Ram Jam
Encyclopedia
Ram Jam was an American
1970s rock
band
, best known for their 1977 hit single
, "Black Betty
".
The band members were Bill Bartlett
(guitar
), Pete Charles (drums
), Myke Scavone (lead singer
), and Howie Arthur Blauvelt (bass
). Also, Jimmy Santoro, who toured with the band in support of their debut album
, joined on guitar for the follow-up album. Bartlett was formerly lead guitarist
for bubblegum
group The Lemon Pipers
, while Blauvelt played with Billy Joel
in two bands, The Hassles
and El Primo.
's 59 second long "Black Betty
," arranged, recorded and released it on the group's own TruckStar label. "Black Betty" became a regional hit, then was picked up by producers in New York who formed a group around Bartlett called Ram Jam. They re-released the song, and it became a hit nationally. The Ram Jam "recording" was actually the same one originally recorded by Starstruck, the band at that time composed of Bartlett, lead guitar and vocals, Tom Kurtz, rhythm guitar and vocals, David Goldflies, bass, David Fleeman on drums. The rest of the tracks on the first studio album containing "Black Betty" was played by the Ram Jam lineup. The song caused quite a stir with the NAACP and Congress of Racial Equality calling for a boycott due to the lyrics.
Despite the controversy, the song reached number 18 on the singles chart
in 1977 in the U.S.
and Top Ten in the United Kingdom
and Australia
, while the Ram Jam
album reached the U.S. Top 40. It was also a hit in the Netherlands
, reaching number 4. See the article "Black Betty
" for more information about the legacy of the recording and its use in film and television.
In the 90s both official studio releases by Ram Jam were packaged together on a German import record entitiled "The Very Best Of Ram Jam." However, The cover of said album features the same artwork as their self titled debut so be sure to check the track listing to differentiate, although both have "Black Betty" on the albums. In 2006 Ram Jam was featured in an article that included bands like Moxy and Tucky Buzzard called Top 6 Classic Rock Bands You Never Knew You Didn't Know written by Dave White, an American writer, music critic, and film critic.[1]
import record
entitled The Very Best Of Ram Jam. However, the cover of the album features the same artwork as their self-titled debut, and The Very Best Of Ram Jam album starts with the ten titles from Ram Jam. This is followed by all the ten titles from Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ram. The titles from Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ram are slightly re-ordered. The first two songs ("Gone Wild", "Pretty Poison") are moved to the end on the The Very Best Of Ram Jam release. The song "Black Betty" has been a Boston Bruins stadium staple for years. Local radio stations continue to use it as a background music when promoting the Bruins games.
A remix
of "Black Betty" by Ben Liebrand
reached number 13 in the UK Singles Chart
in 1990.
Later in life Bill Bartlett decided to leave Ram Jam and go onto a career in interpretive dance. Bartlett still plays guitar, but during the last decade has transformed himself into a boogie-woogie
piano
player. He also plays banjo
, harmonica
, slide guitar
, and has written
dozens of song
s. Santoro still plays professionally in various bands in New York, and teaches music in a public school on Long Island. Scavone, who now resides in NJ, after many years detached from the music industry is once again fronting his old high school
band, The Doughboys (New Jersey)
. They have recorded a CD
of 12 songs, both originals and cover version
s. The Doughboys featured at the 40th Reunion of John Zacherle
's Disc-O-Teen in 2008, which coincided with Zacherle's 90th birthday. The CD, entitled Is It Now included liner notes by John Hawkins, the original keyboard and piano player for The Nashville Teens
. M. Tanner left the band to pursue other interests
Howie Blauvelt died in 1993, whilst Pete Charles has also died.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
1970s rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
, best known for their 1977 hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
, "Black Betty
Black Betty
"Black Betty" is a 20th century African-American work song often credited to Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter as the author, though the earliest recordings are not by him. Some sources claim it is one of Lead Belly's many adaptations of earlier folk material; in this case an 18th century marching...
".
