As a songwriter, Overstreet was rated by Langston Hughes as one of the "better poets of jazz". He wrote the tune "The 'Jazz' Dance" (or "That 'Jazz' Dance"), published by Will Rossiter in 1917, "The "Jazz" Dance (The Little Jazz Dace That Everybody's Crazy About", pisigin.ru. Retrieved 24 November 2017. and recorded by W. C. Handy's Orchestra the same year, "That "Jazz" Dance", 20sJazz.com. Retrieved 16 November 2016. the first known occurrence of the word in a song title. He also collaborated on songs with James "Slap Rag" White, and with Billy Higgins, with whom he composed the hit song "There'll Be Some Changes Made", published in 1921 and first recorded by Ethel Waters. The song was widely recorded, by Marion Harris, Fats Waller, Benny Goodman, Bob Wills, Peggy Lee, Billie Holiday, and others.
