By his late teens he was living in Oklahoma City, and in 1936 sang there with Leslie Sheffield's Rhythmaires, a band that included guitarist Charlie Christian, bassist Abe Bolar and drummer Monk McFay.
After auditioning in Chicago for Andy Kirk's 12 Clouds of Joy, he joined that band and performed with them as a blues shouter in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
Around August 1946, credited as "Crown Prince" Charlie Waterford, he recorded his own "Girl Friend Blues" for the Hy-Tone label there, with Freddie Williams' band.
[4][5] The following year he recorded for Aladdin and Capitol in Los Angeles, in the latter case with a band led by Maxwell Davis that featured pianist Pete Johnson.
[6] After retiring from the ministry, he approached the organisers of the Springing The Blues festival in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, in 2002, and at the age of 85 performed there with a band led by pianist Jim McKaba.