His recording career lasted from 1949 to 1956, but he remained a stalwart of the Houston blues circuit for decades.

[2][4] After serving in World War II, Williams sang at Houston's Eldorado Ballroom, but quit and enrolled at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts, to study piano and voice.

Walker's influence inspired Williams, who said to himself, "I could learn to play guitar and pull in some of that money that T-Bone made".

His notability rose to the extent that he appeared in February 1953 at Carnegie Hall, in New York City, on a bill that included Dinah Washington, Billy Eckstine and Nat King Cole.

By 1954, Williams was performing regularly on the Houston radio station KLVL, and he began a constant touring regime across the South.