There is no racial connotation originally to this song it was a British army marching song from the early 1700s. Black Betty was a nickname given to the musket carried by the troops, bam a lam was the firing of the weapon. The reference to Birmingham was the city in England where the musket was made and the child refers to the musket ball. The damn thing went wild referes to the inaccuracy of the muskets back then. The song was almost certainly first heard by European settlers from the British Army in the colonies. Of course the song has took on different meanings over the last 300yrs particularly in the states. Did you know the American National Anthem tune was originally a British drinking song?

Verse 1: A powder and ball musket-like rifle made in Birmingham England in the 1700's, and made a bam-a-lam sound. In those days, they made their own ball shaped bullets which would sometimes go wild, and it wasn't from the singer's rifle. Verse 2: Black Betty is/was the name of a brand of whiskey. Verse 3: Black Betty is a woman. Love this song.

This song goes all the way back to the 1700s. The lyrics have changed Many times. Different singers make up different lyrics depending on how they feel. The only thing that in the keeps the song the same is the lyrics “woo black Betty bam a lam.” Black Betty could be a whip, a gun, a whiskey bottle or several other things. The version by Ram Jam ends with the verses about black Betty down in Alabam “shakes that thing”, So that verse is probably talking about a woman. Think of it as a rap song. They are just rhyming. It doesn’t mean anything.

Black Betty is a reference to a Black powder musket - the baby is the bullet. It's an old work song.

ol black Betty,one hell of a song!!!

This song as sung by this band is about a black woman that the singer was involved with. He did an interview about it some time ago about this song. He was clear that it was about a black woman from birmingham, alabama.

Yes, "Black Betty: goes back many years and the lyrics have changed a lot. "black betty" was presented as a woman in this song, but in older lyrics she was a modifier for a whisky bottle, a gun, a bull whip and maybe some other things. So, "Black Betty" can mean whatever you want her to mean.

“A Betty” in the south is a beautiful woman, like Betty Davis, etc. she’s such a Betty means to us she’s a beauty ❤

This is a remake of an old chain gang song that is suppose to be about 3 different things - 1st verse is about a gun, 2nd verse is about whisky, & the 3rd verse is about a woman

Kinda like a Cajun Queen... Just another beautiful black girl :)

The song, like many early blues songs, has ties to the great songwriter and performer Lead Belly. (Another famous tune attributed to him is “In the Pines,” made especially famous by Nirvana in the band’s MTV Unplugged performance, then called “My Girl.”)

Hi Ladies♥There's a 3 song video you can watch on KZfaq called, forgive the title but it was from many years ago, Negro sinful songs sung by Lead Belly with the songs Looky Looky Yonder, Black Betty and Yallow Woman's Door Bells

Y'all are adorable.

Word was, they were given $500 to make the video, but spent over 400 on beer and weed, and had to make the video in a friends yard 🤣

I subbed b4 I knew y'all parents because ur reaction was pure..I see them in both u 👸👸..keep that openness and appreciate everyone's pocket(groove)..great job..1...PGC

This song is just literally about him liking a woman and they had a fling. Bam a lam means sex. Back in the 70's if you talked too explicitly about sex you got censored. He even says his remake was about a woman.

Recorded by Huddy "Leadbelly" Leadbetter in the 1930s.

Rumor is they talking about a black powder musket rifle. Not a woman.

Song has about 6 different meanings..hope all will just enjoy the song..beat..and the 1970s..

Black Betty was a gun used back around the time of the Civil War, And Black Betty was not a very accurate one. It shot Blind, or Wild. But of course, over the years the words have changed. Back in the 1800s Black Betty was also, a chain gang song, as the leader would sing " Oh Black Betty" the men on the chain gang would respond with " Bamb a Lam."

Need to do some sound dampening to kill the echo. Nice reaction any way

its about a Alabama go go dancer listen to the lyrics

But that will not stop me from dating either of you ;)

IVE SEEN THAT ELVIS IN OTHER VIDEOS

Producer gave them 500 bucks to record this

Black Betty was mostly about a gun and Black tar herion

It cost about $100 to make the video and half of that was for weed !

Obvious you are in another room