Ram Jam

Ram Jamwas an Americanrockband formed in New York City and active in 1977 and 1978, mainly known for their hit single "Black Betty".
The band consisted of Bill Bartlett (guitar and lead vocals), Howie Arthur Blauvelt (bass), Pete Charles (drums), andMyke Scavone(lead vocals).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 forbubblegumgroupthe Lemon Pipers, while Blauvelt played withBilly Joelin several bands: the Echoes (also renamed the Lost Souls and then the Commandos),the Hasslesand El Primo.The band was originally known as 'Creekside Killshack'.
Bill Bartlett went on from theLemon Pipersto form a group called Starstruck. Starstruck originally included Steve Walmsley (bass) and Bob Nave (organ) from the Lemon Pipers. Walmsley left the band and was replaced by David Goldflies (who later played for years withDickey Bettsand Great Southern, andthe Allman Brothers). While in Starstruck, Bartlett tookLead Belly's 59 second long "Black Betty" and 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 (albeit significantly edited to rearrange the song structure), the band at that time comprised Bartlett (lead guitar and vocals), Tom Kurtz (rhythm guitar and vocals), David Goldflies (bass), and David Fleeman (drums). The rest of the tracks on the first studio album containing "Black Betty" were played by the Ram Jam lineup. Even though the song was credited toHuddie Ledbetter, theNAACPandCongress of Racial Equalitycalled for a boycott due to the lyrics.
The boycott failed, however, and "Black Betty" reached number 18 on the singleschartin 1977 in theU.S., top ten in theUK Singles ChartandAustralia, and number 46 in Canada, while theRam Jamalbum reached the U.S. top 40. It was also a hit in theNetherlands, reaching number 4. In Canada, the album reached number 33.
Their subsequent albumPortrait of the Artist as a Young Ramachieved little success, despite the addition ofLong Island, New York, lead guitarist Jimmy Santoro.ThePortraitalbum was re-issued on Rock Candy Records from England in 2006. It is listed in the Top 100 lists inMartin Popoff's bookThe Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal Volume 1: The Seventies.
In the 1990s, both studio releases by Ram Jam were packaged together as a German import record entitledThe Very Best of Ram Jam.The cover of the album features the same artwork as the self-titled debut album, and the track list is simply the ten titles fromRam Jamfollowed by the ten titles fromPortrait of the Artist as a Young Ram. While the originalPortrait of the Artist as a Young Ramstarted with the songs "Gone Wild" and "Pretty Poison", these two were moved to the end ofThe Very Best of Ram Jam.
In 1991, producers Kasenetz and Katz released ahip-housesingle called "We Rock the Mansion" as Ram Jam, which failed to chart. In 1994, they released an album calledRam Jamin France with a group of session musicians fronted by vocalist Don Chaffin, which failed to chart as well. Two singles were released from the album, "Ram Jam, Thank You Mam" (under which title the album was reissued in Germany in 1995) and "Black Betty '95", a cover of the 1990 "Rough 'n Ready" remix of the original Ram Jam song, both of which didn't chart. A 12" single of "Ram Jam, Thank You Mam" was also released in 1994, featuring a 7-minute rearrangement of the song.
Aremixof "Black Betty" byBen Liebrandreached number 13 in theUK Singles Chartin 1990.Cover versions of the song also appear on the 2002 albumMr. JonesbyTom Jonesand on the 2004 albumTonight Alrightby Australian rock bandSpiderbait.
Bill Bartlett still plays guitar, but in the early 1990s transformed himself into aboogie-woogiepianoplayer.He also playsbanjo,harmonica, and has written dozens of songs. Santoro still plays professionally in various bands in New York, and teaches music at an elementary school on Long Island. Scavone, who now resides in New Jersey, after many years detached from the music industry, recorded an album of 12 songs, both originals andcover versionswith his former teenage garage rock band calledthe Doughboys. It was featured at the 40th Reunion ofJohn Zacherle's Disc-O-Teen in 2004, which coincided with Zacherle's 84th birthday. The album, entitledIs It Now, included liner notes by John Hawkins, the original keyboard and piano player forthe Nashville Teens.
Howie Blauvelt died in 1993 at age 44, and Pete Charles (full name Peter Charles Picardio) died in 2002 at age 49 from unknown causes.Scavone continues to write and record original music with the Doughboys. In 2015, Scavone was recruited to play harmonica, percussion and backing vocals with his longtime heroes,the Yardbirds.