Wade Walton

Wade Walton (October 10, 1923 – January 10, 2000)[1] 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.

Early life

Walton was born in Lombardy, Mississippi but grew up near Parchman Farm.[1] He attended barber college in Memphis, Tennessee, and subsequently opened a barber shop in Clarksdale, Mississippi.[1]

Career

Walton was known as the "blues barber"[2] because his "Big Six barber shop"[3] was a center of musical activity in Clarksdale. It was located first at 304 Fourth Street, and since 1989 at 317 Issaquena Avenue,[4] which was previously the site of W.C. Handy's house.[5] Walton was proficient on the harmonica, the guitar, and the razor strop,[4] which he played by striking it rhythmically with his razor.[6] Walton was recorded in his barber shop by Paul Oliver in 1960.[7] He later recorded an album, Shake 'Em On Down, released by Bluesville Records in the early 1960s.[4]

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).[8][9]

Walton played in the Kings of Rhythm with Ike Turner, but stayed on working as a barber in Clarksdale when Turner took the group national.[7]

Many musicians and other notable people patronized Walton's barber shop to play music with him or in homage, including Howlin' Wolf,[10] Muddy Waters,[11] Sonny Boy Williamson II, and Allen Ginsberg.[4]

Walton was also a local NAACP leader during the civil rights movement in the early 1960s,[11] resulting in the bombing of his barbershop.[12]

He makes appearances in Bill Ferris's 1975 documentary about the Delta blues, Give My Poor Heart Ease[13] and in Robert Mugge's documentary film Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads.[4]

Discography

References

  1. 1 2 3 Edward Komara; Peter Lee (1 July 2004). Blues Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 1048. ISBN 978-1-135-95832-9.
  2. ↑ Justin Gage; Melissa Gage (4 May 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.
  3. 1 2 Paul Oliver (25 September 1997). Conversation with the Blues. Cambridge University Press. p. 199. ISBN 978-0-521-59181-2.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Steve Cheseborough (2008). Blues Traveling: The Holy Sites of Delta Blues. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 92. ISBN 978-1-60473-328-0.
  5. ↑ Christiane Bird. The Da Capo Jazz and Blues Lover's Guide to the U.S. Da Capo Press. pp. 71–73. ISBN 0-306-81716-0.
  6. ↑ William R. Ferris (1978). Blues from the Delta. Perseus Books Group. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-306-80327-7.
  7. 1 2 3 Colin Larkin (30 September 2013). The Virgin Encyclopedia of The Blues. Ebury Publishing. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-4481-3274-4.
  8. ↑ "Robert Curtis Smith Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-09-16.
  9. ↑ "R.C. Smith discography". Wirz.de. Retrieved 2014-09-16.
  10. ↑ James Segrest; Mark Hoffman (28 November 2012). Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 539. ISBN 978-0-307-83101-9.
  11. 1 2 Francis Davis (2003). The History of the Blues. Da Capo Press. p. 28. ISBN 0-306-81296-7.
  12. ↑ Robert Nicholson (1998). Mississippi: The Blues Today!. Perseus Books Group. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-306-80883-8.
  13. ↑ Sharon R. Sherman (1998). Documenting Ourselves: Film, Video, and Culture. University Press of Kentucky. p. 85. ISBN 0-8131-0934-5.
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