{{Short description|American blues musician (1919–2000)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2020}} '''Wade Walton''' (October 10, 1919 – January 10, 2000)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wirz.de/music/waltonwa.htm|title=Illustrated Wade Walton discography|website=Wirz.de|access-date=March 11, 2021}}</ref><ref name="KomaraLee2004">{{cite book|author1=Edward Komara|author2=Peter Lee|title=Blues Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XQU3AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA1048|date=July 1, 2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-95832-9|page=1048}}</ref> 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.<ref name="KomaraLee2004"/> He attended barber college in Memphis, Tennessee, and subsequently opened a barber shop in Clarksdale, Mississippi.<ref name="KomaraLee2004"/>
Walton was known as the "blues barber"<ref name="GageGage2009">{{cite book|author1=Justin Gage|author2=Melissa Gage|title=Explorer's Guide Memphis & the Delta Blues Trail: A Great Destination (Explorer's Great Destinations)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPsG6vFFfUoC&pg=PA145|date=May 4, 2009|publisher=Countryman Press|isbn=978-1-58157-101-1|page=145}}</ref> because his "Big Six barber shop"<ref name="Oliver1997">{{cite book|author=Paul Oliver|title=Conversation with the Blues|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YS0Vva57m8UC&pg=PA199|date=September 25, 1997|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-59181-2|page=199}}</ref> was a center of musical activity in Clarksdale. It was located first at 304 Fourth Street, and since 1989 at 317 Issaquena Avenue,<ref name="Cheseborough2008">{{cite book|author=Steve Cheseborough |title=Blues Traveling: The Holy Sites of Delta Blues |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LBWRY90sphQC&pg=PA92 |year=2008 |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-60473-328-0 |page=92}}</ref> which was previously the site of W.C. Handy's house.<ref name="Bird">{{cite book|author=Christiane Bird|title=The Da Capo Jazz and Blues Lover's Guide to the U.S.|date=October 10, 2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ub99o7hy08QC&pg=PA71|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=978-0-306-81716-8|pages=71–73}}</ref> Walton was proficient on the harmonica, the guitar, and the razor strop,<ref name="Cheseborough2008"/> which he played by striking it rhythmically with his razor.<ref name="Ferris1978">{{cite book|author=William R. Ferris|title=Blues from the Delta|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BUQA69Dpi6EC&pg=PA221|year=1978|publisher=Perseus Books Group|isbn=978-0-306-80327-7|page=221}}</ref> Walton was recorded in his barber shop by Paul Oliver in 1960.<ref name="Larkin2013"/> He later recorded an album, ''Shake 'Em On Down'', released by Bluesville Records in the early 1960s.<ref name="Cheseborough2008"/>
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).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/robert-curtis-smith-mn0000284799/biography|title=Robert Curtis Smith Biography|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=September 16, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wirz.de/music/smircfrm.htm|title=R.C. Smith discography|website=Wirz.de|access-date=September 16, 2014}}</ref>
Walton played in the Kings of Rhythm with Ike Turner, but stayed in Clarksdale working as a barber when Turner took the group national.<ref name="Larkin2013">{{cite book|author=Colin Larkin|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of The Blues|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7QeaHodj5fwC&pg=RA4-PA1990|date=September 30, 2013|publisher=Ebury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4481-3274-4|page=4}}</ref>
Many musicians and other notable people patronized Walton's barber shop to play music with him or in homage, including Howlin' Wolf,<ref name="SegrestHoffman2012">{{cite book|author1=James Segrest|author2=Mark Hoffman|title=Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BSZTfrr2YkEC&pg=PT539|date=November 28, 2012|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-83101-9|page=539}}</ref> Muddy Waters,<ref name="Davis2003">{{cite book|author=Francis Davis|title=The History of the Blues|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3xQwHeUXqKYC&pg=PT28|year=2003|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=0-306-81296-7|page=28}}</ref> Sonny Boy Williamson II, and Allen Ginsberg.<ref name="Cheseborough2008"/>
Walton was also a local NAACP leader during the civil rights movement in the early 1960s,<ref name="Davis2003"/> resulting in the bombing of his barbershop.<ref name="Nicholson1998">{{cite book|author=Robert Nicholson|title=Mississippi: The Blues Today!|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UoMimYA088EC&pg=PA176|year=1998|publisher=Perseus Books Group|isbn=978-0-306-80883-8|page=176}}</ref>
He makes appearances in Bill Ferris's 1975 documentary about the Delta blues, ''Give My Poor Heart Ease''<ref name="Sherman1998">{{cite book|author=Sharon R. Sherman|title=Documenting Ourselves: Film, Video, and Culture|url=https://archive.org/details/documentingourse0000sher|url-access=registration|year=1998|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=0-8131-0934-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/documentingourse0000sher/page/85 85]}}</ref> and in Robert Mugge's documentary film ''Deep Blues: A Musical Pilgrimage to the Crossroads''.<ref name="Cheseborough2008"/>
Walton died in St. Louis, Missouri, on January 10, 2000, at the age of 80.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-w-uGwm_LhcC&q=%22wade+walton%22.+%22Obituary%22.+%222000%22&pg=PA1048|title=Encyclopedia of the Blues|first=Edward M.|last=Komara|date=December 6, 2017|page=1048|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=9780415926997|access-date=December 6, 2017|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4aM7DwAAQBAJ&q=%22wade+walton%22.+%22Obituary%22.+%222000%22&pg=PT65|title=Live from the Mississippi Delta|first=Panny Flautt|last=Mayfield|date=July 24, 2017|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|page=65|isbn=9781496813756|access-date=December 6, 2017|via=Google Books}}</ref>
== Legacy == Walton was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/wade-walton|title=Wade Walton|date=|website=Mississippi Blues Trail|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}</ref>
==Discography== *''The Blues of Wade Walton'' (1962)<ref name="Larkin2013"/> *''Barbershop Rhythm'' – Arhoolie Records<ref name="Oliver1997"/> *''Shake 'Em On Down'' – Bluesville Records<ref name="Cheseborough2008"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Walton, Wade}} Category:1923 births Category:2000 deaths Category:African-American guitarists Category:American blues guitarists Category:American male guitarists Category:American blues singers Category:Blues musicians from Mississippi Category:People from Sunflower County, Mississippi Category:Musicians from Clarksdale, Mississippi Category:Barbers Category:American hairdressers Category:20th-century American guitarists Category:Guitarists from Mississippi Category:Kings of Rhythm members Category:Mississippi Blues Trail Category:20th-century African-American male singers Category:20th-century American male singers Category:20th-century American singers