Betsy-Dawn Williams - Homepage for Li'l Bee Dee & the Doo-Rites

Bio

Born in North Carolina, BeeDee got her first start in the noise making business singing in the Baptist choir. From the first time she heard her granddaddy play claw hammer banjo and imitate a train whistle on his harmonica, her soul was captured by the raw sounds of hillbilly music. Then something called rockabilly floated past this gals' ears, add in some old-school rhythm & blues and she was completely smitten. That raucous rhythm found a home deep in her veins, and soon she was a bonafide junkie, for music that is! BeeDee got her first guitar at the age of 13 and started in on it, finding chords to back up her own crooning. Later she picked up the string bass and has played both guitar and string bass in several bands, including rock & roll, bluegrass, old-time country western swing, and honky tonk. Currently, she also plays with GiRL HOWDY and SLIPPERY SNEAKERS. Now fronting her own combo, Li'l BeeDee & the Doo-Rites, she showcases her own songwriting, in addition to mined gems from the deep well of rockabilly, rhythm & blues. Currently BeeDee has two albums out on compact disk, ROCKET GIRL, and LiL BEEDEE & THE DOO-RITES both released on the El Toro Records label.

In the Doo-Rites combo:

Betsy-Dawn Williams, aka BeeDee, vocals, rhythm guitar, & songwriting - playing with the passion & energy of a gal whose dress is on fire, Li'l BeeDee is on a mission to burn down the house, with a commitment to spreading sheer joy through a fusion of big beat rockabilly, rhythm & blues and a promise to "do ya right"! Li'l BeeDee Records on the El Toro Records label.

Jeff Potter on piano & vocals, who has for the last handful of years been playing piano for Rock n’ Roll Hall of Famer Wanda Jackson, as part of the Lustre Kings – a crew of rockabilly cats based in upstate New York. Potter comes with a host of recordings himself on various respected rockabilly labels including Raucous Records in England and El Toro Records in Spain, as well as having recorded here in the States on the Vanguard and Columbia record labels.

Boston’s own Frankie Blandino is in the lead guitar seat, no stranger to the genre himself, having proved his instrumental prowess in several well-known Boston-based bands such as his own instrumental surf band the Fathoms, his rockabilly trio The Crank-tones and Boston's premier western swing band, The Spurs.

Bassist Mark Neveu, an all around journey-man bass player, accomplished in many genres & having played with many greats throughout his career, including A.T. Doe & the Dividends, Paradise Rhythm Shoes, and the nationally touring Changes in Lattitudes band. Mark is also an alumni of the band that Li'l BeeDee and Jeff Potter had in the 1990's, American Roadhouse, that covered the Americana roots jukejoint genre.

Doug Plavin studied music at the Berklee School of Music in Boston and has had the honor of touring and/or recording with many great musicians, including Dar Williams, Joan Baez, Ellis Paul, Bill Morrissey, Mary Gauthier, Catie Curtis, Cry Cry Cry, Duke Levine, Michael Gregory, and many more. He has also played on many film and television soundtracks, such as John Sayle’s Passionfish, Limbo, Murder on Pleasant Drive, Parenthood, PBS series: American Experience, among others. He is the co-founder of North of Radio.

Lurlene Can't Read

Get It Off Your Mind

Wrong Again

Outerspace Motorspace Scooter Machine

CONTACT INFO Email -- lilbeedee@rocketmail.com Phone -- 413.695.2141

CD REVIEWS

KEYS AND CHORDS MAGAZINE - The Netherlands

"Straight to the point" is a statement here really in place because, believe me a new rockabilly chick is born. What the North Carolina-born Betsy-Dawn Williams, under her stage name Lil Beedee serving here is almost beyond comprehension. It seems like Lil Beedee is the daughter of Wanda Jackson. Beedee overwhelming 15 songs in true 50s modeled rhythm & blues and rockabilly. Songs that make you feel good, all your worries 'delete' and test if your feet can still perform properly the dance steps. Backed by Jeff Potter (piano, drums), Frankie Blandino (lead and rhythmgtr.), Mark Neveu (bass) and guest musician Big Al Anderson (leadgtr.) Lil Beedee acts like a man possessed by the rocking and rolling numbers. Dance fanatics who are crazy jive boppin 'jitterbug and two-steppers will have to intensely exploit the rare breaks to catch his breath. "Just Wanna Be Your Friend," "Affairs Of The Heart 'and' Tell Me 'where Lil Beedee proves that crooning her also is not strange, some of those slow moments, but otherwise your feet will soon contact with the lose ground. Twangy guitars, rolling piano parts and Lil Beedee's power carry voice tempo ruthlessly. And it was delicious rousing retro organ shows you the rocking "Start Being Nice 'all over the dance floor. Guest guitarist Big Al Anderson on lead guitar manages to 'Try To Have Fun' the existing high level still to raise.

