First Time Hearing | Ram Jam - Black Betty | Reaction

[@MsUltrafox]

The music company gave them cash to make a video. They used most of the money weed and beer and then made the video in the backyard.

[@poltergeist9344]

500 dollars😂

[@proofprof50]

@@poltergeist9344 That would be 3 grand today... no joke.

[@colingregory7464]

There are versions of the origin story of this song that talk about Black Betty being civil war era musket/rifle. It is believed to pre date the 1930's Leadbelly version of the very similar song with the same name

[@kathleenmayhorne3183]

The singer here added to the leadbelly song, wrote another verse. This was banned in the 70's. Was it about guns, drink, ladies of dubious reputation or a prison van (that was the black mariah). The band was very good, made this vibeo cheap, but had trouble with being banned. There is a longer jammin version somewhere out there.

[@AnnaMarie66]

LITERALLY my childhood back then bands jamming in the front yard in the summer! So fun! 🥰🎶

[@StephenLWilson]

I have faded memories of being a kid and seeing stuff like this around. It was a great time to be a kid.

[@chinchillacrystal6899]

My cousins had a band in the 70s. For my high school graduation we basically had a block party. We invited all the neighbors to join my friends and family, had a big cookout and rocked out to the band. It was a blast and no one had noise complaints 😁

[@seethingsclearlyawaken3424]

Dude, the bank is "Ram-Jam", the song is titled, "Black Betty". This was done in the middle of the 1970s.

[@tracycuster4833]

They were LIT...Was Grandma from Birmingham, way down in Alabam..

[@torradoza3467]

One version is in NFS Underground 2. Those were the days...

[@CostaRicaJack]

The band name is Ram Jam the song is Black Betty! The song came out in 1977~ GREAT SONG!!!!!

[@creinicke1000]

In john travoltas movie BASIC..( a great movie) this song was played during the group dinner).

[@kevinmarshall854]

When the band wanted to make a video for this song they asked the record company for $600 and they spent it on beer and weed and shot the video at one of their parents house. Those were the days!!!!!😂😂😂😂😂

[@achimschroter8046]

I cant get the picture out of my head, your grandma shaking her thing

[@pamshort4590]

There is a longer version that has a lot more going on, but the longer one doesn't have a video. I think it's really best to react to the video, and then go look for the longer one.

[@christypriest30]

Black Betty was a musket

[@skasteve6528]

No it wasn't. Black Betty was a slang term for a bottle of whiskey. It was also used as a name for a whip used to quell prisoners in prisons in some parts of the US. It was also used for prisoner transfer vehicle in some Texan prisons. The song (although credited to Leadbelly) was most likely a work song, sung by prisoners working on farms, road construction etc. in the south.

[@MrBvhawk12]

And gave birth to the brown Bess, which is highly inaccurate, I have a black betty and a brown bess that my dad left to me. Both rifles were born in the 1800’s.

[@skasteve6528]

@@MrBvhawk12 Well I don't know what you have, but it is certainly not a 'Black Betty'. The Long Land Pattern Musket (Brown Bess) was adopted by the British Army in 1722. Prior to that, there was no standard musket of the British Army. The accuracy was comparable to smoothbore weapons of all other armies of the time. They could hit a torso sized target at 100 yards just over 50% of the time, at 200yards this drops to 30% at 200 yards. The light infantry, being better trained could achieve slightly better results. I'm sure, what you have, is a 'Brown Bess', and another unidentified flintlock & I wish you many happy years shooting them

[@ritamead6318]

Amazing!​@@MrBvhawk12

[@steve8510]

Sadly for your granny it was a musket, then a rifle from Alabama, then a whip, a prison van, a drug etc, depending which century you were in, you can still see it's gun roots in the lyrics 'bam ba lam', rock 'steady', 'always ready', and the baby was a bullet.

[@smartin807]

The actual recording is much longer with a killer instrumental in the middle.

[@treeoflife6386]

Great job first off. Look for a video on the origin of “Black Betty”, it says that it’s origins started as a prison work cadence song, that black prisoners sang while working the chain gang, and it plays it. Ram jam done a spin off of it. Plus black Betty has different symboligies to it, like a black powder gun, etc.

