Black Betty – A classic hit from the seventies and a song of immense social significance. #MusicisLife #TedTocksCovers #RamJam #JamesIronHeadBaker #LeadBelly #Odetta #SpiderBait #MeatLoaf Happy 80th Birthday to #TomJones

I was considering ideas for today’s post when I discovered it was Tom Jones’ 80^th birthday.

Happy 80^th Birthday to Tom Jones.

The fact that Tom Jones did a great version of today’s feature song led me down a very interesting path. Here is the story of ‘Black Betty’. It will all be done with thanks to the man I have long considered to be a Ted Tocks Covers gold mine. Tom Jones could sing virtually any song and do it well. Even at the age of 80 he is still performing with his exceptional class and charisma.

Let me begin by saying I was not familiar with the history behind ‘Black Betty’ until I began to delve into its past. This song has a fascinating background that some feel can be traced to an 18^th century march about a musket with a black painted stock. ‘Bam a lam’ referred to the sound of its gunfire. In the British Army, the ‘Black Betty’ had a counterpart with a walnut stock, called a ‘Brown Bess’. This can be traced back to the early 1700s and the lineage runs well past the Revolutionary War. Additional credence to this thinking points to the fact that these muskets were made in Birmingham, England. All this time that you were listening, you thought the song was referencing Alabama, didn’t you?

Interesting, but let’s not be too hasty.

Naturally, with any song that has such deep roots, the origin is disputed. The term ‘Black Betty’ has also been recognized as a term for a bottle of whisky. This can be traced to references written by the one and only Benjamin Franklin. In a published offering from 1736, this eventual father of confederation wrote ‘The Drinkers Dictionary’ in the Pennsylvania Gazette. Part of this piece contained over 200 euphemisms for being drunk. Among them was the phrase;

He’s kiss’d black Betty’

Benjamin Franklin

There is also a wedding tradition that can be traced to post Civil War United States, where men from the bridegroom procession were challenged to race to a stashed bottle of whiskey. The winner of the competition was meant to bring it back for the entire groom’s procession to share on the eve of the wedding. The prized bottle of whiskey was known as the ‘Black Betty’.

The history moves on into the 1900s, and by then things begin to become a little more clear, and documented in a much more reliable way. Renowned music historians John A. and Alan Lomax stated in their book ‘American Ballads and Folk Songs’ that ‘Black Betty’ was actually a whip used at Southern U.S. prisons.

This reference became substantiated through John Lomax’s interview with blues musician James Baker, better known as ‘Iron Head’. Baker speaks of ‘Black Betty’ being referenced in post Civil War America, by prisoners, who sang of ‘Black Betty’ in relation to the driver’s whip.

Black Betty is not another Frankie, nor yet a two-timing woman that a man can moan his blues about. She is the whip that was and is used in some Southern prisons. A convict on the Darrington State Farm in Texas, where, by the way, whipping has been practically discontinued, laughed at Black Betty and mimicked her conversation in the following song.” 

James ‘Iron Head’ Baker

Here is the song by James Baker, a.k.a. Iron Head. This was recorded when Baker was 63.

Yet another possibility for the term ‘Black Betty’ is a reference to the wagon that transferred inmates to prisons in the deep south. It was also known as a ‘Black Maria’. This reference continued well into the 1960s as historian Robert Vells, in his book ‘Life Flows On in Endless Song: Folk Songs and American History’, writes:

As late as the 1960s, the vehicle that carried men to prison was known as “Black Betty,” though the same name may have also been used for the whip that so often was laid on the prisoners’ backs, “bam-ba-lam.”

Robert Vells

One of the most important recordings of ‘Black Betty’ was presented by the man the Lomaxes discovered. Here is the legendary Lead Belly.

This version is so important. It has to be shared. Lead Belly was discovered while he was in a southern prison. His story is well documented in ‘Goodnight Irene’ and ‘Midnight Special’

The point is, no matter how you slice it, the most credible sources of ‘Black Betty’ in relation to to what became the popular song we know today, speak to oppression. By extension, it is a straight line to the suppression of black Americans in the post-Civil War United States. During the Civil War, and in so many instances in the 150+ years since the Civil War in America, if a black person was seen walking free, they were assumed to be in some sort of violation of the law, and forced to prove ‘free status’. In the United States, policing has its origin in the effort to suppress black people. If they couldn’t be enslaved, then they should be closely watched, rounded up for the simplest of violations and locked away in prisons indefinitely. Especially, if they were thought to be of limited financial means. The Civil War ended in 1865. The Emancipation Proclamation was signed by Abraham Lincoln and the 13^th Amendment was signed to end slavery. However, this was only the end of one chapter. How much has really changed? Read this passage from a book called ‘An Inquiry into the Law of Negro Slavery in the United States of America’ from 1858. It was written by Thomas Cobb.

