Ram Jam, Thank You Ma’am: The Story of “Black Betty” 

I’m thinking of producing a documentary about “Black Betty,” a song that is often attributed to Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter.

Lead Belly’s 1939 version is short – just one stanza – and simple. He sang it adagio and a capella – almost mournfully. Earlier versions, also sung a capella by chain gangs, suggest that it might have been a song from slavery days that he had adapted.

In 1977, the rock band Ram Jam recorded their own version, with two additional stanzas. It was fast-paced, with a strong bass and amazing guitar licks. It was, really, an entirely different song.

Ram Jam’s version was an instant hit, reaching number 18 on the singles charts in the US, and in the top 10 in the UK and Australia.

Then all kinds of hell broke out. Ram Jam was sued by the NAACP for copyright violation, and there was some objection to it in the media. (Expropriation and all that.) The net result was that the band was denied any royalties for their rendition. (Highly unusual.)

And then… what may be the most interesting part of the story. Ram Jam’s lead singer sort of disappeared, ala Searching for Sugar Man.

There is a YouTube rabbit hole you can go down that roughly documents some of this story. I’ve provided some of the videos below. (If you don’t have time to watch them all, just check out the 1939 Lead Belly performance and Ram Jam’s take on it 38 years later.)

Okay, here are the videos…

Lead Belly’s 1939 performance:

An earlier (1933) version:

The 1977 Ram Jam version:

For some of the story behind the song:

And here are people reacting to the Ram Jam version: