He was a leading authority on the works of musicians Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, and Neil Young, and science fiction writers Theodore Sturgeon and Philip K. Dick, for whose literary estate he served as executor.

[2][3][4] His aim was to reflect the sophistication brought to pop music by two albums released in 1965: Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home and the Beatles' Rubber Soul.

Williams was the author of more than 25 books, of which the best-known are Outlaw Blues, Das Energi, and Bob Dylan: Performing Artist, the acclaimed three-part series.

In the spring of 1967 Williams was introduced to the fiction of Philip K. Dick by underground cartoonists Trina Robbins, Bhob Stewart and Art Spiegelman.

Williams broke out and hitchhiked back to Boston, hiding out for weeks at his mother's house, for fear of them coming after him.

Williams later told his wife, Cindy Lee Berryhill, "What good feelings I'd had for Lyman utterly changed at that point.

"[citation needed] According to Rolling Stone's David Felton, Williams told him he departed at night, as he felt he was being observed and would not be allowed to leave.

In 1992, Williams began a relationship with anti-folk co-founder and singer-songwriter Cindy Lee Berryhill, they married in 1997 and had a son in 2001, Alexander.

Though he apparently recovered, it was later discovered that he was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) dementia, the early onset of which was attributed to the brain injury.

[18][19] For part of 2009, Williams lived in Encinitas, California with Berryhill and their 8-year-old son, Alexander Berryhill-Williams, but eventually had to enter a nursing home due to dementia.