Early in the '50s, Bates formed a trio with bassist Quinn Wilson, a former member of the Aristo-Kats, and the legendary Chicago pianist Horace Palm. This group gigged for much of the '50s, sometimes expanding to a quartet by adding a horn player. There were very few recordings released under his own name, including a solitary release on Boxer in 1955, another on United several years later, and two sides done on Apex at the close of the '50s. He also did a record with his group for the Mad label in 1958, a company whose name summed up the disposition of most people in the independent record business as well as the feelings of artists once the sides are released and go nowhere. This was certainly the case with Bates: none of these sides achieved any notoriety, but that apparently did not matter to Bates. The lion's share of his bread came from club gigs and session guitar work on other people's recordings. For many years he was a stalwart at Chicago blues scene clubs such as the legendary Theresa's, and appeared in the second guitar position on many records by blues giants such as Jimmy Reed and Buddy Guy.

Playing rhythm guitar on a blues record is not the fastest path to glory, as listeners sometimes emphasize the lead guitar in rhythm & blues and forget about the rhythm being so expertly provided by this type of player. Bates was versatile, able to handle the laid-back shuffle of Reed as well as the aggressive, sometimes mind-numbing assault of Guy. He also shows up on a variety of sessions by lesser-known players such as Larry Birdsong and Honey Brown. He was also one of the few rhythm guitarists who could follow John Lee Hooker off into the one-chord ozone. This ability to adapt to a variety of settings within the blues genre was the main reason he was chosen as a member of what would become the house band for the famous Vee Jay label; along with other players such as bassist, bandleader and manager Al Smith, and the juicy, honking saxophonist Red Holloway. This group of players began working under the auspices of the Chance record label, a precursor to VeeJay, whose motto and philosophy was summed up in its name: once cut, there was a chance that a side might end up getting released, and yes, just a chance the musicians involved might get paid, although holding one's breath awaiting the check was not a smart idea. The label operated out of a garage and developed some of the earliest Jimmy Reed sides with the doggy backup band entitled the Spaniels. Meanwhile ,Vee Jay apparently upped the ante and lured away some of the session players by offering the rich sum of 41.25 dollars per man per session, although Holloway admitted in an interview the musicians "...might have to wait a couple of months before you got that." Typical arrangements for these sessions were thrown together with no preparation, or waiting time on the other hand. The players had to be ready to put something together behind whatever lead singer the company was recording, whether it was a gut-bucket country bluesman gone electric or a more sophisticated doo wop group.

Bates got into a similar jack-of-all-trades situation with the upstart Club 51 label, another Chicago outfit that recorded the fascinating mixture of blues, R&B, doo wop, and jazz that was going on during this period. At Club 51, however, the left-handed axeman was the honcho, leading up the studio bands under names such as the Lefty Bates Orchestra. Some of the records for this label combined Bates and his sidemen -- often the same players that were on the Vee Jay sides -- with vocal groups such as the Five Buddies or solid Chicago bluesmen such as pianist Sunnyland Slim. In the '70s, Bates took over leadership of the Ink Spots, at that point more of a franchise than a group.