax | Songs, Reviews, Credits |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=July 26, 2016}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.document-records.com/fulldetails.asp?ProdID=DOCD-5226 |title=Leadbelly Vol 1 1939–1940 - Document Records Vintage Blues and Jazz |publisher=Document-records.com |date=June 15, 1940 |access-date=March 25, 2014}} 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.

While Lead Belly's 1939 recording was also performed a cappella (with hand claps in place of hammer blows), most subsequent versions added guitar accompaniment. These include folk-style recordings in 1964 by Odetta (as a medley with "Looky Yonder", with staccato guitar strums in place of hand claps), and Alan Lomax himself.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/texas-folk-songs-mw0000765817 |title=Texas Folk Songs - Alan Lomax | Songs, Reviews, Credits |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=July 26, 2016}}

Singer Dave Ray of the folk-blues trio Koerner, Ray and Glover also recorded the song unaccompanied on their 1964 album Lots More Blues, Rags and Hollers.

In 1968, Manfred Mann released a version of the song, arranged for a band, on their LP Mighty Garvey!, with the title and lyrics changed to "Big Betty". In 1972, Manfred Mann's Earth Band performed "Black Betty" live for John Peel's In Concert on the BBC,{{cite web |url=http://www.platform-end.co.uk/html/overnight2.html |title=Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Not Quite Overnight Sensations (pt 2) |publisher=Platform-end.co.uk |access-date=March 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326014108/http://www.platform-end.co.uk/html/overnight2.html |archive-date=March 26, 2014 |url-status=dead }} this version was released in 2019 on the double CD / triple LP Radio Days Volume 4, which also contains an earlier rendition from 1971 under the title "Big Betty". The same musical arrangement but with a new lyric and altered vocal melody appeared on the Earth Band's second album Glorified Magnified as "Look Around", credited solely to drummer Chris Slade. A studio version of "Big Betty" was recorded at the same sessions but remained unreleased until the 40th Anniversary box set in 2011.

{{Infobox song

| name = Black Betty

| cover = Black Betty Ram Jam.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Ram Jam

| album = Ram Jam

| B-side = I Should Have Known

| released = {{Start date|1977|06}}

| recorded =

| studio =

| genre = {{hlist|Southern rock{{cite magazine|last= Rolling Stone Staff|title= The 100 Greatest Jock Jams of All Time: Staff List|magazine= Rolling Stone|date= February 8, 2024|url=https://www.billboard.com/lists/best-jock-jams-sports-songs-all-time/|accessdate= December 29, 2024|quote=A traditional early-20th century work song, turned into a southern-fried stadium-rock standard.}}|stadium rock|disco-rock{{cite web|first= Tom |last= Breihan |title= The Number Ones: The Lemon Pipers' 'Green Tambourine'|website= Stereogum |date= September 25, 2018 |url= https://www.stereogum.com/2020549/the-number-ones-the-lemon-pipers-green-tambourine/columns/the-number-ones/|quote= Starstruck then evolved into Ram Jam...Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz reworked Starstruck's version of 'Black Betty' and turned it into an utterly badass disco-rock jam...|access-date= June 14, 2023}}}}

| length =

• {{Duration|m=3|s=57}} (album version)
• {{Duration|m=2|s=32}} (single version)

| label = Epic

| writer =

• Traditional
• Huddie Ledbetter

| producer =

• Jerry Kasenetz
• Jeffry Katz

| next_title = Keep Your Hands on the Wheel

| next_year = 1977

| misc = {{External music video

|type=single

|{{youTube|I_2D8Eo15wE|"Black Betty"}}

}}

}}

Bill Bartlett had been in the Lemon Pipers and then formed a group called Starstruck. While in Starstruck, Bartlett took Lead Belly's 59-second long "Black Betty" and arranged, recorded and released it on the group's own TruckStar label. "Black Betty" became a regional hit. Producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz in New York formed a group around Bartlett called Ram Jam. They re-released the song, and it became a hit nationally. The Ram Jam version was actually the same one originally recorded by Starstruck (albeit significantly edited to rearrange the song structure).{{cn|date=June 2025}} The song reached number 18 on the singles charts in the United States and achieved more success in the UK and Australia reaching the top ten.

{{in popular culture|section|date=June 2025}}

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.

The song appears in the pilot of Eastbound & Down.{{cn|date=June 2025}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00007684.htm|title=Biography|date=October 24, 2014|access-date=May 10, 2017|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024074722/http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00007684.htm|archive-date=October 24, 2014}}

The level Castle Rock from the 2013 video game Rayman Legends is based on Ram Jam's version of "Black Betty".{{YouTube|id=al9yceMV8yM|title=Rayman Legends - Castle Rock + Ram Jam - Black Betty}}

The song was remixed by Dutch DJ Ben Liebrand in 1989 as Rough 'n' Ready Remix and became successful, reaching number 13 in the UK as well as charting in several other countries.

It appeared twice in the season 20 episode of Family Guy, "Cootie & The Blowhard".{{importance-inline|date=June 2025}}

The song was used in the film Kung Pow! Enter the Fist, during a fight between the hero and a black-clad villain who called himself Master Betty.{{YouTube|id=VqWL6GKUvFU|title=Kung pow black betty}}

The film Blow features the song when George Jung is taken from Miami International Airport to meet Pablo Escobar.{{cn|date=June 2025}}

7-inch (1977)

1. "Black Betty" – 2:32
2. "I Should Have Known" – 4:45

7-inch (1989)

1. "Black Betty" (Rough 'n' Ready Remix – Edit) – 3:12
2. "Black Betty" (Original Version) – 3:56

12-inch (1989)

1. "Black Betty" (Rough 'n' Ready Remix) – 5:28
2. "Black Betty" (Original Version) – 3:56
3. "Black Betty" (Rough 'n' Ready Remix – Edit) – 3:12

CD (1989)

1. "Black Betty" (Rough 'n' Ready Remix – Edit) – 3:12
2. "Black Betty" (Original Version) – 3:56
3. "Black Betty" (Rough 'n' Ready Remix) – 5:28

CD (1989)

1. "Black Betty" – 2:29
2. "Let It All Out" – 4:00
3. "High Steppin'" – 3:41
4. "Hey Boogie Woman" – 3:09

12-inch (France, 1994)

1. "Black Betty" (Rough 'n' Ready Remix) – 5:28
2. "Black Betty" (Rough 'n' Ready Remix – Edit) – 3:12
3. "Black Betty" (Version Courte) – 2:32
4. "Black Betty" (Version Album) – 3:57
5. "Black Betty" (Rough 'n' Ready Remix) – 5:28
6. "Black Betty" (Rough 'n' Ready Remix – Edit) – 3:12
7. "Black Betty" (Version Courte) – 2:32
8. "Black Betty" (Version Album) – 3:57

CD (France, 1994)

1. "Black Betty" (Rough 'n' Ready Remix) – 5:28
2. "Black Betty" (Rough 'n' Ready Remix – Edit) – 3:12
3. "Black Betty" (Version Courte) – 2:32
4. "Black Betty" (Version Album) – 3:57

CD (France, 1994)

1. "Black Betty" (Version Courte) – 2:32
2. "Black Betty" (Version Album) – 3:57

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=single|artist=Ram Jam|title=Black Betty|award=Gold|relyear=1977|certyear=1978|access-date=September 26, 2019}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=ringtone|artist=Ram Jam|title=Black Betty|award=Gold|relyear=1977|certyear=2007|note=Ringtone|refname=CAN2|accessdate=28 April 2022}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=France|type=single|artist=Ram Jam|title=Black Betty|relyear=1977|certyear=1977|award=Gold|source=infodisc}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Ram Jam|title=Black Betty|award=Platinum|relyear=2004|certyear=2021|id=924-560-1|access-date=December 15, 2021}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Black Betty

| cover = Black_Betty_by_Spiderbait.png

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Spiderbait

| album = Tonight Alright

| B-side =

• "The Dog"
• "In This City"

| released = {{start date|2004|03|15}}

| recorded =

| studio =

| length = {{Duration|m=3|s=26}}

| label = Universal Music Australia

| writer =

• Traditional
• Huddie Ledbetter

| producer = Sylvia Massy

| prev_title = Arse Huggin' Pants" / "Bo Bo

| prev_year = 2002

| next_title = Fucken Awesome

| next_year = 2004

| misc = {{External music video

|type=single

|{{youTube|nU1VfYYKMDk|"Black Betty"}}

}}

}}

In 2004, Australian alternative rock band Spiderbait released a version of "Black Betty" as the lead single from their sixth studio album, Tonight Alright, on March 15. Produced by Sylvia Massy, this version is a faster re-working of Ram Jam's arrangement. The song was a hit in Australia, reaching number one on the ARIA Singles Chart in May 2004 to become Spiderbait's first number-one single in their home country. The song was released as Spiderbait's debut single in the United States on October 18, 2004, reaching number 32 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in November of the same year. The music video features the band performing the song on a moving flatbed truck while a black 1936 Dodge roadster circles around them.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.streetmachine.com.au/features/spiderbait-black-betty-1936-dodge-roadster-flashback |title=Spiderbait's Black Betty 1936 Dodge roadster |first=Simon |last=Telford |magazine=Street Machine |date=May 4, 2024 |access-date=October 11, 2024}}

