By the early 1950s, Washington was working in St Louis, Missouri as a school teacher and guitarist.[3] There he collaborated with saxophonist Jimmy Forrest on the composition of "Night Train", which became a number 1 R&B hit in 1952. Most sources credit Washington with writing the lyrics of the song. He also recorded under the name Faith Douglass.[3]
In 1953, he started the small independent Ballad record label in St Louis.[3] The label released a series of doo-wop singles by the Swans, which had some regional success.[4] After hearing an unrecorded guitarist, Chuck Berry, playing in clubs, he persuaded Berry to make his first record as part of another group, Joe Alexander & the Cubans. They released a calypso record, "Oh Maria", in 1954, which was co-written by Washington.[5] It has been suggested that Berry played guitar on the record, though Berry later denied any involvement. Although Washington did not continue to work with Berry,[5] he continued to release occasional records on the Ballad label until the late 1950s.[4] From 1966-1968 he revived the Ballad record label for a group called The Gifts and another called The Citations. In the late 1960s, he was involved in the small SaintMo label, which also released several singles with little success.[6]
Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) credits Washington with 70 compositions as a songwriter, including "Night Train".[7]
