His first recording was "Honky Tonk Train Blues" for Paramount in 1927. The title was influenced by his youth where a railway run beside his home. The record was not very successful, so he washed cars to make a living. He rerecorded it for other labels in 1935 and 1937. Nearly each boogie pianist has recorded this title(f.e.Jean-Paul Amouroux, Keith Emerson, Jay McShann, Lloyd Glenn, Jörg Hegemann, Gene Phillips, Michael Pewny, Gene Taylor, Tim Wheals und Axel Zwingenberger). 1935 he was found by John Hammond and started a new career. In 1938 he played together with Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons in John Hammonds famous From Spirituals to Swing concert at Carnegie Hall. After this the pianists often played together at Café Society and toured together. In 1941 he went to Los Angeles.