With this, her second album for the Spanish label El Toro, Lil Beedee And The Doo-Rites have blown us out of our socks, to once again use a cliché. "On A Mission ... To Do Ya Right ... All Night!" Is no more fun, fun, fun! Lil Beedee And The Doo-Rites have blown us out of our socks, to once again use a cliché. "On A Mission ... To Do Ya Right ... All Night!" Is no more fun, fun, fun! ~ Lambert Smits, Keys & Chords, May 2016

EL TORO RECORDS - Spain

“This, her first CD, will please both the fans of female rockabilly Wanda Jackson style and the lovers of the Ronnie Dawson and Planet Rockers sound; 12 own compositions and just one cover in which she's backed by rockin' music aces as Graham Tichy (Bones Maki & The Sundodgers), Jeff Potter and Mark Gamsjager (Lustre Kings) to name just a few... Betsy-Dawn Williams will surely become one of the leaders of female rockabilly music in the USA, just give her a few months....” ~ Carlos Diaz, CEO, El Toro Records

NOW DIG THIS MAGAZINE - England

“The rockin’ tracks invite comparison with Wanda Jackson…should appeal to fans of Linda Gail Lewis…this is an entertaining collection and is recommended.” ~ Harry Dodds

FLIPSIDE RECORDS - Norway

Betsy Dawn Williams - Rocket Girl [ETCD 4040]

This is a great CD! Sorta like a female Ronnie Dawson (can't get over that he's left us!) and that says a lot! There’s driving Bo D' rhythms, beautiful country ballads and rockin' and rollin' all the way. We'd love to see you over in Europe Betsy!

ROCKABILLY MONTHLY MAGAZINE - Austin, TX

Betsy-Dawn Williams “Rocket Girl" (El Toro)

Eminently agreeable, and amenably melodic bop bounce that's easy on the ears and sure to move many a foot. On her provocatively strong debut, "BeeDee" sifts her roots and inclinations, interpreting them with infectious, winning personality. This is rollicking fun from beginning to end.

Joining singer/rhythm guitarist Williams are lead picker Graham Tichy (son of Commander Cody guitarman John Tichy), bassman Jim Haggerty and drummer Jeff Potter. Accompanied at times by various guests these three acquit themselves impressively and instill "Rocket Girl's" already solid songs with potent OOMPH. All but one track here is a BeeDee original. And her playful sense of humor makes this CD stand out.

BLACK CAT ROCKABILLY - Europe

Rocket Girl - Betsy-Dawn WilliamsEl Toro Records ETCD 4040

A luscious feline singing and screamin' her head off with a voice that is quite different and standing out from the rest of the crowd. Betsy-Dawn Williams writes and sings her own music, ranging from hillbilly, rockabilly, plain ol' rock 'n' roll and rhythm & blues. In fact, with the exception of Kenny Parchman's "Get It Off Your Mind", she wrote all the tracks herself, and she did a real fine job too.From the rockabilly stomper "Too Many Words", with great guitar licks by Graham Tichy, to a spacey "Lurlene Can't Read" with wild drums by Jeff Potter, a sensitive part-accoustic "This Feelin' Called Love", to a raving rhythm & blues rhythm on "Outerspace Motorspace Scooter Machine", this is all rock 'n' roll. The hard knocking piano/guitar rocker "Can't You See" will set your neck hairs straight up. The CD has a lot of variety, hence the long list of musicians that contributed to this album, and the many instuments used. A superb release by El Toro Records.

ROCKABILLY BABY MAGAZINE - Online Publication

Betsy-Dawn Williams - Rocket Girl

"Put your lyrics in a jar they all sound fake, it's gone too far and I've got a headache - now I need a break". That is the fading verse in the rockabilly kicker Too Many Words, from BetsyDawn Williams' latest release, Rocket Girl. Rocket Girl is a kick-ass album from a rockabilly girl with humble North Carolina roots. To quote her label's website, "BeeDee"

got her first start in music singing in the Baptist choir, but from the first time she heard her grand-daddy play clawhammer banjo and imitate a train whistle on his harmonica, her soul was captured by the raw sounds of hillbilly music". It's been many years (like a long, long time ago) since a female musician has commanded such respect on the rockabilly scene. She's not just another pretty face. She writes her own songs, from honky tonk to rockabilly, Betsy-Dawn is a talented musician and hell on a scooter.

The Rocket Girl flies into another toe-stomper Lurlene Can't Read, a flash into the past of childhood remembrance. From there the tempo drops to the ultra-swing of This Feeling Called Love, a slow running flame of passion. Wrong Again pops up as a retro-piano backed, punk-fueled idea of never being right.

I'm sure she's heard this before, but Betsy-Dawn's angelic voice carries a heavy resemblance to the great Wanda Jackson with more twang. Plus, Betsy-Dawn has a host of very talented musicians on Rocket Girl, including a few mainstays like Graham Tichy on guitars, Jeff Potter on drums and Jim Haggerty on the stand-up bass. These guys keep it tight and keep you in the glorious time zone of yesteryear. Moving on to my favorite track is a spoof off of the album title called Outerspace Motorspace Scooter Machine. This honk-a-bill~ ditty is a head-bobbing masterpiece. "It's a mean screamin' green scootin' gravity Iiar," Ms. Williams pleads.

Get It Off Your Mind is the only cover on the CD, but it gels right in wit~ Betsy-Dawn's retro sound. Walkin' & Talkin' is a mid-tempo downer, cheating with a quiet blend of Patsy and old skool country.

I can go on and on about the sheer greatness of Rocket Girl, but I have to leave something for you to engulf for yourself. This album is worth its weight in space dust. Pick up your copy of Rocket Girl at www.eltororecords.com ~Mark

“Nothing can really prepare you for an explosion of talent like this. Williams not only has a great hillbilly voice in sort of a Jean Shepard, Paulette Carlson (Highway 101) sort of way, but is an excellent songwriter…She does display quite a range…As far as I’m concerned this is flawless, truly exciting, and very aptly named! Highest recommendation – don’t miss it!"

~ Marc Bristol BLUE SUEDE NEWS MAGAZINE – Duvall, WA