He also washed dishes while he lived in Houston (he worked at the Shamrock Hotel which was also demolished, so they could put up a parking garage, and they put a park in where a parking garage had been).
He was “discovered” by Johnny Otis in Houston while he was singing in the next room at a restaurant. Otis had taken Big Mama Thornton to LA before that. (both had already started recording but he took them to LA where they got an upgrade on material and became famous)