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This song was not written by leadbelly. A group of inmates from a prison farm wore singing this song it was a well known song to them. So safe to assume this song even predates the original singer James Baker from Texas. The people who recorded him kept the tape, and around 10 years later, they met Leadbelly and played the tape for him. He heard the song & put his own twist on it. We will never know how old it truly is. But 1933 was the 1st ever record of it & that was James Baker singing it.

This Band Rocks!

Oxford, Ohio band

My ears are loving this

Note perfect cover of a masterpeice! I produced 4 Andy Pratt Records... Ive played this song with Andy .. we never played it this close to the 73 recording .. this is so damn cool

Nothing like watching old school mates in 2024

Wow, I've never heard this before. But this is a great complement to Ram Jam's version. Both are amazing.

That opening marshall guitar chord sustaining with that gain on it,, preview off all the great playing to come in the rest of the song. 😊

Hello! Thanks for this great original version. Would you be able to also upload the B side 'I Should Have Known'? Would be awesome. Or is that version the same as the Ram Jam b side to 'Black Betty'?

Wow this is so progressive even compared to the original which is so solid. Surely the ref execs thought people weren't ready in 1973 for this.

When I first heard Black Betty, I thought there was something wrong. This makes sense. Tons better than the Ram Jam-version.

This is the version I remember best.

Thanks for this, Schwabalooza! May I offer you a tale? I met Andy in a pirate radio station in our native Cambridge. I ran up the stairs, and breathlessly, perhaps rudely, demanded to know who wrote the last song the DJ played. I'd heard it age ten, when it was new, and then again as an adult. I was thrilled to hear it again, even just the ending, but the DJ did not back-announce it. Drove me nuts that for years, I had no handle on this great tune. But this time I had this DJ cornered. The man extended a hand and told me his name and that it was his song. Mind blown. I hadn't just tracked down the song title... I was staring right into Avenging Andy's blue eyes. My appreciation was rewarded with friendship. I recorded Andy in concert, and eventually, was allowed to help him rough out some new tunes in my living room in ProTools. One of these was later also produced by a superior talent. Andy was a shameless, even hilarious self-promoter, as evidenced by his radio show, which beamed his own music (illegally) through our native city until the Feds raided the station, which lived in a hippie apartment where food was cooked for the homeless in an open pot while a pet bird flew around and shit randomly over the room and also in its owner's hair. You know ya can't make this stuff up. We'd drive around Cambridge in his econobox. When he spotted a victim, he'd shout to them, sometimes pulling over to offer a head shot photo, explaining himself to the prospective fans. Cripes, one day at lunch, he demonstrated one of his several languages (Dutch among them) by conversing with a waitress at a Greek restaurant on Mass Ave.... in freaking Albanian. Albanian! Let that sink in. Who the fark speaks Albanian? Well, Andy does. Once, after he played the legendary Club Passim, we met for dinner nearby. Andy left toting his Taylor guitar in a black case. Next day, he calls me from New York. He got home, but his blessed lute didn't. I told him I was certain I'd seen him he'd carry it out the door. We decided I'd post a reward offer on his behalf all around Harvard Square. I printed a poster and brought it to the 24 hour Kinko's. I prepared to duplicate my copy, but an employee said...... I have your guitar over here. Andy had abandoned the instrument in the garage. Some kind sole, likely in worn-out shoes, had brought it there, as it was nearby and open at that late hour. I could not resist playing with the Taylor, but I don't play git, and found out how bad a badly plucked guitar can sound. Shudder. So I packed it up and sent it to Andy via UPS just in the carry case, as per Andy's insistence. I'd suggested another layer of armour. He's the boss, right? Taylor arrived severely broken and with a capo literally inside the thing. It required extensive repair. Forunately, he was on Manhattan. So that's how I rescued Andy Pratt's Taylor.... because life is weird. Also, "Records are like life." I've been so fortunate as to know and work with sound engineering pioneer Bill Hanley (In charge at Woodstock and half of everything else that matters) And I love to collect stories from the musical history of my youth. Andy attended Woodstock. He also gave me this tale of rock and roll woe: Roger Daltry had covered "Annie" on a solo album. Roger wimped out the song by refusing to sing it as the female character as it's written and by ruthlessly modding "Just like your woman loves you" to "Just like a worn out shoe." Despite this indignity, Andy sought Daltrey out at a show, extended his hand to the tactless brute, and told him, in his soft, gentle voice cultivated at Harvard School of Divinity (class of 1968) "Hi, I'm Andy Pratt... thanks for covering my song." Daltrey just stared at him and departed. So I hope we all can agree on one thing... Roger Daltrey's got no balls, or that pathetic, insecure British c--t! would have sung it as it's intended.... like a girl! Farking worn out farking shoe my ass! Frankly, I prefer Townshend. "White City" is a lovely record.

