This song was released in 1977. The music video is about as late 70's as you can get. Guitars, long hair, hot chicks, motorcycles, and filmed in someone's back yard.

No matter how many times I hear "Black Betty", it gets stuck in my head all day. And, I mean ALL FREAKING DAY.

We called this type of song Southern Fried Rock, another good jam is Flirt’n with Disaster by Molly Hatchet.

A Black Betty was an old style flint-lick firearm. Whet the bullet was shot (Betty's child), it would occasionally veer off to to the side (go wild). The bullet didn't care who it hit, friend or foe (gone blind).

The song is actually about an old flint-lock rifle. It's an old military cadence from the 1800's it was made a blues song in the 1930's and then they made it a rock song.

Ram Jam did this song in 1977. Their manager gave them some money to rent out a Studio to record in. They bought some weed instead. Billboard #18. This is why they are doing it at grandmas house. 😂This song was originally done by a Black guy in 1930. It was slower.

Just some down to earth guys, in their backyard, in their everyday casual clothes, no special effects, no auto tune, just jamming out & loving music ***PRODUCTION COST-BAG OF WEED*** 😁 Loved your reaction !!!

This is the 70's in a nutshell.

One of the best rock and roll songs

The garden party we all wish we'd been at! Bill Bartlett wasn't the regular singer but he was born to sing that song, and wrote the last two verses, the singer was the guy dancing around at the back. Black Betty was an unreliable gun, shooting wild and blanks, bam a lam - and also in Bill's verses, Betty Paige, a model. Some people also say a pill called Black Betty, So all things to all men, eh? :D

Rocking in the backyard. Pure Joy!!

Most people write Ram Jam off as a "one hit wonder" kind of band due to this being the only song people remember, but the unlikely jam band did a totally unique approach by taking two albums ("Ram Jam" in 1977, "Portrait of Artist as Young Ram" in 1978) worth of songs and releasing them to various stations all at once. They each had offers to join other bands, so they separated after the second album, never realizing the band would be so popular later on. Each member is still in the music business and they occasionally do reunion concerts once every decade or so.

gotta listen to this with caution while driving - a speeding ticket is imminent!

Just remember, when this was made there was no such thing as MTV or the Internet, cellphones etc etc. I'm fairly sure it was a demo tape which could be sent to club owners, someone setting up a concert and stuff like that. The tag line is "Wo-oh black Betty Bam bl dam".

This is a cover of the legendary blues artist Ledbetter, aka Ledbelly. Another example of rock keeping black music alive, especially the Blues.

when this song was released i was going to work on the 5am train and this song came on and i turned it up LOUD....woe up most of the passengers and i dont think any of the older passengers appreciated it..x

I love how he just owns his guitar!!

Black Betty was originally recorded by Lead Belly in 1939. This is a great version.

This song has a kickass beat, I crank it up when I hear it, my only complaint is the song isn't long enough 😊😊✌

That's what we did before cell phones and Ipads. We had good times.

Southern rock! Yaaaassss!!!!

I miss the 1970's! That was the looks back then.

Always love to dance to Black Betty. Oh a well loved song.

It's actually a cover of a song from the 30s from a black blues singer called Leadbelly

LENNY KRAVITZ "ARE YOU GONNA GO MY WAY"...BETTER PUT ON YOUR SEATBELT FOR THIS ONE..TRUTH!!!

BTW..... this was not meant to be an official video but a simple promo for England and the show Ready, Steady, Go! I just learned this today from my brother Myke who as I mentioned is the actual lead singer of the band. It was actually produced by CBS.

I heard an actual interview from Bill the lead singer of Black Betty. He says that he was actually singing about Betty Page a pin up model from the era. Betty was the dream of every young man from that era. I’m 72 and I still rock to the old songs.

BAM A LAM!!! RAM JAM! 🤟 Black Betty was a gun. My request is for the best rock song of all time... stairway to heaven live. Led Zeppelin 🤟

I love that you got to rock out to Ram Jam, and also, learn with many others that this song is a sexy suggestive ode to a gun

This was about a musket made in Birmingham.

The video reminds me of my older brothers that went to live with our father after my parents divorced in 1973. I was 3 at the time and my sisters and I stayed with our mom. We would visit them in the summers. They lived in Glasgow Kentucky and this was what guys did in the summer evenings. They would get together and cover all kinds of songs. I loved it. There was absolutely nothing else to do there in the evenings. It was a favorite childhood memory for me and this video was an exact match to those summer nights. 😁❤️

One song that I have to crank every time it comes on. I have no choice.

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.

