Ram Jam

Forming the core of Ram Jam stood Bill Bartlett, once the lead guitarist for the Lemon Pipers, together with drummer Peter Charles, lead vocalist Myke Scavone, and Howie Arthur Blauvett, who had previously shared stages with Billy Joel in the Hassles and El Primo. The group’s lone chart success, “Black Betty,” stirred immediate debate upon its Epic release. Bartlett hatched the session alongside bubblegum specialists Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz. The N.A.A.C.P. and C.O.R.E. urged a boycott, arguing that the track demeaned Black women. Controversy notwithstanding, the single climbed to number 18 on Billboard’s pop chart in September 1977.

Cincinnati outfit Starstruck had already placed a fiercer, more gripping rendition of “Black Betty” on the Truckstar label prior to Ram Jam’s take. That earlier version garnered scant airplay or notice, yet Bartlett himself had belonged to Starstruck at the time of its recording. In the early ’90s the producers revisited the track with a fresh mix that yielded an international hit. The band issued two albums, Ram Jam (1977) and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ram (1978), while Epic put out three singles by the rockers. During the ’90s Blauvelt entered the ranks of the funky blues ensemble Spitball and remained with them until suffering a fatal heart attack. Billy Joel regularly honors his former bandmate by dedicating live performances of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” to Blauvelt.