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
^
"Illustrated Wade Walton discography" . Wirz.de . Retrieved March 11, 2021 .
^
a
b
c Edward Komara; Peter Lee (July 1, 2004).
Blues Encyclopedia . Routledge. p. 1048.
ISBN
978-1-135-95832-9 .
^ 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 .
^
a
b Paul Oliver (September 25, 1997).
Conversation with the Blues . Cambridge University Press. p. 199.
ISBN
978-0-521-59181-2 .
^
a
b
c
d
e
f Steve Cheseborough (2008).
Blues Traveling: The Holy Sites of Delta Blues . Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 92.
ISBN
978-1-60473-328-0 .
^ 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 .
^ William R. Ferris (1978).
Blues from the Delta . Perseus Books Group. p. 221.
ISBN
978-0-306-80327-7 .
^
a
b
c Colin Larkin (September 30, 2013).
The Virgin Encyclopedia of The Blues . Ebury Publishing. p. 4.
ISBN
978-1-4481-3274-4 .
^
"Robert Curtis Smith Biography" .
AllMusic . Retrieved September 16, 2014 .
^
"R.C. Smith discography" . Wirz.de . Retrieved September 16, 2014 .
^ 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 .
^
a
b Francis Davis (2003).
The History of the Blues . Da Capo Press. p. 28.
ISBN
0-306-81296-7 .
^ Robert Nicholson (1998).
Mississippi: The Blues Today! . Perseus Books Group. p. 176.
ISBN
978-0-306-80883-8 .
^ Sharon R. Sherman (1998).
Documenting Ourselves: Film, Video, and Culture . University Press of Kentucky. p.
85 .
ISBN
0-8131-0934-5 .
^ Komara, Edward M. (December 6, 2017).
Encyclopedia of the Blues . Psychology Press. p. 1048.
ISBN
9780415926997 . Retrieved December 6, 2017 – via Google Books.
^ 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.
^
"Wade Walton" . Mississippi Blues Trail .
International National Artists Other