I love this song. It's one of those simple songs that always makes me happy. My family hates me for the rest of the day after I hear it though because It gets stuck in my head . 😂😂😂😂

Hot Damn!! Love this song. 😁♥️🤘

Bro, This was taken from a slave work song! There is actually a film of slaves working on a railroad while singing this. It's in the doc on KZfaq called "The Making of Black Betty" It's interesting so check it out!

Ram Jam's "Black Betty," or how to make a video with 50 bucks and a bag of weed.

Absolute quality . No special effects. No stylists A $20 video ... music does the talking ...

Great driving tune on a long trip!...😎

Black Betty is about Acid! 60’s here!

The earliest recording of it I found was from an early 1900s Texas chain gang. Ram Jam bought the rights to the song from Leadbelly a blues artist there is also a recording of him singing it.

Love an old school 70's outdoor Jam session...They rock for sure...Thanks J. Peace

I have never seen anyone sit still thru this song. I challenge anyone to try

You may want to check out (Gordon lightfoot's wreck of the Edmund fitzgerald), it tells the story of a merchant ship lost with all hands on the great lakes. A masterpiece albeit very different from what you've heard so far.

I will always love this song🙂

They look like they having so much fun🙂

Love this song, it is my ringtone!! 2nd verse is about Black Betty's, the speed pills. Popular in the late 70's when I was in high school

Black Betty was originally written by the legendary Blues artist Leadbelly in the early 20th century.

I watched you react to your first rock song, I love to see you become a fan

Ahhh the one hit wonders ♥ This is the best trivia question! We know the song 🎵but nobody remembers the name of the band!

First verse is about a musket and some say a whip, second verse to me is about a black ball of heroin, and the third is about a sexy mama shaking that thang! Making me sang!

Yet another song I grew up with… binge watching these videos is getting me really emotional.. thinking of the friends I hung with and places we went , practically living in a Holden panel van with a wonderful sound system, driving around just to listen to the music ( fuel was cheap in the seventies /eighties lol )

The boppiest of repetitive songs & for some reason I love it

Now that is music 🌍✌

I mostly remember this song for not making a lot of sense to my pre-teen self when it would come on the radio, and all the memes that have popped up on social media over the last 5-10 years. Reading the earlier comments is very educational as I had no clue. The rhymes are fun though :)

I think the original song was a folk song sung by workers. The lead singer dropped moved away, and disappeared

Speaking of Jam...😄 Check out Pearl Jam's song Black. Watch the MTV unplugged video! 🔥🔥🔥

Amen brother! Such a crazy ass video and song.

Black Betty means hard liquor booze sang by chain gang prison working hard labor. It goes back to the 1920 first came out sang by mainly black artists.

It's fun to sing, "bam-a-lam. A lot of fun. Hahahahaha!

Good review... No they aren't talking about an African American Woman, they are talking about a Southern Black Lady... Ok, they are really talking about a gun!

awww HELZ YEAH

There is actually a lot of controversy about this one, in part, due to the lyrics being changed. The musket, liquor bottle, prison whip or the prison transfer wagon, could have been the original Black Betty meaning back to the early 1800’s. But the one by Iron Head and Clear Rock (nicknames) in 1933 was recorded at Central State Prison Farm in TX, by Lenox and it sounds more plausible, given the time frame and content, to be the original lyrics. It was considered a work song, due to its rhythm. Not only was it recorded in a field at the prison but he was about 63 at the time in 33. At that age, this may be the original lyrics. If I understood it correctly, from this rudimentary recording: it’s asking for Black Betty’s number, said money couldn’t save her, then she had a child, the child went crazy (or more likely Black Betty was still a child at that time), then he sings it had blue eyes so it must have been the captain’s, then she beats the baby’s head. I’m assuming the song is about a slave ship where a young girl was raped by the captain and gets pregnant, then misers the baby. Either the mother or child goes crazy, I would say it’s the mother! Of course I could be wrong. This is pretty heartbreaking but most were either heartbreaking or religious back then. In 1930 Lead Belly recorded/covered it using many changes in lyrics making the lyrics give little connection to the first recording. You can find both on KZfaq.

Black Betty was first used as a nickname for a civil war gun. Black powder gun.

I’m so glad you liked this song & video. The simplicity of the video (like you said) is the kicker. Like they are at a family barbecue. And 1 of the family members is in the band. And said I’ll bring my boys so we can have some music at the cookout.

It's about a black powder rifle good old Rock and roll

Another classic song from my past

Only thing its to short haha. I heard the video cost em around $20:) Now the first known recording of this , circa 1933, is attributed to an artist by the name of James “Iron Head” Baker. And a researcher who interviewed Iron Head stated that “” is rather a whip which prison officials used to punish prisoners.

