The Power of Black Betty (Reactions and Comments)

 

Last night I binge-watched about 35 reaction vids to Black Betty by Ram Jam. Right off the bat it hit me that I heard the song about 35 times, and the 35th time was better than the first. There are songs I'll listen to several times in a row sometimes, but usually after about three spins I'm good for a bit. To listen to a tune 35 times and still be bobbing my head is remarkable. 

 Getting turned on to new music is one of my favorite gifts in the world, as is sharing it. It truly warms my heart to see all these young people getting into a song I've loved for almost half a century, and not just getting into it but going berserk for it. It's not just a good song...I hate to use the word "magic" but it really is. It has the power to elevate one's mood to the extreme, and that's rare. 

 Seeing a few of these reaction vids made me misty. The power of music is on full display and it's always pushed my buttons to witness it. There's pure joy in these people's faces. How many songs can do that? There are a few but not many, and I've never seen another song in my life that can touch the power of Black Betty. 

 Here's a few screenshots from the reaction videos and some of their comments, along with my two cents. Look at those smiles. It's pure happiness. No pill can do that.

 Here's just a few of the things they said in the videos, plus my response. This doesn't include the tens of thousands of comments below the vids. I saw a lot of comments from old-timers like me, saying how great it was growing up in the 70s. That's 100% true. This isn't a third of the videos, so there will probably be a part 2. 

"Come on man!" (during the instrumental section). I hear you. That part is nuts.

"They sure do have some soul." Yes they do.

"Whoa Nelly!" Yep.

"What?" Uh-huh.

"That's a well-oiled machine right there." Indeed.

"That's a whole 'nother world." It really is. This song is in its own Universe.

"We got fire up in here." Amen.

"You can't help but move to this...you can't help it." Exactly. It's automatic. 

"Yeah!" Yeah!

"Oh my...I love this, I love this, I love this!" Me too, me too!

"I want to go back in time and be with them in their backyard." If only...

"This put me in such a great mood!" Yep. It's a serious mood elevator, with no harmful side-effects.

"Okay, at this point just call me 'Bam-ba-lam.'" Okay, Bam-ba-lam.

"Oh, SHIT!" Right?

"We have to listen to it again...it's as God intended." I love this. I was thinking that this might be one of the few Rock songs that God allows to be played in Heaven. I hope so anyway. I could certainly listen to it for all of eternity. 

"We just don't get this any more." Sadly we don't. People say that old farts think their music is better than modern stuff only because we grew up on it but that's not true. It's better because it was just better...no sampling, Autotune etc. It was real.

"I'm gonna listen to this every day for the rest of my life!" Congratulations! You win.

"I need my niggas to see this...all niggas...black, white, blue, purple, Chinese...all niggas need to see this!" Yes, may all niggas hear this song. 

"They got me straight out of the gate." Yep, me too.

"It's giving me chills man...brilliant!" Yes it does and yes it is.

"When the doctor slapped us on our ass, God was like 'I'm gonna give you rhythm.'" This was a black guy talking about how blacks have natural rhythm, but so did these white guys. God created music. 

"They are shredding!" Yes indeed they are.

"I heard this from my grandma." Your grandma is a badass, and she lived during the most perfect time in history. God bless her.

"Oooo, you see those girls in the back? I wish I wish I could get into a time machine and go there." I hear you brother. Those were the girls I went after in real time, back in the day. They had a vibe that lots of women no longer have. They were the best. 

"I gotta play this again...hold on." Go for it. Once hearing this tune is never enough. I've seen lots of reaction videos to various songs but I've never seen a song get played twice nearly as often. People just have to hear it again...it's a lot to process on first listen. Turn it up!

"I'm not a musician but that guitar player's strokin' is different." Many times the best comments about musicians come from people who aren't musicians. I can't put my finger on it but yes his strokin' is different. He's an incredible guitarist in my book.

"No matter what color you are, that's a hit!" Absolutely! Color has no place in music, or anywhere else for that matter.

