Wade, Pete (16th December 1934-27th August 2024)

Guitarist born Herman Bland Wade who was a member of Ray Price’s group, The Cherokee Cowboys, from 1954 to 1958 and from 1960 to 1963. On 1^st March 1956, he played lead guitar on what would become the hugest hit of the year on the country chart, “Crazy Arms”, which spent a staggering twenty weeks in the #1 spot. He ended the year on another massive hit, “Young Love”, sung by a young Sonny James, and it topped the country chart for nine weeks and crossed over to the pop chart, where it also went to #1. Other groups he was involved with were Corncob and Faron Young’s Country Deputies, from 1957 to 1958.

A multi-instrumentalist, he was one of the various artists featured on the 1965 album, Kings of the Steel Guitar. At various points in his career, he has played dobro, electric guitar, gut string guitar, nylon string guitar, rhythm guitar, six-string bass, and upright bass. A couple of early gospel albums on which he appeared were Kitty Wells’ Dust on the Bible and Johnny Paycheck’s Gospeltime. He also played steel guitar on Bob Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay”.

Another group he was a member of was Area Code 615, a collective of session musicians who released a self-titled album in 1969. He worked with Joan Baez on David’s Album and One Day at a Time. In 1970, he and Lloyd Green released The Music City Sounds, featuring songs such as “Gotta Travel On”, “My Happiness”, “Release Me”, and “Tennessee Waltz”. He also appeared on Henry Mancini’s C&W offering, Mancini Country, and Linda Ronstadt’s Silk Purse. In July 1971, he played rhythm guitar in the first-ever Muzak sessions to be recorded in Nashville, and these cuts were quickly incorporated into the music services regular lineup.

Other early ‘70s recordings on which he appeared include: Joan Baez’s Blessed Are…, Jerry Lee Lewis’s The “Killer” Rocks On, Jerry Reed’s Hot a’ Mighty!, and Leon Russell’s Hank Wilson’s Back!. By this time, Pete was easily one of the Nashville “A” team, and frequently haunted the same sessions as Lloyd Green and Hargus “Pig” Robbins. (He appeared on Hargus’s 1979 album, Unbreakable Hearts.) The mid-to-late ‘70s saw him working with some of the biggest names in the business, such as Johnny Cash on I Would Like to See You Again, Kenny Rogers on his eponymous effort, Linda Ronstadt on Simple Dreams, and The Statler Brothers’ on Entertainers… On & Off the Road.

The 1980s found him on an eclectic array of albums, including Johnny Cash’s Rockabilly Blues, The Annette Funicello Country Album, Waylon Jennings’ Leather and Lace, k.d. lang’s Shadowland, Mel McDaniel’s Just Can’t Sit Down Music and Let it Roll, the soundtrack of Sweet Dreams, and Bobby Vinton’s Timeless.

In the 1990s, his credits included original albums and a number of CD re-masterings and re-packagings. Again, he appeared on a wide variety of albums, from The Manhattan Transfer Anthology: Down in Birdland to Slim Whitman’s stocking stuffer, I’ll Be Home for Christmas. In 1996, he multi-tasked on dobro, guitar and six-string bass on the Ween album, 12 Golden Country Greats. (The album comprises ten tracks and Pete was actually one of the dozen session musicians referred to in the title.)

In 2000, he collaborated with German country singer Hermann Lammers Meyer on several sides, “Bauer Barnes Muhle”, “Der Beweis”, “Rose of the Mountains”, and “She Dances Alone”. He was nominated for a Golden Voice Award by BMI in 2003 in the musicians category. In August 2006, he attended the opening of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit, For the Good Times: The Ray Price Story, in support of his longtime collaborator. He and Ray did similar good duty on 8^th March 2009, appearing on stage together at a Don Helms tribute.

In the new millennium, he also appeared on the Johnny Cash American series, some of which was released posthumously. One of his most recent recordings was a title appropo to his seemingly non-stop career: In 2010, he played classical guitar and electric guitar on the Dale Watson album, Carryin’ On.

He died in his daughter’s home in Henderson, Tennessee from complications following hip surgery. He was 89 years old.

Randy Barlow recordings
Dixie Man (J.L. Wallace/Terry Skinner/Ken Bell)

Hargus “Pig” Robbins recordings
Chunky People (Jim Vest/David Chamberlain)

Sources:

Wade, Pete (16th December 1934-27th August 2024)

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