The band members were Bill Bartlett
The Lemon Pipers
The Lemon Pipers were a 1960s psychedelic pop band from Oxford, Ohio, known chiefly for their song "Green Tambourine", which reached No. 1 in the United States in 1968...
(guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
), Pete Charles (drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
), Myke Scavone (lead singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
), and Howie Arthur Blauvelt (bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
). Also, Jimmy Santoro, who toured with the band in support of their debut album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, joined on guitar for the follow-up album. Bartlett was formerly lead guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
for bubblegum
Bubblegum pop
Bubblegum pop is a genre of pop music with an upbeat sound contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers, often using unknown singers.Bubblegum's classic period ran from 1967 to 1972...
group The Lemon Pipers
The Lemon Pipers
The Lemon Pipers were a 1960s psychedelic pop band from Oxford, Ohio, known chiefly for their song "Green Tambourine", which reached No. 1 in the United States in 1968...
, while Blauvelt played with Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
in two bands, The Hassles
The Hassles
The Hassles were a rock group in the 1960s, most notable for recording the first releases to feature Billy Joel. The group released two full-length albums and a number of singles....
and El Primo.
Early days
Bill Bartlett went on from the Lemon Pipers to form a group called Starstruck—originally including Steve Walmsley (bass) and Bob Nave (organ) from the Lemon Pipers—later replacing Walmsley with David Goldflies (who later played for years with Dickie Betts and Great Southern, and the Allman Brothers). While in Starstruck, Bartlett took LeadbellyLeadbelly
Huddie William Ledbetter was an iconic American folk and blues musician, notable for his strong vocals, his virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced....
's 59 second long "Black Betty
Black Betty
"Black Betty" is a 20th century African-American work song often credited to Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter as the author, though the earliest recordings are not by him. Some sources claim it is one of Lead Belly's many adaptations of earlier folk material; in this case an 18th century marching...
," arranged, recorded and released it on the group's own TruckStar label. "Black Betty" became a regional hit, then was picked up by producers in New York who formed a group around Bartlett called Ram Jam. They re-released the song, and it became a hit nationally. The Ram Jam "recording" was actually the same one originally recorded by Starstruck, the band at that time composed of Bartlett, lead guitar and vocals, Tom Kurtz, rhythm guitar and vocals, David Goldflies, bass, David Fleeman on drums. The rest of the tracks on the first studio album containing "Black Betty" was played by the Ram Jam lineup. The song caused quite a stir with the NAACP and Congress of Racial Equality calling for a boycott due to the lyrics.
Despite the controversy, the song reached number 18 on the singles chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
in 1977 in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Top Ten in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, while the Ram Jam
Ram Jam (album)
Ram Jam is an album released by Ram Jam in 1977. The first track on the album, the single "Black Betty", is Ram Jam's best known song. It reached the #7 position in the UK singles chart in September 1977. The album reached #34 in the Billboard Pop Albums chart in the US...
album reached the U.S. Top 40. It was also a hit in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, reaching number 4. See the article "Black Betty
Black Betty
"Black Betty" is a 20th century African-American work song often credited to Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter as the author, though the earliest recordings are not by him. Some sources claim it is one of Lead Belly's many adaptations of earlier folk material; in this case an 18th century marching...
" for more information about the legacy of the recording and its use in film and television.
