How does a song go from a 1930s work song to being on collections like Mullets Rock! or The Dukes of Hazard soundtrack? Black Betty's journey from African American folk song to jukebox standard starts with traditional interpretations by bluesman Leadbelly and folkies Odetta and Harry Belafonte. Then in the late 1970's, it took an unexpected "Blueshammer" turn when obscure Cincinnati band Ram Jam added loud guitars and turned the tune into Southern rock novelty.

- Leadbelly - "Looky Looky Yonder/Yellow Woman's Doorbells/Black Betty" (MP3)
- Ram Jam - "Black Betty" (MP3)

Listening to Ram Jam's stomping jam, it's easy to hear why the track began showing up in dance remixes, such as this take by Mindcrime Project. Tom Jones took a turn, blending strings, dance beats and his booming voice with Leadbelly's original rasp. Nick Cave's foreboding version, one of the most faithful of recent interpretations, draws upon Cave's obsession with the mystical dark underbelly of the American South.

- Mindcrime Projects - "Black Betty" (MP3)
- Tom Jones - "Black Betty" (MP3)
- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "Black Betty" (MP3)

Given the song's questionable content (read the lyrics here),  the continuing popularity of DJs spinning "Black Betty"' is somewhat surprising. As Wikipedia points out, in 2006 the song was banned from University of New Hampshire hockey games and protested in the `90s by the NAACP and Congress of Racial Equality. I'm don't feel qualified to analyze the lyrics with any authority or question the correctness of turning a song that seems to stereotype a certain segment of society into a club hit, but it is perhaps an interesting question to debate. Is it wrong to dance to "Black Betty"?