 Well that's it for now but there will probably be more. I wish I understood why this tune is so incredible and how exactly it affects people in such a positive way, but I guess it's enough just to know that it does. Never underestimate the power of music.

Interesting Jobs: Beatbox Bird

 I like to imagine totally unique jobs...ones that no one else has, and that, if they don't make good money they're at least interesting. I wouldn't mind having a gig being the owner of a "Beatbox Bird." If you've never heard of a Beatbox Bird, neither had I until I just now thought about it. 

 Humans are fascinated by how certain birds can mimic human speech and other sounds almost perfectly. It's cool to teach your bird to copy your voice but it's almost cooler to me when they mimic other sounds. For instance if you have a dog you can bet your bird is going to be able to sound just like him.

 Years ago there was a pet shop in Cahaba Heights. They had a Myna that stayed next to the cash register. It was an old-timey one and the bird copied every sound perfectly, from the clicking of the keys to the drawer opening to the bell dinging. I thought that was so cool. 

 What I'd like to do is get a bird and teach it drumbeats. That would be badass. I'd record it singing the beats, loop it and make "drum" tracks. It would have a slightly different sound...a hair of that squawk factor that birds have. I wish I could hear it right now.

 Now that anybody and their mom can make songs with nothing more than a laptop, people are always looking for beats, and so are major labels. I'd offer beats online, and just for laughs do copies on CD. As crazy as it sounds it could take off. People are always looking for something interesting and different, and it'd certainly qualify. 

 It'd still technically be sampled, except that the bird would be the sampler. The percussive sounds you could get would be unlimited. He could do drum rolls, fills, patterns and a variety of percussion instruments. 

 With a few patterns and some editing skills you could create epic drum tracks. I'd rather hear real drums on any song all day of the week but there are people who'll never use real drums. I think they'd dig the bird beats. 

 Videos of the bird in the studio would go viral. He might be invited to talk shows. You could have merch. You could get him to sing beats for two or three minutes, give him a mic and you could jam with him in real time. 

 I'd name him Blickum. That's the name of my YouTube channel and it comes from an ancient SNL skit where someone, maybe Gilda Radner, was mimicking the sound of a boring drum solo during a live concert, going "Blickum, blickum, blickum." I think that's hilarious and I also think it's a decent name for a beat bird.

 I'm bored out of my skull and I'm making up crazy stuff like this to keep from losing what's left of my sanity, but it'd really be legit, and a ton of fun, even if he never did any recording. If I had the wherewithal and a place to live I'd get a bird this afternoon and set up some drums. I would. Sheeka-sheeka boom-boom bap. AWK!

You Know Your Life's a Joke When...

 You know your life's a pathetic joke when literally the only good news you've gotten in months, besides the fact that your dog still loves you, is that you got four free cases of Boost. It's only because my insurance plan includes a small quarterly allowance of $222 to spend on OTC stuff, which includes supplements. Basically they pay you for being old. 

 Dear God, or the Universe or Karma or whatever...please send me just a little good news to balance out the bad. I could really use it. In fact, please send some good news to everyone...at least those who have a heart. Humble thanks and Amen. 

Black Betty Comments (Small World)

 I just put up a post about the song Black Betty, and I had to listen to it again, since I love it so much and I practice what I preach.

 I said that the song could replace a cup of coffee in the morning, which is true. I happened to see a comment that said "Wakeup alarm." That's excellent. We're on the same page. The tune is really something special.

The Greatest One-Hit-Wonder Song of All Time?

 One-hit-wonder bands have always fascinated me. Some guys go to all the trouble of putting together a band and everything that goes with it including getting a recording contract, but they only have one hit song in their whole career. They put out an album with a bunch of songs but only one of them gets listened to. The rest of the songs are considered to be junk, which is not always the case, but they never got airplay. 

