Black Betty is a song with a really long and storied history. There's been some controversy regarding the lyrical content, but the generally accepted view is that the lyrics are referencing either a prison transport, a prison guard's bullwhip, a gun, or a bottle of alcohol.
It's been recorded by numerous artists over the years. This version was recorded in 1977 by Ram Jam...
...but this song dates way earlier than that, maybe as far back as the late 1700's. The earliest known recording is from 1933, and sounds markedly different from the 1977 version.
Then Ledbelly got ahold of it and recorded this version.
But the most ridiculous version has to be from Tom Jones in 2002.