Not a musket! The problem with that theory is that the verses everyone uses to support their argument were actually written by Ram Jam lead singer Bill Bartlett, and he has said his inspiration for his additions was pin-up model Betty Paige.

I like this version much better but the Ram Jam edit is more appropriate for radio.

I knew Black Betty. She lived in a trailer park north of Millville, Ohio..about 5-6 miles south of Oxford, Ohio (just before Stahlheber Road.) . She was a registered "client" at one of Butler County's educational institutions where my dear friend was an instructor. She was quite the character and liked being naked..mucho. She would drop to her knees on any occasion and try to unzip a guy's pants whenever she liked. The child died at age two.

that little jam groove break is so tasty 0:51

Is this the version that Rayman Legends level was based off of?

Ram jam version better

Mono version.

Thwy also single tracked the vocal too.

Based on a chain gang chant Leadbelly adapted.

Later redubbed Ram Jam.

OMG I didn't know she sang! So pretty <3

I was a Disc Jockey at Q102 in Cincinnati in the 70's, remember playing this version when it first came out...we may have been the first in the country to play it on the radio? Was very disappointed with the version that was later released, have looked all over for this version...thanks for posting...

I had the experience of sharing 20 years of friendship with Steve Eigner. He was a dear soul who i will greatly miss. I had the pleasure of sharing my living space with him 1 year before his passing. He taught me how to be a better musician and was an sensational person. God bless Steve for his inspiration and friendship.

Any more videos of the Great Pretenders? I saw them several times back in the day.

I just listened to the album version by Ram Jam, and while I liked it's heaviness and clarity, I was quite disappointed by the stop-start nature of it, and by the clearly cut and edited together sound clips. This, while having some fuzziness and vinyl aesthetic, is superior to me and something I would rather listen to, it actually sounds like a band playing together (and this coming from me, a guy who loves modern one man progressive metal/djent made largely with computers).

Luvvvvlit!!!!.... Nuff sed,,,,,!!!!

nice cover

Not certain of the time-sequence here but I lived in Oxford during the time frame when The Lemon Pipers morphed into Beechwood Farm and then Starstruck. The way I remember it, Steve Walmsley played bass throughout that entire era (late 60s to around 71 or 72). This was the era when they began playing Black Betty every Wednesday night at either the Purity or Boars Head in downtown Oxford. The versions Bill & Steve cranked out were better than any of the records. I still remember the expressions on Bill's face when he hit certain notes. In retrospect it was like being in a spectacular dream!!!

Thats all that’s needed!

I'll stick w the Ram Jam radio edit.

Great Pretenders were exactly that, great! Good times in the 80s 🎉

hmhm

Wonder what is on the b side?

These were mostly the Lemon pipers or green tbourine game...

Great performance of this buried treasure!

So the Ram Jam version is just the cut up/edited version of this song…

love the snow. makes me remember snowmobiling. great times!👍😃

That’s Right

It's interesting to see how the song evolved but man, the Ram Jam version is so much better. This one is genre confused and kinda jumps all over the place. It's like they took a bunch of good ideas that should have been 3 separate songs and put them into this one song.

I miss this band!! Best times ever in my 20-30’s! Always a great time.

This is so much better than the Ram Jam version. I guess they wanted it shorter for the radio.

people saying the rhythms are weird and fills come in when they're not supposed to... it's called the blues.

Hudie Leadbetter's rendition of this was, is & will always be the best.

Thanks for the share! I really enjoyed this version and I feel I learned a fun fact.

This is the better version.

You can tell Rayman Legends is an enjoyer tier game because they used this version for that music level

Im ghessing thi isnt on hotrax released in oz about 1980