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