 Even though a band might only have a single hit, it might be a monster, and almost worth the entire existence of the band, which I think is the case here. I mean I'd have loved to see this band become multi-millionaires, but they only lasted one year. In that year though they truly left us a gift, God bless 'em. 

 If I had to pick my favorite OHW band song, hands-down it'd be Black Betty by Ram Jam. I love the name Ram Jam for a band although I don't know why. I also don't know why Black Betty moves people so much to this day but it does. I wish I knew what makes it so special and I'm sure a lot of other people do too. 

 Ram Jam didn't write the song; it's a traditional song. It's sometimes credited to Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter, but it existed long before he recorded it. Ram Jam put it on the map though, and gave it more balls than a heard of elephants. 

 I remember when it first came out and it blew my mind. It seemed to jump out of the speakers like few other songs did. It started out with a gong which was run through a phase shifter, followed by a "four-on-the-floor" bass drum beat...playing all four quarter notes. It's the most primal beat there is, and it works in any style of music. 

 Being a drummer myself the intro hooked me immediately, and when the guitar riff came in it was all over. I'd already fallen in love with the tune before it even got to the "Prog" section in the middle. Bonus. 

 We used to get together after school and just blast this song. I remember it was like a switch was being flipped in our brains...we'd all get almost giddy. It was a buzz...like a mood elevator or maybe a shot of whisky and three expressos. We'd all be dancing around and laughing like a bunch of idiots. It was fun.

 It may sound strange or even disrespectful to laugh at a song, unless of course it's a novelty tune, but sometimes a song can flip me out so much that it goes beyond my natural standards to the point of being absurd, and all I can do is laugh. I know that if I hear a song and it makes me laugh, I'll be a fan for life.

 I'm serious when I say that I wish I knew what makes it so special. Sure it has a great beat, badass guitar riffs, great vocals, a wicked instrumental section, a big ending and all, but lots of songs fit that bill. They aren't Black Betty. 

 If you doubt the everlasting power of this tune, go to YouTube and check out some reaction videos. There's a couple of compilation videos that show clips of all these people just going apeshit for the tune. Young or old, black or white and whatever else doesn't matter...this song has universal appeal. It makes everybody happy. It really is something to see. 

 Recently though some snowflakes came out and said that it was "racist," but that just shows what morons they are. There's nothing racist about the song. If you see the reaction videos there's just as many blacks as whites and they love it. A couple of them even mentioned how stupid it is to think it's racist in any way. These "woke" clowns are getting tiresome.

 I'd put a link to the videos but the phone version of this app makes it impossible. I also can't put a hyperlink to the song either and I apologize for that. You can certainly find it on YouTube. If you do, check out the version with the video, which is simple but classic. I think you'll dig it. 

 Not too many bands did videos back in those days, and it's a goodun. A couple of their friends are standing "onstage" (in the yard actually) with the band, just hanging out and clapping and grooving and having a blast. It's beautiful.

 There's a great story about the video. They had a very modest budget of something like $500 or whatever it was to shoot the video, but instead of finding a soundstage or a location to shoot it, they spent all but $50 on beer and reefer, threw a party for their friends and shot it in the drummer's backyard. It just doesn't get any better than that. 

 This song could take the place of a cup of coffee in the morning...it's that uplifting. See for yourself. If this song fails to move you, please see a doctor immediately. 

Whoa Black Betty, bam-ba-lam

Whoa Black Betty, bam-ba-lam

Black Betty had a child, bam-ba-lam

Damn thing gone wild, bam-ba-lam...

Oh hell yeah! Enjoy.

THIS HAS BEEN A PUBLIC SERVICE FEATURE. 

Cocktail Placement (Dynamics Can be Dangerous)

 When it comes to playing music I've always said that dynamics is what separates the men from the boys. Dynamics simply means getting softer or louder. To me it's a secret weapon. 

 I get why lots of bands don't use dynamics, especially live, where it's most effective. When you play live you get all the adrenaline and stuff going and it jacks you up. You just naturally want to put the gas to the floor and keep it there. You have to make a conscious decision to bring it down sometimes, and it's easier said than done.

