Career
He is best known for fronting his own band, Shock Treatment, and his work with Junior Wells, J. B. Lenoir and Hound Dog Taylor. One commentator noted that "for wild-ass showmen in blues history.. one would certainly have to go a far piece to beat Lefty Dizz". Dizz favoured a right-handed Fender Stratocaster, which he played with his left hand, hence the first part of his stage name.
The derivation of the second part of his stage name is uncertain.
According to one source, the name came from his playing the trumpet in the style of Dizzy Gillespie. Another source says that Ted Harvey, the drummer for Hound Dog Taylor & the HouseRockers, gave him the nickname in reference to his "playing jazz in the alley".
Dizz was reputedly the brother of the blues musician Johnny Dollar. He was born Walter Williams in Osceola, Arkansas.
He learned the rudiments of guitar playing while serving for four years in the United States Air Force.
Unlike other left-handed players who restrung their instruments to mirror the proper string order, Dizz played a right-handed guitar upside down, thereby reversing the order of the strings. After his discharge in 1956, he moved first to Detroit and then Chicago, where he settled permanently. In Chicago he played under the guidance of Lacy Gibson and Earl Hooker.
He was proficient enough to join Sonny Thompson"s band in 1958.
He also worked with Junior Cannady and John Lee Hooker. They toured around the world until 1971, when Dizz joined Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers.
He then formed Shock Treatment. lieutenant was with this band that he further developed his flamboyant performing act, which incorporated raunchy jokes alongside his own skillful but showmanship style of guitar playing.
His pleasant and joke-filled character was complemented by his intelligence.
He received a degree in economics degree from Southern Illinois University. Dizz performed at Chicago clubs, such as the Kingston Mines, B.L.U.E.S. and the Checkerboard Lounge, and toured internationally. He played on the recording of Live at the Checkerboard Lounge, Chicago 1981 with Muddy Waters and Rolling Stones Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ron Wood.
His studio recordings did not capture the essence of his live performances.
Dizz died from the effects of esophageal cancer on September 7, 1993, at the age of 56.