Message Board Archive: Thread Number 142

I'm looking for the lyrics to an old blues song called "Black Biddy"
which has become known and performed (with different lyrics) as "Black
Betty". The latter version runs, "Oh Black Betty, bam a lam, oh Black
Betty, bam a lam, Black Betty had a child, bam a lam, damn thing gone
wild, bam a lam, oh Black Betty, bam a lam, oh Black Betty, bam a lam"
etc. etc. to an up tempo beat. If any one can point me in the direction
or send me thelyrics I would be grateful. - john ( jc@vu.edu.au ) PS A
friend reckons it was probably done with voice and slapping a slow
rythmn on the guitar sound box - without strumming?

Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1998 21:28:47 -0500 (EST)
From: hclewman@mindspring.com (Harry Lewman)
Subject: Lead Belly version of Black Betty
Message Number: 142.1

Lead Belly's version of "Black Betty" is available on a number of CD's.
He recorded a version for Musicraft which has been disseminated on a
number of labels. Look for it associated with songs from the same
sessions: "Gallis Pole" "Poor Howard" "Green Corn" "Looky Looky Yonder"

The song is about a whip: called by prisoners a "Black Betty". A recent
thread in the Lead Belly forum at
http://cycad.com/cgi-bin/Leadbelly/list.html

>In Angola (Louisiana State Prison) during the 1930s and 40s when
whippings were commonplace, the short whip (6 to 8 leather strands, each
about 2 feet long, bound together in a 6 inch handle) was called "The
Black Betty". Lead Belly was twice whipped. On 21 Nov 1931 Capt Pecue
administered 10 lashes for "laziness"; on 24(7) June 1932 Lead Belly
received 15 lashes for "impudence". Sean Killeen

Sean Killeen is the driving force behind the Lead Belly Society, find
more about that at http://www.hlmusic.com/ledblsoc.htm

I also contributed to this thread as below:

What makes Lead Belly's musical treatment interesting is due to some

>of the following.  
>1. He keeps a steady rhythm with the spoken "bam a lam" being the actual hit
>of the whip or the downbeat of the song.
>2. He chooses some interesting imagery in his version which brings the whip
>out of its one dimensional meaning and transforms it into layers of meaning,
>like:  " Black Betty had a baby... damn thing went crazy" 
>3. He presents the song only in a cappela form which keeps it "raw" and more
>true to its personal nature without directly conveying the actual meaning of
>the whip to a listener who does not know its meaning.  
>
>All these artistic decisions and implementations are what sets Lead Belly
>apart from the average singer or storyteller.  
>
>For those new to this list, please check out my web site at
>http://www.hlmusic.com
>I have many RealAudio files of Lead Belly's music which enhance and support
>the new Lead Belly songbook.  
>
>thanks Harry Lewman

To your actual question (copying and pasting is wonderful, ain't it?)
Here are some lyrics that were posted on this thread. Please be aware
that this song, like many other songs of Lead Belly, are copyrighted.

>From American Ballads & Folk Songs by John A. and Alan Lomax

"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."

Oh, Lawd, Black Betty, Bam-ba-lamb, Oh, Lawd, Black Betty, Bam-ba-lamb,
Black Betty had a baby, Bambalamb, Black Betty had a baby, Bambalamb.

Oh, Lawd, Black Betty, Bam-ba-lamb, Oh, Lawd, Black Betty, Bam-ba-lamb,
It de cap'n's baby, Bam-ba-lamb, It de cap'n's baby, Bam-ba-lamb.

Oh, Lawd, Black Betty, Bambalamb, Oh, Lawd, Black Betty, Bambalamb, But
she did' feed de baby, Bambalamb, But she did' feed de baby, Bambalamb.

Oh, Lawd, Black Betty, Bambalamb, Oh, Lawd, Black Betty, Bambalamb,
Black Betty, where'd you come from? Blambalamb, Black Betty, where'd you
come from? Blambalamb.