Later
A subsequent album Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ram achieved little success, despite the addition of talented Long Island, New York lead guitarist Jimmy Santoro. The “Portrait” album was re-issued on Rock Candy Records from England in 2006. Listed in the Top 100 lists in Martin Popoff’s book “The Collector’s Guide to Heavy Metal Volume 1: The Seventies.” The album’s heaviness was attributed to Santoro’s guitar and Scavone’s vocal power. Bartlett had left the group by then and didn’t play on the album.In the 90s both official studio releases by Ram Jam were packaged together on a German import record entitiled "The Very Best Of Ram Jam." However, The cover of said album features the same artwork as their self titled debut so be sure to check the track listing to differentiate, although both have "Black Betty" on the albums. In 2006 Ram Jam was featured in an article that included bands like Moxy and Tucky Buzzard called Top 6 Classic Rock Bands You Never Knew You Didn't Know written by Dave White, an American writer, music critic, and film critic.[1]
Post hits
In the 1990s both studio releases by Ram Jam were packaged together as a GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
import record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
entitled The Very Best Of Ram Jam. However, the cover of the album features the same artwork as their self-titled debut, and The Very Best Of Ram Jam album starts with the ten titles from Ram Jam. This is followed by all the ten titles from Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ram. The titles from Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ram are slightly re-ordered. The first two songs ("Gone Wild", "Pretty Poison") are moved to the end on the The Very Best Of Ram Jam release. The song "Black Betty" has been a Boston Bruins stadium staple for years. Local radio stations continue to use it as a background music when promoting the Bruins games.
A remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
of "Black Betty" by Ben Liebrand
Ben Liebrand
Ben Liebrand is a dance music DJ. He has produced artists such as Forrest and MC Miker G & DJ Sven and remixed tracks by artists such as Salt N Pepa, Sting, TLC, Fun Fun, Tavares, Bill Withers, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Rick Astley, SWV and Phil Collins...
reached number 13 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in 1990.
Later in life Bill Bartlett decided to leave Ram Jam and go onto a career in interpretive dance. Bartlett still plays guitar, but during the last decade has transformed himself into a boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie has the following meanings:*Boogie-woogie, a piano-based music style*Boogie-woogie , a swing dance or a dance that imitates the rock-n-roll dance of the 1950s*"Boogie Woogie" , a song by EuroGroove and Dannii Minogue...
piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
player. He also plays banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
, and has written
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
dozens of song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
s. Santoro still plays professionally in various bands in New York, and teaches music in a public school on Long Island. Scavone, who now resides in NJ, after many years detached from the music industry is once again fronting his old high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
band, The Doughboys (New Jersey)
The Doughboys (New Jersey)
-History:The Doughboys are an American rock band from Plainfield, New Jersey. The band originally formed when three members of The Ascots, Richard X. Heyman , Mike Caruso , and Willy Kirchofer were joined by two members of The Apollos, Myke Scavone , and Mike Farina . The group initially kept...
. They have recorded a CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
of 12 songs, both originals and cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s. The Doughboys featured at the 40th Reunion of John Zacherle
John Zacherle
John Zacherle is an American television host, radio personality and voice actor known for his long career as a television horror host broadcasting horror movies in Philadelphia and New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. Best known for his character "Roland/Zacherley," he also did voice work for...
's Disc-O-Teen in 2008, which coincided with Zacherle's 90th birthday. The CD, entitled Is It Now included liner notes by John Hawkins, the original keyboard and piano player for The Nashville Teens
The Nashville Teens
The Nashville Teens are a British pop band formed in Weybridge, Surrey in Summer 1962.-History:Arthur Sharp began his career in music as the manager of Aerco Records in Woking, Surrey...
. M. Tanner left the band to pursue other interests
Howie Blauvelt died in 1993, whilst Pete Charles has also died.
Discography
- Ram JamRam Jam (album)Ram Jam is an album released by Ram Jam in 1977. The first track on the album, the single "Black Betty", is Ram Jam's best known song. It reached the #7 position in the UK singles chart in September 1977. The album reached #34 in the Billboard Pop Albums chart in the US...
(1977) US #34 - Portrait of the Artist as a Young RamPortrait of the Artist as a Young RamPortrait of the Artist as a Young Ram is the second and final album by the band Ram Jam in 1978.Re-released in 2006 on Rock Candy Records. The title is a play on James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man...
(1978) - The Very Best of Ram JamThe Very Best of Ram JamThe Very Best of Ram Jam is a 1990 compilation album by rock band Ram Jam.The album compiles the band's two studio albums, Ram Jam and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ram, though the latter's track listing is slightly altered.-Track listing:...
(1990) - Golden Classics (1996)