Williams taught himself to play guitar as a teenager but made no steps towards a musical career until, while serving in World War II, he met Floyd Tillman who acted as a mentor to him.

[2] His major label debut, in 1951 on Coral, was "Everlastin' Love"/"Lovin' Overtime"; this was also his first release as Lawton Williams.

Such relationships between U.S. servicemen and German women were common during and after the occupation of Germany, however, Williams remained stateside during his service and was never deployed overseas so the song is not believed to be a narrative of any personal experience.

[5] Further hits for other performers with Williams' songs continued to ensure his status, though, such as "Paper Face" (Hank Locklin), "Señor Santa Claus" (Jim Reeves), and "It Just Tears Me Up" which was the final chart hit for his friend Floyd Tillman.

A later Williams-composed hit was "Farewell Party"; originally released by Williams on Allstar Records in September 1960,[6] it was covered by Little Jimmy Dickens in 1961, without chart success for either at the time.

Williams remained primarily a singles artist, and did not issue an album of his own performances until 1971's "Between Truck Stops" on Mega Records.