Wade Walton (October 10, 1919 – January 10, 2000)[1][2] was an American blues musician and local civil rights leader from Mississippi.
[5] In 1960, by chance, Robert Curtis Smith met Paul Oliver and Chris Strachwitz in Walton's barber shop.
[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.