Devonia Williams

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Devonia Eloysie "Lady Dee" Williams (born July 18, 1924 in Los Angeles County ; † July 1, 1967 in Los Angeles ) was an American rhythm and blues musician ( piano , vocals ).

Live and act

Williams worked in the music scene in Los Angeles from the mid-1940s, especially in Johnny Otis ' band , to which she belonged until the early 1950s as a pianist influenced by gospel music and boogie woogie . Recordings under his own name were made for Savoy Records from 1948 . Under various name additions (but also pseudonyms ) she recorded titles such as Amony Boogie (as Darby Hicks ), Dee's Boogie (as Dee Williams ) and with Johnny Otis I'm Not Falling in Love with You (as Devonia Lady Dee Williams). In 1949, Dee Williams & The California Playboys hit # 2 on the Billboard R&B juke box chart with their R&B number "Bongo Blues" .

In the 1950s, Williams continued to play with Big Mama Thornton ( Hound Dog ), Esther Phillips ( Little Esther , with the Earl Warren Orchestra), Preston Love , Dorothy Ellis , Pete Lewis, Joseph August, Mel Walker & Melba Liston , Jimmy Witherspoon and with Etta James & Maxwell Davis Orchestra. The discographer Tom Lord lists her participation in 54 recording sessions between 1948 and 1956.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Bob L. Eagle, Eric S. LeBlanc: Blues: A Regional Experience . anta Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2013., p. 410
  2. ↑ With John Anderson (tp), Gene Montgomery (ts), Richard Brom (bar), Devonia Williams (p), [alias Darby Hicks ] (p), Chuck Norris (git), Morris Edwards (kb), Roy Porter ( dr). See Tom Lord: Jazz Discography
  3. ↑ See A History of Rock Music Stephen K. Valdez. Kendall / Hunt Publishing Company, 2006
  4. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed June 19, 2019)
personal data
SURNAME Williams, Devonia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Williams, Devonia Eloysie (full name); Williams, Lady Dee (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American rhythm & blues musician (piano, vocals)
DATE OF BIRTH July 18, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Los Angeles County
DATE OF DEATH July 1, 1967
Place of death Los Angeles County