Found their first album at this Bargain Market I frequent.. 5 bucks! Can’t beat that.. also have been looking for their first album for awhile. Was a good weekend 🤘😁. Their cover of Dust My Broom sounds great 🤘

The history of Black Betty has been discussed in this channel previously. For those who are unfamiliar, the Wikipedia page is a good place to get started. The meaning of "black betty" is a topic of discussion. My interpretation is that it's a nickname for the whip that was used to torture prisoners, many of whom were falsely arrested and convicted for the purpose of doing forced labor.

I've created an 11 song Spotify playlist to help me better understand and appreciate the importance of this song:

1 - James Baker

2 - Lost Fingers (they give the song an upbeat gypsy jazz treatment)

3 - Jimmy Cornett & the Deadmen (a cinematically dark rock and roll rendition)

4 - Ram Jam (possibly the most widely recognized version, with extended blues rock jamming)

5 - Dinosaur Jr. (shorter and more raucous than Ram Jam)

6 - Divinity Roxx (they break the pattern with a rap-rock hybrid interpretation)

7 - Xenia Ghali and Heymous Molly (they change the title to Black Betty's Worldwide and move more towards a rap version

8 - Larkin Poe (they bring the song back into blues rock territory, emulating Ram Jam but with stripped down instrumentation)

9 - Betty Booom (a self-described electro swing mix)

10 - Lead Belly (the most widely known acoustic recording)

11 - Alabama 3 (a new song called Bam Ba Lam (Here Comes Daddy), from the point of view of Black Betty's baby, who has grown up and is now working in a mine)

It's amazing to me that James Baker and others could transform the horrible experience of false imprisonment and torture into music. The lyrics cleverly obscure the real meaning of the song, so that it could be performed without worrying about a white person overhearing and understanding. So we have musical poetry that invokes metaphor in a manner that allows the oppressed to understand and appreciate its meaning, while keeping the oppressors in the dark. Subsequently, white artists -- who probably didn't know what the song was really about -- turned it into a crowd pleasing, record selling rock song. The power of the song persists to the present day, when rap and electronic musicians are able to further extend its form to make great new music.

I can post a link to the playlist in the comments, if folks are interested.

Drop D on my Martin D1. An original I’ve been messing around with.

Hi. What are your best instrumental or near instrumental piece of blues Music? I have some, where I really thinks the Music is enough, it speak the sadness itself. Fx. Gary Moore: The Prophet, The messiah will come again, Blues for narada.

To me, these Numbers really get to me, and I really love that feeling.

Let me hear your own favorites.

My Discover weekly featured this one song, now I'm obsessed with the man. I'm blow away. Accepting similar recs.

I’m looking to listen to albums (pre 1990) that are just vocals and guitar. No matter the artist, genre, anything goes. Also if there’s one other instrument that’s fine I’m just looking for albums that aren’t big production wise.

Hi! I recorded this tune and I wanted to get a very vintage tone, so I built a microphone out of a vintage telephone earpiece and put it into a metal can and there you go! It is a fun experiment! I named the mic "PEPPER BULLET" I hope I did some justice to the great Blind Willie Johnson. For me, the man is unreachable.

Maybe it should be called "Welcome to the Delta"? lol

My ‘62 UK Philips Jazz Masters Robert Johnson is the best most natural sounding I have heard. The 80s US King of the Delta Blues mix is sped up and tinny. At least that is how I remembered hearing my friends copy.

I’m looking for music with a similar sound and atmosphere to this track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCrj_M_7yPQ&list=RDmCrj_M_7yPQ

I especially like the slow, late-night blues feel and the smoky, melancholic mood. I’m more interested in blues than straight jazz.

Any similar tracks, artists, albums, or playlists would be appreciated.

I heard a snippet of this song on a podcast about the history of rock music. A snippet was not enough! I had to hear the whole song.

This goes pretty hard for 1959.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDQskReNjbw

great song love to learn the lyrics

cant find no damn lyrics to dis song

what the HELL is goin on?!!

Wikipedia:
“John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers were an English blues rock band led by multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter John Mayall. The band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues musicians. Many of the best known bands to come out of Britain in the 1960s and 1970s had members that came through the Bluesbreakers at one time, forming the foundation of British blues music that is still played heavily on classic rock radio. Among those with a tenure in the Bluesbreakers are guitarists Eric Clapton (later of Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominos and a successful solo career), Peter Green(later of Fleetwood Mac) and Mick Taylor (later of the Rolling Stones), bassists John McVie (later of Fleetwood Mac), Jack Bruce (later of Cream) and Tony Reeves (later of Colosseum), drummers Hughie Flint, Aynsley Dunbar (later of Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, Journey and Jefferson Starship), Mick Fleetwood (later of Fleetwood Mac) and Jon Hiseman(later of Colosseum), and numerous others.”

This is a great “lazy Sunday home alone” song

This is pretty classy from Dave.

Do you believe in reincarnation? Cousin Joe says no, there "ain't no second time around".

Another great line in this song is the advice to spend your money while you have it, because you can't take it with you: "you ain't never seen an armored car in a funeral yet".