[@roscoebail5551]

This song has a long long history.... This video was recorded in 1977 on Long Island, New York. The lead singer is Bill Bartlett, he was the lead singer in a band called 'Starstruck' prior to being the lead singer in this video with the band in this video. Ram Jam did not actually play this song.... they just filmed it to look like they were playing this song. The music in this video came from the band call StarStruck with Bill Bartlett. Also, the music is totally from the StarStruck album.... but they did some heavy edits to that StarStruck song to make this song/video.....and yes, Bill Bartlett was in both bands... he purchased the rights to this song from the StarStruck band members and then created a new band called Ram Jam....Bill Bartlett is NOT the lead singer for this band (Ram Jam)... actually Myke Scavone is the lead singer for the band... but obviously not in this video... Myke Scavone is the guy clapping his hands on the left side of video....(Left of Bill Bartlett) This song is actually a country music song..... check out Starstruck Black Betty.... He is singing about Betty Page... Betty Page is a cartoon chick that was well known in the 1950's, and was known as Black Betty back then ... he just plain ol thinks she was sexy.... Check out this video from a dude that got a phone interview from Bill Bartlett just a few years ago.. kzbin.info/www/bejne/o2jVdKmIiK-dl80

[@peterg219]

I remember this awesome ditty... nice choice. Cheers from Sydney, AU.

[@AustinParks]

Way to know for sure, was your grandmother from Birmingham? Way down in Alabam? In Mid 70’s-ish? Had a child? Damn thing gone blind? … She might be the original… we’ve been searching for ages.

[@aegontargaryen8965]

It's biggest hit was blow with Johnny depp

[@marilynrigsby6874]

Black Betty was KENTUCKY WHISKEY... DRINKING IT😂😂

[@randycroston8997]

The groups name is Ram Jam the song is black Betty

[@jakechilders783]

Weed and good booze and a good bbq!! Done in the drummer's backyard!!

[@jaimiewarren8687]

Black Betty was also a marching cadence used by the black regiments in the civil war. There were many things that went by the name / title of Black Betty. Check out the Professor of Rock Channel for a really good explanation and history of the song and how it came about.

[@Cheese-Hound]

"Back in the day, I'm pretty sure, they didn't have the technology...." I'm pretty sure technology hasn't changed much in the last 40+ years but I'm not a cameraologist so I could be wrong.

[@mariajanina3397]

Game is "need for speed underground 2"

[@ladyjade7332]

I am not a Madden player,... however I did have a Nintendo Game Cube back in 2005ish... and I had the game "Need for Speed: Underground" which i believe also came out on other game platforms and it was one of the songs in the soundtrack mix they offered! Loved that game!!

[@whocares110]

Well, she certainly wasn't white Betty.

[@ChefBarb58]

HA HA🎉

[@rianvanheerden8487]

If you played need for speed underground 2 (if I'm not mistaken) as a kid then you definitely heard it before

[@SundraTanakoh]

Not it is Ram Jam and the song is Black Betty. It is a very old song from he Civil War days actually.

[@moniquesewell2670]

They spent the money for the video on beer and weed so they filmed it in the backyard

[@renssy78]

My grandma was a betty ❤️

[@sweet_missyr3741]

Black betty is a remake. It's from 1933. Google it you'll see

[@ploppill34]

❤🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍

[@macthir13en87]

SWEET JESUS DON'T ASK HER QUESTIONS....LMFAO

[@jim2757-w8m]

Now try the same song by Spider Bait. ❤❤❤

[@michellemiller5620]

They just wanted to play

[@robigorisek1883]

was a name of the riflle during American civile war..not a person..bangulang,the sound oif the riflle..

[@rufus1346]

Is your Nanna from Alabama? And I know lots of Betty's, not so uncommon from where I'm from. But none of them are black though.... LOL....

[@michellemiller5620]

I think they got a bag of weed and 400$ and thats the drummers back yard

[@barbarabisson2551]

It was whiskey

[@dawnhudson7549]

Its about a car

[@paulashanks3129]

❤😊 They spent the video money on weed 😅

[@lilamuzik3385]

He got about 4 to 5 hundred dollars for this. Probably spent it all on beer, doobies, and hotdogs!

[@johoney5458]

Not sure but I think they were a one song hit then kind of faded out.

[@gregorypollack2199]

It's about a civil war rifle

[@generoberts9151]

The song would be a little bit longer if you didn’t pick the abbreviated version . Next time do a little research.

[@whocares110]

It's all good bud, at least the song is getting some attention.

[@StephenLWilson]

This is the better version. Next time, myob if you are going to be rude.