Single:
Black Betty entered the Australian singles chart* on 22 August 1977 and peaked at #3. The song was #27 on the Top 100 of 1978.
Album:
The song is on Ram Jam which entered the Australian albums chart* on 12 December 1977 and peaked at #16.
Songwriters:
Traditional, Huddie Ledbetter
Producers:
Jerry Kasenetz, Jeffry Katz
Record label of Australian release:
Epic
*Kent Music Report / Australian Chart Book. See About.
SINGLE VERSION
EXTENDED VERSION (audio only)
Wikipedia:
Black Betty is a 20th-century African-American work song often credited to Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter as the author, though the earliest recordings are not by him. Some sources claim it is one of Lead Belly’s many adaptations of earlier folk material.
While in the band Starstruck, Bill Bartlett took Lead Belly’s 59-second long Black Betty and arranged, recorded and released it on the group’s own TruckStar label. Producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz formed a group around Bartlett called Ram Jam. They re-released the song, and it became a hit.
Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Betty
Lyrics:
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
Black Betty had a child, bam-ba-lam
The damn thing gone wild, bam-ba-lam
She said, “I′m worryin’ outta mind,” bam-ba-lam
The damn thing gone blind, bam-ba-lam
I said, “Oh, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam
Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam”
Click for full lyrics
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