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2004, the song was nominated for Highest Selling Single and Best Video.ARIA Award previous winners. {{cite web|url=https://www.ariaawards.com.au/history/award/Best-Video?view=list|title=Winners by Award – Artisan Awards – Best Video |publisher=Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA)|access-date= 12 December 2019 }} Despite the song's success, Spiderbait's drummer, Kram, has considered their version of "Black Betty" a "fluke", as he wanted to perform three drum solos on the recording but was outvoted by the other band members.{{cite magazine|title='Fluke' Cover Takes Spiderbait to No. 1|last=Eliezer|first=Christie|editor-last=Williamson|editor-first=Nigel|editor-link=Nigel Williamson|magazine=Billboard|volume=116|issue=24|page=53|date=June 12, 2004}}

In May 2024, Spiderbait announced a national tour celebrating 20 years of their version of "Black Betty", alongside their 2004 album Tonight Alright.

{{Track listing

| headline = Australian CD single (9816416){{cite AV media notes|title=Black Betty|year=2004|type=Australian CD single liner notes|publisher=Universal Music Australia|id=9816416}}

| title1 = Black Betty

| note1 = edit

| title2 = Black Betty

| note2 = extended version

| title3 = The Dog

| title4 = In This City

}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=single|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=1994|certyear=2004|access-date=December 6, 2017|refname=cert}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

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",{{cite web |last=Melamed |first=Kristen |title=This "Betty" won't play anymore |url=http://www.tnhonline.com/media/storage/paper674/news/2006/01/24/News/This-betty.Wont.Play.Anymore-1502180.shtml |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912101102/http://www.tnhonline.com/media/storage/paper674/news/2006/01/24/News/This-betty.Wont.Play.Anymore-1502180.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 12, 2012 |format=web reprint |access-date=March 19, 2008}} misinterpreting the song as referring to an African-American woman named Betty.

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.{{cn|date=June 2025}}

• 1933 James Baker (AKA Iron Head) and group
• 1939 Mose Platt (AKA Clear Rock){{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.afc.afc9999005.8350/default.html |title=Black Betty / Mose (Clear Rock) Platt [sound recording]:Bibliographic Record Description: Performing Arts Encyclopedia, Library of Congress |publisher=Lcweb2.loc.gov |date=November 23, 2011 |access-date=March 25, 2014}}
• 1939 Huddie Ledbetter (AKA Lead Belly), originally on the 78rpm album Negro Sinful Songs
• 1964 Odetta, as "Looky Yonder" on the album Odetta Sings of Many Things
• 1964 Alan Lomax, Texas Folk Songs album{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/texas-folk-songs-mw0000765817 |title=Texas Folk Songs - Alan Lomax | Songs, Reviews, Credits |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=July 18, 2017}}
• 1968 Manfred Mann, as "Big Betty" on the Mighty Garvey! album{{cite web|author=Rob Flanagan |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/mighty-garvey%21-mw0000466005 |title=Mighty Garvey! - Manfred Mann | Songs, Reviews, Credits |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=July 18, 2017}}
• 1986 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on the album Kicking Against the Pricks
• 2002 Tom Jones UK #50 single, also on the UK #36 album Mr. Tom Jones
• 2007 Larkin Poe on the live album Jam in the Van
• 2012 Dinosaur Jr. on the japanese edition of the album I Bet on Sky

• Roud Folk Song Index
• List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• Collins, Lewis. Historical Sketches of Kentucky. Cincinnati: James & Co. (1848).
• Thornton, Richard H. (ed.). An American Glossary. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company (1912).

• {{AllMusic|class=song|id=t198816}}
• [http://www.secondhandsongs.com/song/4618 SecondHandSongs]: List of cover versions

{{Lead Belly}}

{{Tom Jones}}

{{Spiderbait}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Year of song unknown

Category:1977 singles

Category:2001 singles

Category:2004 singles

Category:American folk songs

Category:Epic Records singles

Category:Interscope Records singles

Category:Lead Belly songs

Category:Number-one singles in Australia

Category:Obscenity controversies in music

Category:Ram Jam songs

Category:Spiderbait songs

Category:Universal Music Australia singles