This inquiry into the physical, mental, and moral development of the negro race seems to point them clearly, as peculiarly fitted for a laborious class. The physical frame is capable of great and long-continued exertion. Their mental capacity renders them incapable of successful self-development, and yet adapts them for the direction of the wiser race. Their moral character renders them happy, peaceful, contented and cheerful in a status that would break the spirit and destroy the energies of the Caucasian or the native American”

Thomas Cobb

I read this today and I struggle to comprehend that people could ever think this way about a fellow human being. However, in light of recent events, and a history of oppression that extends through centuries of denigration I completely understand why America is currently in tatters. They reside under the rule of a racist moron who is in possession of borderline intelligence at best. A soulless cretin who is driven by nothing but greed, entitlement and a racist family history that goes back generations. He resides in the White House to represent people who feel exactly the same way. Nothing will change under the current administration. It will only get worse.

If you think I am over reacting, ask yourself if the killings of Ahmaud Arbery or George Floyd would ever happen to a Caucasian? If you try, consider this…The law that states that white people can hunt down and arrest a black civilian if they suspect he is guilty of any sort of crime still exists in Georgia. This provision goes back to a code written into law in 1863. This, in and of itself speaks to the regressive society we know as the United States of America. Their willingness to support the vile scumbag we currently know as ‘president’ implies that they are okay with this open bigotry. Hopefully this will change in November. It is clear that outrage exists. It needs to continue.

What you are currently seeing in terms of the political unrest and civil disobedience is the result of over 400 years of oppression. I stand in support.

Further to this point, as a Canadian it needs to be acknowledged that in many ways, we are no better. Similar laws exist in relation to our indigenous community, and for well over a hundred years we have turned a blind eye to many atrocities. Efforts to address this were largely ignored and the oppression was accepted by some. I am looking at you Stephen Harper, you soulless miscreant. Until we eradicate regressive conservative policies worldwide we will never evolve as a society.

Through the years, several great versions of ‘Black Betty’ have been recorded.

In 1964, folk singer and activist named Odetta produced this powerful version. This recording was produced at around the same time the Civil Rights movement was in full swing. Yes…1964. Sadly, little has changed. Such a disgrace, but music has the power to drive change. Odetta is a case study in the power of music as a unifying force. How important is Odetta? She stood beside Martin Luther King Jr. on August 28, 1963, when he delivered his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. Here she merges ‘Black Betty’ with ‘Looky Yonder’. Man, this is so good. There are no superlatives.

The version I shared at the outset is easily the most commercially successful rendition of ‘Black Betty’. Ram Jam made it all the way to #18 on the U.S. singles charts in the United States and the top ten in the U.K.

Now we head to Australia, where in 2004, an alternative band called Spiderbait recorded a version of ‘Black Betty’ that went to #1. This is a sped up interpretation of the Ram Jam recording. Really good.

Even Meat Loaf got in on the act in 2006 on his ‘Bat Out of Hell III’ album.

Now we move on to the man we need to celebrate today.

Sir Tom Jones recorded ‘Black Betty’ in 2002 on his album ‘Mr. Tom Jones’. As always, he does an incredible job.

Tom Jones’ career stands on its own, but perhaps it can be no better exemplified than through the recognition he has received from Queen Elizabeth II. In 1999 he was awarded the Office of the Order of the British Empire (O.B.E) and in 2006 he was knighted for his service to music and his role in promoting British entertainment and culture. Here is Tom Jones’ response to this lofty recognition.

 When you first come into show business and get a hit record, it is the start of something. As time goes by it just gets better. This is the best thing I have had. It’s a wonderful feeling, a heady feeling.”

Tom Jones

I acknowledge that this post began with what appeared to be an innocent, good time party song and evolved into an angry diatribe. I have to state, unequivocally, that if we do not understand where pieces of our culture originate, we are forever doomed to repeat horrific mistakes. This can only be achieved through education. Typically, conservative policy aims to suppress true education and awareness. The negative result is obvious. There are examples locally, provincially, nationally and globally. It needs to change. The change begins with you. Make it happen.

If you deny this fact, you are part of the problem.