Wade Walton

Wade Walton (October 10, 1919 – January 10, 2000)[1][2] was an American blues musician and local civil rights leader from Mississippi. He was also a renowned barber, who counted many famous musicians amongst his friends, colleagues, and customers.

Life and career

Walton was born in Lombardy, Mississippi but grew up near Parchman Farm.[2] He attended barber college in Memphis, Tennessee, and subsequently opened a barber shop in Clarksdale, Mississippi.[2]

Walton was known as the "blues barber"[3] because his "Big Six barber shop"[4] was a center of musical activity in Clarksdale. It was located first at 304 Fourth Street, and since 1989 at 317 Issaquena Avenue,[5] which was previously the site of W.C. Handy's house.[6] Walton was proficient on the harmonica, the guitar, and the razor strop,[5] which he played by striking it rhythmically with his razor.[7] Walton was recorded in his barber shop by Paul Oliver in 1960.[8] He later recorded an album, Shake 'Em On Down, released by Bluesville Records in the early 1960s.[5]

In 1960, by chance, Robert Curtis Smith met Paul Oliver and Chris Strachwitz in Walton's barber shop. This led to Smith recording, The Blues of Robert Curtis Smith: Clarksdale Blues (1963).[9][10]

Walton played in the Kings of Rhythm with Ike Turner, but stayed in Clarksdale working as a barber when Turner took the group national.[8]

Many musicians and other notable people patronized Walton's barber shop to play music with him or in homage, including Howlin' Wolf,[11] Muddy Waters,[12] Sonny Boy Williamson II, and Allen Ginsberg.[5]

Walton was also a local NAACP leader during the civil rights movement in the early 1960s,[12] resulting in the bombing of his barbershop.[13]

He makes appearances in Bill Ferris's 1975 documentary about the Delta blues, Give My Poor Heart Ease[14] and in Robert Mugge's documentary film Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads.[5]

Walton died in St. Louis, Missouri, on January 10, 2000, at the age of 80.[15][16]

Legacy

Walton was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail.[17]

Discography

References
  1. https://www.wirz.de/music/waltonwa.htm
  2. Edward Komara; Peter Lee (July 1, 2004). Blues Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 1048. ISBN 978-1-135-95832-9.
  3. Justin Gage; Melissa Gage (May 4, 2009). Explorer's Guide Memphis & the Delta Blues Trail: A Great Destination (Explorer's Great Destinations). Countryman Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-58157-101-1.
  4. Paul Oliver (September 25, 1997). Conversation with the Blues. Cambridge University Press. p. 199. ISBN 978-0-521-59181-2.
  5. Steve Cheseborough (2008). Blues Traveling: The Holy Sites of Delta Blues. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 92. ISBN 978-1-60473-328-0.
  6. Christiane Bird (October 10, 2007). The Da Capo Jazz and Blues Lover's Guide to the U.S. Da Capo Press. pp. 71–73. ISBN 978-0-306-81716-8.
  7. William R. Ferris (1978). Blues from the Delta. Perseus Books Group. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-306-80327-7.
  8. Colin Larkin (September 30, 2013). The Virgin Encyclopedia of The Blues. Ebury Publishing. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-4481-3274-4.
  9. "Robert Curtis Smith Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  10. "R.C. Smith discography". Wirz.de. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  11. James Segrest; Mark Hoffman (November 28, 2012). Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 539. ISBN 978-0-307-83101-9.
  12. Francis Davis (2003). The History of the Blues. Da Capo Press. p. 28. ISBN 0-306-81296-7.
  13. Robert Nicholson (1998). Mississippi: The Blues Today!. Perseus Books Group. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-306-80883-8.
  14. Sharon R. Sherman (1998). Documenting Ourselves: Film, Video, and Culture. University Press of Kentucky. p. 85. ISBN 0-8131-0934-5.
  15. Komara, Edward M. (December 6, 2017). Encyclopedia of the Blues. Psychology Press. p. 1048. ISBN 9780415926997. Retrieved December 6, 2017 – via Google Books.
  16. Mayfield, Panny Flautt (July 24, 2017). Live from the Mississippi Delta. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 65. ISBN 9781496813756. Retrieved December 6, 2017 – via Google Books.
  17. "Wade Walton". Mississippi Blues Trail.
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