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In 1915, he and Armand Piron, a bandleader whose most famous composition was I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate, started a publishing company in New Orleans (Louis Armstrong claims that he wrote this song and sold it to them, although he didn't receive credit). Williams' first money-making composition, Brownskin, Who You For?, recorded on Columbia Records, earned him a Sixteen Hundred Dollar check in 1916. According to Williams, this was the most money anyone in New Orleans had ever made for a song.
Williams like Jelly Roll Morton, Nick LaRocca, and others, claimed to be the originator of 'Jazz', even his business card anounced him as "The Originator of Jazz and Boogie Woogie".
Williams left New Orleans for Chicago in 1920, and opened a music store. This venture proved so sucessful he eventually owned three music stores in the city. In 1920 Mamie Smith recorded Crazy Blues and It's Right Here For You. A Black woman's voice singing the blues, was well accepted nationwide, and they wanted more. Williams was able to capitalize on this by selling recordings of black female blues singers. New York City was the center of the music publishing business, so in 1923 Williams sold his Chicago music stores and moved there. In February of that year, he and blues artist Bessie Smith recorded two songs for Columbia Records. One of the songs Gulf Coast Blues, was composed by Williams and published by his company. Williams accompanied Bessie on many of the songs she recorded and claimed writer's credit on such songs as Baby, Won't You Please Come Home and T'ain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do. However, Williams did have a reputation for claiming credit for works he did not compose entirely on his own, and the origins of many of these songs remain in question.
Williams is also credited with helping other African-American songwriters like Willie "The Lion" Smith, James P. Johnson, and Fats Waller. From 1923 to 1928, he was the artist and repertoire director for Okeh Records, a position which allowed him to seek out and develop new talent. He organized many recording sessions helping to advance the careers of early jazz greats like Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, King Oliver, and Coleman Hawkins.
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Clarence Williams, of Choctaw Indian and Creole heritage, was born in Plaquemine, Louisiana, on October 8, 1898. His father, a hotel owner, was also a bass player, so as a youth Williams began performing in the family hotel and singing in the streets. Being both an artist and an entrepreneur Williams was sucessful in performing, writing, publishing, and managing other artists.