 When would you use dynamics? Going from the chorus into a verse is the best time. If you're wailing away on the chorus and then drop the volume level way down when the verse comes in, it sucks the air out of the room and draws it into the song, along with the audience, at least those paying attention. I'm telling you it's a weapon, and it can make a song ten times more effective. 

 Dynamics can also be dangerous, but only to drunk people in the crowd, in my experience anyway. My favorite local band back in the day was the Cast. There were four heavy hitters in that band and holy cow they could play.

 I have to give myself some props and say that I was one of only two drummers they'd let sit-in. I don't remember who the other guy was, maybe Steve Sample, but whomever it was was one of the mofo drummers in town, which I definitely was not, but I was good enough to play with the Cast.

 One night O' and I went to see them at a club called 22nd Street Jazz Cafe. It was an intimate room and it was fairly small, so it was always packed. The acoustics were such that you could hear everything going on in the room. 

 We met up with our friend Cay. It's a good thing she was there because she ended up driving us home. O' and I were hammered. We'd egg each other on, and we were having a big time. 

 We were sitting at a table right by the side of the stage. They had a singer and flute player named Libba. She was really good. She looked really good too. She ran and worked out and was in excellent shape. 

 Speaking of shape, she had a nice one. She had a gorgeous rear end. I've always been more of a breast man and I don't care for gigantic butts but a nice curve is fine by me, and Libba had one. 

 The Cast definitely understood the power of dynamics and they employed it fiercely. Maybe that's why I loved them so much. I had a perfect view of Libba's profile and I happened to notice her rear. When she'd play flute she'd raise one foot, which would make her bottom look even more curvaceous.

 As if O' hadn't already noticed, I thought I'd bring it to his attention. The band was wailing on the chorus of some tune and I had to shout to be heard. I leaned over to O' and said "MAAAANNN..." "WHUUUUUUT?" said O'. Before I could finish the sentence, the band came back into a verse and brought the volume level down to a whisper. 

 The problem was that I was drunk and my reaction time was slow, so I didn't adjust my dynamics accordingly. The whole place got quiet, except for me. I yelled: "You could set a martini on Libba's aaasss." Everybody in the place cracked up including the band. I realized that it had gotten as quiet as church, and I tried to catch myself but it was too late. I trailed off a little on "AASSsss" but everyone got the message. 

 Libba made a "Hmm" face and turned her head to look at her rear. Luckily she was a good sport, and there was certainly some validity to what I said. The rest of the guys in the band lost it laughing. What made it extra funny was not just what I said but also the fact that I'd yelled it loudly enough for people out in the street to hear. They were laughing too hard to sing the verse so they had to vamp for 16 bars or so until they could quit laughing enough to sing. That was classic. 

 The moral of this story is that if you're in a band, consider using dynamics, and take your music to the next level. If you're in the audience, and drunk, pay attention to the volume level and be careful what you say about the singer's anatomy. 

I Miss My Mom

 I miss my mom so much. Today is my sister's birthday. I don't know if that has anything to do with it but I miss her so badly I feel sick. She lived to be 97, and not many people get to have their mom that long but she could've lived to be 197 and I'd never be ready to say goodbye. 

 I Iooked after my folks for 16 years and mom only the last four or so. Sometimes I think I hear her calling me or I dream it. I start to get up to go see what she needs but then I remember she's gone. It's tough.

 The last few months she was alive, every time I talked to her she'd say that we were going to be separated for a while but it'd only be temporary, and one day we'll be together again for all of eternity. I wish I could call her and hear her say that one more time, and tell her I love her. 

 The thing about grief is that I've always wished I handled it better, but I know there can't be grief unless there was an equal measure of love, so I try to embrace it. I love my mom and dad and that should be evident. I looked after them for a while, and nobody can take that away from me. I miss you mom.