 Williams also wrote the Commodores first hit record the instrumental track, "Machine Gun".Other Commodores songs penned by him are;
"The Bump", "Rapid Fire", "I'm Ready", "Better Never Than Forever", "Mary Mary", "Quick Draw", "Patch It Up", "X-Rated Movie", "Wonderland", "Old-Fashion Love", "Only You" (a track Williams also produced, taken from the Commodores first LP without Lionel Richie, "Commodores 13"), "You Don't Know That I Know", "Let's Get Started" and "Brick House".While on his way to a concert in 1980 Williams crash landed his single engine plane on a freeway in Phoenix, AZ after it developed engine troubles.