Here is a fun one for you. Back in 1966 & 1967 The Beatles were the #1 band in the world. BUT, a close 2nd was The Monkees. The Monkees was a band that had their own comedy TV show, and they played their songs on the show. In 1967 the album "More of The Monkees" was #1 longer than The Beatles Sgt. Pepper album was #1. Check out any of their songs - Last Train to Clarksville, I'm A Believer, Pleasant Valley Sunday, or Daydream Believer.

The first verse is taken from the Lead Belly recording in the 1930's. The last two verses are by the lead singer Bill Bartlett. The song is about a woman.

Great reaction if this song and video don’t make you wanna rock I think you may be dead.😀👍❤️✌️🌼

I have heard the song credited to Ledbelly. Check him out on wiki. He was a legend. Best cover I have seen was the LR Baggs version by Larkin Poe. Two chicks, 1 guitar, 1 slide guitar and a bass drum.

This dood is cool really knows good tunes...awesome keep it going...

Black Betty is the nickname given to a 1700s flint-lock musket. "Black Betty had a child BAM BA LAM, the damn things gone wild BAM BA LAM, She said "Worryin outta mind" BAM BA LAM, The damn things gone blind" Black Betty is the musket, BAM BA LAM is the sound the gun made, the child is the musket ball and it was known to be inaccurate so the shots went wild quite often "The damn things gone wild", it was also know to misfire causing injuries at worst "Worryin outta mind" or a huge cloud of thick white-grey smoke blinding you "The damn things gone blind."

This song has been responsible for so many speeding tickets!

Great reaction...love this video!!

Finally lol !! Was 1st one I suggested ... :) $5 production budget .. viral bound video .. who knew lol :) you handles it well !! Didn't even take off one ear phone!!

Black Betty was a slang term for a musket used in the past. No one is sure of when. It has been linked with the UK Brown Bess, but there is no evidence. My guess would be that an American version was made, and colonials called it the brown Bess until the revolutionary war when they changed the name and used a more domestic wood and then called it a black betty. The distinctive sound was Blam wa lam. Making it an iconic sound for songs from the time.

Good choice 👏

This is a JAM!

I was wait for this one. Now a subscriber

Awsome song, first time ever I see the video, always thought the song was about a woman (black) getting pregnant - Black Belly (it's not? it's Betty?). The drum is pretty cool

Yeah southern rock.

Bill Bartlett, the lead singer and guitarist for Ram Jam in this music video, previously was in the 1960s Rock band, The Lemon Pipers, who had a hit song, "Green Tambourine".

Precursor to heavy metal hair bands... gotta love this!!!

It's a song about a gun. There was a rifle that was nicknamed a black betty...

Looks like my Uncles on any given Sunday. Set up, Play some good music. Even down to the Motorcycles

You have to listen to Journey (from the 70s and 80s) and also My Ding-a-Ling by Chuck Berry.

But I have to say just like this one where it's a mix of country and rock so is the song COTTON EYE JOE

I always thought the singer / guitarist looked like he probably worked at Radio shack! Lol

They did it raw!!

Black Betty is CRAZY good. He met her in the club, she is his weed connection. 5-3-20-21

When you make a video in your backyard wearing your school clothes lol

OMG, I thought I'd never stop talking. lol

Black Betty was a gun waaaay back in the day.

Never get tired of hearing this Jay 🤗🤘

This was a hardcore song for us who were in the military at the time . It has the style and cadence of a military “Jodie “ song , and we loved it . There was a lot of discussion as to whether it was just about a girl , or if the lyrics had a double meaning , and many associated it with the black rifles we carried . Either way , it was kick-ass and made us feel good . It became a kind of sign/counter sign with us ... someone would say over the radio “ Woh-oh Black Betty ...” And the answer “ Bam Balaam .” It was like an attitude check kind of thing ... dumb , but funny . An inside joke . We were still up , locked and loaded , mind right , ready to rock . Here is another example of a “Jodie “ song . kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ns2RiK-d1Z3daYE.html

Wow you have my playlist tonight. First Hurt by Johnny Cash and now this song. Now all you gotta do is Dogs by Pink Floyd (Animals album). But that's a whole nother level ya better side aside the whole night for. Keep on rockin' "cause were watchin'!!

You should check out RUN DMC - Walk This Way (Official HD Video) ft. Aerosmith. Another tune I always had on in the car back in the day was Living Colour - "Cult of personality". Dude rocks the guitar in this one for sure.

Yes! So happy you made it to this song!